Planning our holidaze feast, my husband came across a recipe, from the nice folk at Fleischmann’s yeast, I think, for dinner rolls made with buttermilk and honey.
The recipe looked simple enough, and, because it called for fast-rising yeast, it could all be tossed together and baked in the between-times of dinner prep.
Note: No fast-rising yeast? No worries! Just use the same amount of regular yeast and, well, wait a bit longer for it to rise.
INGREDIENTS
Rolls:
•1 cup buttermilk*
•4 tbsp butter, melted
•2 packets rapid rise yeast (4-1/2 tsp total)
•4 tbsp honey
•1/2 tsp salt
•1 egg
•3-1/2 to 4 cups flour
•Additional butter (for the baking pan)
Topping:
•2 tbsp melted butter
*You can make your own buttermilk substitute by adding one tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a container, and stirring in milk to measure one cup and letting it rest for 10 or 15 minutes.
Add the melted butter to the buttermilk, then heat in the ‘wave, 20 seconds at a time, until an instant read thermometer reads 110º to 115º.
Note: sticking a wooden skewer into the buttermilk mixture before ‘waving will help to prevent it from super-heating and ‘popping’ all over the ‘wave interior.
Whisk the yeast into the honey in a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (my preferred method).
Whisk in the warm buttermilk mixture, then the salt and the egg.
Add 2-1/4 cups of the flour and mix until the flour is completely incorporated, and you have a sticky dough.
With the mixer running, add additional flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough comes together in a ball and cleans the sides of the mixing bowl.
Note: how much extra flour you need will differ and depend on a lot of factors, such as how humid it is. This batch ended up taking about 3/12 cups.
You can, at this point, flour your hands, then transfer the dough ball to a floured ,board and knead it for four minutes or so, but I had other things to do, and so set the timer and let the mixer work its magic, until the dough was smooth and elastic.
Heat your oven to 400º
Butter a 13×9 inch baking pan, then separate the dough into roughly a dozen balls – as you can see, I did not excel at this part – then arrange in the buttered pan with about an inch or so of space between each. Do not stress if the dough balls are not the same size, or if you cannot maintain that one inch of space between each.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap, then set in a warm spot for ten or fifteen minutes.
Note: as always, you are the boss of that dough! Can’t get back to it in ten or fifteen minutes? It will be fine!
Remove the plastic wrap and bake the rolls in the hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are golden brown on top.
Brush immediately with melted butter, then serve warm.
Pretty terrific rolls!
My husband says that they remind him of the ones his grandmother used to make, and also offered that they would, no doubt, be most excellent with sausage gravy in place of biscuits.