Hands-on Time: 30 minutes
Rise Time: 2½ hours
Baking Time: 18 minutes
Ready in: 3 ½ hours
Ingredients:
For the rolls:
1 tbsp dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup warm water between 90˚-110˚F (30˚-40˚C)
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup lukewarm milk
3.5 tbsp salted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs room temperature, beaten
For the butter:
1 stick softened salted butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
Directions: For the Rolls:
Step one:
Place the yeast and 2 teaspoons of the sugar in a medium bowl, then pour in water. Leave for 5 minutes until it froths.
Step two: Place flour, remaining sugar and salt in a bowl. Mix to combine. Make a well in the center. Add milk, butter, eggs and pour in the yeast liquid.
Step three: Mix until combined with a wooden spoon - it will be like a thick muffin batter. Not pourable, but thick and sticky. Step four: Leave the dough in the bowl, cover with a wet (clean) tea towel and place in a warm place to rise until almost tripled in volume (about 1 ½-2 hours). The dough surface should be bubbly.
Step five:
Lightly spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray.
Step six: Remove the tea towel and press dough to deflate, then mix briefly in the bowl to get rid of the bubbles in the dough.
Step seven: Dust work surface with flour, place dough on work surface. Dust top of the dough and shape into a log.
Step eight:
Cut the log into 4 pieces, then cut each piece into 3 pieces (12 in total).
Step nine: Take a dough piece and press down with your palm, hold the dough in your palm keeping the bottom side smooth and use your fingers to gather it into a ball.
Step ten: Place the ball smooth side up into the prepared pan. Repeat with remaining dough. Line them up 3 x 4. Step eleven: Place a clean dry towel over the rolls and let rise for a second time for 30 - 45 min. Halfway through this rise, preheat your oven to 350˚F
Step twelve:
Bake for 15 - 18 minutes, or until the surface is a golden brown and the roll in the center sounds hollow when tapped. (This is the best time to start making the butter!) Remove rolls from the oven. Brush with melted butter if desired.
For the butter:
Step one:
Combine the butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl.
Step two:
Beat with a hand mixer until butter is fluffy and has a lot of air whipped into it. (About 5 minutes)
About the recipe:
For this recipe, it is imperative that all the ingredients must be around room temperature to not kill the yeast. If you are like me and never remember to set things out here is a little tip. I place the milk and butter in the microwave in thirty-second intervals until the butter is just melted into the milk. I then beat the eggs in with the fork and asses the temperature. The whole mixture should be lukewarm. If it's still cold microwave again until its just warm.
As you can see from the photos I'm not the best at equally portioning out the dough, if you want to make sure every roll is exactly the same size feel free to use a scale. But trust me when I say that no one I have ever made these for has noticed, especially after they rise.
Pros:
These rolls are quite literally some of the best bread I've ever eaten. And with the butter.... Oh my.
Cons:
These rolls are a labor of love and take quite a while to make. As with most homemade breads they will not last more than a week so you have to eat them quickly.
