Morning rolls, also known as Morton’s rolls (after a company that was a famous producer them) are a hard baked roll popular in parts of Scotland. I heard about them on The Kitchen Cabinet back in the summer (the Glasgow episode from series 53). A few days I looked up a recipe online, which I’ve adapted for the air fryer. I divide the dough into six rolls and, in my two drawer device, I can cook three in each drawer.

• 400g strong white flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 25g lard
• 250g lukewarm water (ie. 250ml)
• 3.5g Fast acting yeast
• Semolina or rice flour for dusting

I’ve got a stand mixer I use to mix all the ingredients together with a dough hook and then I leave it to prove in the bowl with a tea towel over the top. Ideally it should be doubled in size and it can then be divided into six pieces, each shaped into a round roll. The semolina can be used to sit them on for further resting and also sprinkled lightly on top.

I line the air fryer drawers with rectangles of parchment paper and put three rolls in each. Once in the fryer, I use sync cook to give both drawers 3 minutes at 40°C and then leave for further proving. That shouldn’t kill the yeast but provides a warm environment. When I’m ready to cook them, they get blasted at 230°C for 12 minutes and then, after turning upside down, I give them another 3 minutes at 180°C.

This seems to give reliable results and, although the batch size is small, I’m not heating up a whole oven. Normally I’d only produce about 8 rolls in the oven so I think the air fryer wins on efficiency at this scale. I’ve now produced two batches and both have been about the best rolls I’ve ever made both for texture and flavour.

For reference, here is the video I used for inspiration: