Dinner Rolls: This Is How I Roll
February 27, 2017
“Dinner rolls!”
This is a pan of my dinner rolls in the oven, domed and golden, with an oven thermometer hanging from the rack in front of them.
The thermometer is there for a reason. Home ovens are often 25 degrees or more off the number on the dial, and a cheap hanging thermometer is the fix. On my blog I used these rolls for an experiment, resting one batch of dough overnight and the other for only ninety minutes. Both were soft, but I found the long-rested dough had a much stronger, more developed flavor and was easier to shape.
This article is written in Corey’s voice for this tribute site, based on his captions and blog. His own words are the quotes above.
From the journalRolling out DinnerRead Corey’s full write-up of this bake →Soft Butter Dinner Rolls
These are classic American pull-apart rolls: a soft dough enriched with milk, butter, egg and a little sugar, baked close together so the sides stay tender. They belong to the same family as the Parker House roll, made famous by Boston's Parker House hotel in the 1870s.
Ingredients
Dough
- 480 g unbleached all-purpose flour (4 cups)
- 240 g whole milk, lukewarm (1 cup)
- 50 g egg (1 large)
- 50 g granulated sugar (1/4 cup)
- 9 g fine sea salt (1 1/2 tsp)
- 8 g instant yeast (2 1/2 tsp)
- 70 g unsalted butter, soft (5 tbsp)
Finish
- 40 g unsalted butter, melted (3 tbsp)
- Flaky sea salt, optional
Method
- Mix everything except the butter on low speed for 3 minutes. Add the butter and knead on medium for 7 to 9 minutes, until the dough is smooth, supple and slightly tacky.
- Cover and let rise at warm room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, until doubled.
- Turn out and divide into 15 pieces of about 60 g. To round each one, flatten it, gather the edges to the centre, flip it seam side down, and roll it under a cupped hand against an unfloured bench until the surface is tight and smooth.
- Arrange in 3 rows of 5 in a buttered 23 x 33 cm (9 x 13 in) pan. Cover and proof for 45 to 60 minutes, until the rolls are puffy and touching.
- Brush lightly with some of the melted butter. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 18 to 22 minutes, until evenly golden brown and 190°F (88°C) in the centre.
- Brush with the remaining melted butter as soon as they leave the oven and sprinkle with flaky salt. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift out and serve warm.
Chef’s notes
- Heavy rolls are usually underproofed. They should look swollen and hold a slight dent when pressed before they go into the oven.
- Tight rounding gives a tall roll. A loosely shaped roll spreads sideways and bakes up flat.
- To make ahead, shape the rolls, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Let them stand at room temperature for about 1 hour, until puffy, then bake.
- For rolls that stay soft for several days, cook 25 g of the flour with 120 g of the milk into a tangzhong paste first, as in the milk bread recipe.
Drawn from the methods of
- King Arthur Baking Company
- Rose Levy Beranbaum, The Bread Bible (2003)
- Peter Reinhart, The Bread Baker's Apprentice (2001)
Corey has not published his own formula for this piece. This reference recipe is compiled from the published methods of the chefs and bakers listed above, written in our own words.
