Small-Batch Dinner Rolls
- Level: Intermediate
- Yield: 8 rolls
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 8 servings
- Calories
- 696
- Total Fat
- 63
- Saturated Fat
- 6
- Carbohydrates
- 30
- Dietary Fiber
- 1
- Sugar
- 6
- Protein
- 4
- Cholesterol
- 6
- Sodium
- 181
- Total: 17 hr (including rising times)
- Active: 40 min
Ingredients
2/3 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons shortening
1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour (see Cook's Note)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
Vegetable oil, for the bowl
1 tablespoon salted butter, melted
Directions
- Heat the milk, sugar and shortening in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to help melt the shortening, just until the mixture begins to simmer. Pour into a bowl. Set aside to cool to about 125 degrees F.
- Sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk mixture, then add 2/3 cup of the flour to the mixture. Stir until no lumps remain and the mixture looks like pancake batter. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place for 2 hours.
- Add the salt, baking powder, baking soda and 1/3 cup of the remaining flour to the yeast mixture. Stir well and add the remaining 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. Start using your hands after the final flour addition, kneading the mixture for a couple of minutes to form a smooth, elastic dough. Lightly oil a bowl, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours.
- Lay the dough on a work surface and press it out to a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle (about 12 inches by 14 inches) using your fingers. (The work surface doesn't need flour. Just keep picking up the dough between presses.) Cut the rectangle into 4 equal strips crosswise, then cut each of those strips into 2 equal pieces, for a total of 8 pieces. Starting on the shorter side of a piece, roll each piece into a tight cylindrical coil. Pinch the edges to seal.
- Place each cylinder seam-side down in a 9-inch cake pan, putting 7 of the cylinders in a ring around the pan's edge. Each cylinder should point inward, like the hands of a clock. Put the last 1 cylinder in the center of the pan. Cover loosely with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise until nearly doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Bake the rolls until golden, about 15 minutes. Brush with the melted butter and serve immediately.
Cook’s Note
When measuring flour, we spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off excess. (Scooping directly from the bag compacts the flour, resulting in dry baked goods.)