Inspired by New England’s classic lobster roll, these mini versions use more purse-friendly and simpler-to-prepare crayfish in a buttery homemade bun, but if you wanted to push the boat out you could use cooked chopped lobster instead.
These mini crayfish rolls look fabulous on any canapé tray. Served in a buttery little bun, the creamy crayfish filling is a more economical version of the traditional lobster filling, but no less delicious!
Factor in rising and cooling time for this recipe.
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Yields:
24
Prep Time:
40 mins
Cook Time:
15 mins
Total Time:
55 mins
Cal/Serv:
85
Ingredients
For the rolls
150ml
milk
25g
butter
225g
strong white flour, plus extra to dust
1Tbsp.
caster sugar
1tsp.
fast action dried yeast
1
medium egg, beaten, plus extra to glaze
Oil, to grease
Sea salt flakes, to sprinkle
For the filling
200g
cooked crayfish tails
3Tbsp.
mayonnaise
2
-3 tsp lemon juice, to taste
Pinch cayenne pepper, plus extra to sprinkle
50g
butter, melted
Small handful shredded lettuce, we used Iceberg
2tsp.
finely chopped chives
Directions
Step 1To make the rolls, heat milk in a small pan until small bubbles appear around the edge. Take off heat, add butter to melt then set aside until lukewarm. Using a freestanding mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix flour, sugar, yeast and 1tsp fine salt. Add milk mixture and beaten egg and mix on high speed for 10min until smooth and elastic. Cover with clingfilm and leave to rise in a cool place (not the fridge) for 1-2hr or until well risen.
Step 2Lightly grease two 12-hole mini muffin tins (see GH Tips). Scrape dough out on to a lightly floured work surface and knead briefly. Divide into 24, roughly 20g (3/4oz) each, and roll into smooth balls. Drop into the tin holes, cover loosely with greased clingfilm (oil-side down) and leave to rise again in a cool place (not the fridge) for 30-45min.
Step 3Preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan) mark 7. Remove clingfilm and brush rolls with beaten egg. Sprinkle with salt flakes and bake for 10-12min until deep golden. Cool in tins.
Step 4To serve, mix crayfish, mayonnaise, lemon juice to taste, cayenne and some seasoning. Cut a cross into the top of each roll (not all the way down). Brush insides of rolls liberally with melted butter, then fill with the lettuce and crayfish mixture. Sprinkle with chives and cayenne and serve.
Get ahead
Make rolls a day ahead; cool, then store in an airtight container at room temperature. To serve, arrange on a baking tray, sprinkle with a little cold water and refresh in an oven preheated to 200°C (200°C fan) mark 6 for 3-4min. Cool and assemble up to 30min ahead.
GH Tips
If you only have 1 mini-muffin tin, shape, rise and bake half the dough while keeping the rest covered in fridge. Repeating with remaining dough.
If you don’t have mini muffin tins, shape dough into 4 x 25.5cm (10in) long sausages. Arrange on lined baking tray, spacing well apart. Rise, glaze and bake as for rolls. To serve, trim ends and slice each into 6 and cut down into the top to fill.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
