Bready or Not: Soft Dinner Rolls
Back when I first started Bready or Not in 2011, one of my first recipes was for Soft Dinner Rolls. I’m featuring it again today because it’s still a family favorite, and one I make regularly.
I used to be very intimidated by working with yeast. Would the dough rise? How would I know when it was ready? I used box mixes for a while and built up my confidence to handle the stuff from-scratch.
These soft rolls have never failed me. Other doughs are persnickety; this dough is not. The result is soft, and it bakes up into soft, luscious rolls.
These are the rolls I make every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I can make them weeks in advance. They thaw fast. They keep for as long as six days in a sealed bag. Most importantly, they reheat and taste as fresh as ever (and can even be reheated another time, too).
If you’re shy about yeast rolls, give these a try! If you’ve already mastered yeast bread, add these to your repertoire–they are worth making again and again.
On the subject of yeast, the only kind I use is SAF Instant Yeast. I store it in a sealed plastic tub in the freezer; the yeast granules don’t freeze, but the cold preserves the yeast.
Bready or Not: Soft Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water 110 degrees (temperature especially important if mixing by hand)
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 Tablespoons white sugar
- 3 cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast or 1 packet bread machine yeast
Instructions
If making by hand
- Mix all ingredients together and knead until soft. Place the dough in a bowl and lightly cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise 45 minutes to 1 hour; knead down again. Let rise another 45 minutes to 1 hour.
If making in a bread machine
- Add ingredients in the order specified. That often means the liquids first. Set the machine on dough cycle and start; this should run for about 2 hours.
- Prepare a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan by greasing lightly with butter. When the dough is done, lightly flour a mat or flat surface. Gently flatten the dough with hands. It's so soft, a rolling pin isn't necessary. Use a biscuit cutter or other round shape to cut out rolls. Place them spaced out a bit on the pan; it should produce 12 to 15 rolls, depending on the cutter. Lightly cover pan with plastic wrap and let it sit for an hour, or until rolls have doubled in size.
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Bake the rolls for 10 to 15 minutes, watching them for desired brownness. Let cool a few minutes before serving.
- Completely cooled rolls can be frozen in gallon freezer bags for several months. Sealed rolls will keep well at room temperature for at least 6 days.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Sour Cream Bread
Make note: this recipe doesn’t make sourdough bread. Instead, it uses sour cream to create tender, delicious sandwich bread that isn’t the least bit sour.
I always keep sour cream around. It’s often on sale, it keeps well, and I can use it for tacos, salads, or making this bread. I actually make this bread on an almost weekly basis.
Different brands of sour cream have different consistency. That means you need to keep an eye on this in the mixing stage. If it looks lumpy, add more water. If it’s looser, add more flour.
This loaf bread may be finicky, but it’s worth the effort. The end result has that perfect fresh bread smell and soft texture. It makes your whole house smell cozy and happy, and does the very same to your belly.
I originally found this recipe in a fabulous book, The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger.
Bready or Not: Sour Cream Bread
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon water
- 1 cup sour cream use nonstick spray on measuring cup
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vital wheat gluten
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
Instructions
- If you're using a bread machine, add the ingredients in the recommended order and run on dough cycle or full bread mode. I prefer to do dough cycle and bake in the oven.
- If you're using a stand mixer, blend water and sour cream. In a separate bowl, combine bread flour, brown sugar, gluten, salt, and yeast. Mix wet and dry ingredients together and knead with a dough hook.
Either method: Keep an eye on the texture. If it's wet or too tacky, add more flour. If it's too lumpy or thick, splash in a tiny bit more water as needed.
- Let dough rise until it has doubled, 1-2 hours. Grease or non-stick spray a bread pan.
- Lightly grease a surface and dump your dough onto it. With your greased hands, form the dough into a loaf shape by gently folding. Set in the pan--or glop it in, and smooth it out (that's still a professional method, I think). Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap or a shower cap.
- Let dough rise in a warm spot until it's crested to desired height, 30-60 minutes. Watch it.
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
- Bake bread for 20 minutes. Cover the top with foil to prevent heavy browning, then bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. When it's done, it'll sound hollow when tapped.
- Remove bread from oven and hold it over a rack so it will gently drop out; use a spatula to carefully loosen it, if needed. If you want, you can brushed the top with some butter to soften the crust and give it a shine.
- Let the bread cool at least 45 minutes before cutting. Also, you can let it cool completely and then wrap it several layers of plastic wrap before placing it in the freezer. Keeps well in freezer up to one month.
OM NOM NOM.
Bready or Not: Pretzel Sandwich Buns
It seems a lot of standard buns are just… there. A thing to hold meat. They aren’t memorable or flavorful.
You want something better than a mere meat sling? MAKE THIS.
These buns are soft and chewy, tender yet strong. They can cradle juicy meat without instantly becoming a soggy mess, but they won’t break your teeth, either. That little bit of salt on the top complements just about everything. Want to use these for hamburger buns? Make big rounds. Or shape them into hot dog buns. Or as rolls that you can use for sliders, or simply slice open to add butter.
They keep great in a sealed container for a few days, and also freeze and thaw in a fabulous way.
Trust me, once you make these buns, you’ll never settle for the grocery store stuff again.
Bready or Not: Pretzel Sandwich Buns
Ingredients
Dough Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups warm water
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour bread flour is best
- 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
Topping Ingredients
- coarse sea salt like pretzel salt or kosher salt
Water Bath
- 2 quarts water
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 1/4 cup baking soda
Instructions
- Mix and knead the dough ingredients — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a smooth, slightly sticky dough. If you're making by hand, allow the dough to rise in a lightly greased bowl, covered, for about 1 hour, until doubled. In bread machine, let the full dough cycle run through.
- Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface.
- Divide the dough into as many buns as you want. About 8 to 10 will work for sandwich size, while about 12 can be done at about slider size. Shape each piece into a smooth ball.
- Place the balls on a lightly greased baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for 15 minutes.
- While that's happening, preheat the oven to 400°F and prepare the water bath for the stovetop. Bring the water, salt, and baking soda to a boil in a large pot.
- Gently lower several dough balls at a time into the water bath. Cook for 30 seconds, flip over, and cook for 30 seconds longer. Using a slotted spoon, return the buns to the baking sheet.
- Using scissors or a sharp knife, cut half-inch deep crosses into the center of each bun. Sprinkle with coarse salt.
- Bake the buns for 20 to 24 minutes (lower time for smaller rolls/buns), or until they're brown. Remove them from the oven, and transfer to a rack to cool.
OM NOM NOM
