To simplify dinner prep, bake and freeze these rolls in advance—if you can resist eating them fresh out of the oven. The secret to their divine texture is to use just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your hands.
- Prep time 20 minutes
- Total time 4 hours & 30 minutes
Ingredients
Method
Remove 1 1/2 tsp of the sugar. Set aside. In saucepan, heat together 1 1/4 cups of the milk, 1/4 cup of the butter, the remaining sugar and the salt over medium heat until butter is melted. Let cool to lukewarm, about 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, in small saucepan, heat remaining milk over medium heat until warm; pour into large bowl. Stir in reserved sugar until dissolved; sprinkle yeast over top. Let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes. Whisk in butter mixture and egg. Stir in 4 cups of the flour, 1 cup at a time, until soft ragged dough forms.
Turn out onto lightly floured work surface; knead, adding as much of the remaining flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Transfer to large greased bowl; turn dough to grease all over. Cover with plastic wrap or tea towel; let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1-1/2 hours.
Punch down dough. Turn out onto lightly floured work surface; divide dough evenly into 20 pieces. Shape 1 piece into ball, folding ends underneath and pinching at bottom; roll on work surface in circular motion, seam side down, into smooth ball. Repeat with remaining dough pieces.
Place 2 balls of dough in centre of each of 2 greased 9-inch (1.5 L) round cake pans. Place 8 balls around centre of each. Cover with tea towel; let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Dust with flour.
Bake in 375ºF (190ºC) oven until rolls are golden and sound hollow when tapped, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes; transfer directly to racks. Melt remaining butter; brush over tops of rolls. (Make-ahead: Store in airtight container for up to 24 hours. Or freeze in resealable freezer bag for up to 1 week; thaw in bag at room temperature. Reheat in 325°F/160ºC oven until warm, about 5 minutes.)
Change it up: The Ultimate Dairy-Free Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls
Add a pinch of salt; substitute milk with almond milk and butter with olive oil.
Tip from The Test Kitchen: Use a scale to weigh each of the dough balls so they're all the same size (about 50 grams each).
Makes 20 rolls.
Nutritional facts per roll: about
- Fibre 1 g
- Sodium 205 mg
- Sugars 3 g
- Protein 5 g
- Calories 148.0
- Total fat 4 g
- Potassium 69 mg
- Cholesterol 19 mg
- Saturated fat 2 g
- Total carbohydrate 23 g
%RDI
- Iron 11.0
- Folate 26.0
- Calcium 3.0
- Vitamin A 4.0
