Sesame Chickpea Dinner Rolls (Vegan)

Ah, the wonder of chickpeas! I love gram flour (aka chickpea flour or besan) because it is a staple in Indian cuisine. However, I wanted to try something different by substituting gram flour into a dinner roll recipe that normally uses all purpose flour. Since chickpea flour contains less gluten and has more protein, you cannot entirely replace the all purpose flour with gram flour. As such, I discovered the perfect substitution amount - replace 1/4 of the all purpose flour with gram flour. The texture of the dinner rolls is not impacted and the flavor is excellent!

Ingredients:

2 and 1/4 teaspoon (1 package) yeast
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup gram flour (aka chickpea flour or besan)
3/4 cup almond milk
2 tablespoons vegan butter (or, substitute coconut oil)
Sesame seeds for topping

Instructions:

Following these instructions exactly will provide the best results.

1. In a mug, microwave the almond milk and butter until it is the temperature of bath water. It should not be hot! For me, this took about 45 seconds on high when the almond milk was used directly out of the fridge. Now, stir in the yeast and let sit. The mixture should foam up within five minutes. If it hasn't your yeast is either no longer active (go buy more from the store) or your almond milk/butter combination was too hot and killed the yeast.
2. While waiting for the yeast to foam, combine 1 cup of all purpose flour with the salt.
3. Pour in the foamy yeast/almond milk/ butter mixture into the flour mixture. Mix thoroughly so that there are no clumps of flour.
4. Add in the last 1/2 cup of all purpose flour. Mix thoroughly so that there are no clumps of flour.
5. Add in 1/2 cup of gram flour. Mix thoroughly so that there are no clumps of flour. The dough should be soft. Knead with your hands until the dough becomes elastic and smooth.
6. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes, covering the bowl with plastic wrap.
7. Divide the dough into 9 pieces and shape into balls. Place in a greased 8x8 inch dish. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes. The dough should now be doubled in size. The biscuits should like this after the rise:

8. Bake the dinner rolls at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. The dinner rolls should be a light golden color when done. See below:

9. Serve warm with your desired toppings (vegan margarine, jam, etc)!

#halahbakes