Butter Rolls Image Used Under Creative Commons License From kingarthurflour.com
Citizens, the gloriously glutinous Bohemian that ALONE is TFD loves bread in virtually all of its forms – but is especially fond of the classic pull-apart rolls that adorn every Winter holiday table!
This recipe from King Arthur Flour is my go-to version of these delights – especially this version enhanced by a unique Japanese baking technique that makes them even softer and more delicious!
As noted on kingarthurflour.com:
At last! The quintessential soft, buttery dinner roll. Nestled — we might even say “crowded” — into a couple of 8″ round pans, the shaped buns rise into one another as they bake. The result? Soft-sided pull-apart buns, ready for melting pats of soft butter.
This recipe uses a Japanese baking technique known as Tangzhong. What does it do, exactly?
How can you elevate your favorite dinner rolls to new levels of pillow-y softness — in one simple step? Ditto your old-fashioned sandwich bread, tender cinnamon rolls, and gooey sticky buns. The answer: tangzhong, the Asian yeast bread technique that’s gradually making its way into American kitchens.
These days, with “artisan” the byword for many yeast bakers, we aspire to breads that are ever more crusty/chewy, such as pizza crust, baguettes, bagels and more.
But let’s not lose sight of a whole world of classic soft yeast breads: the sliced white bread of our youthful sandwiches, the Sunday morning platter of tender sticky buns.
Sadly, all too often our quest for super-soft rolls falls far short of our dreams. The brioche buns are oddly dry and chewy; the cinnamon rolls, downright tough. What’s a frustrated baker to do?
Tangzhong: the quick and easy path to softer, more tender dinner rolls, sandwich loaves, and cinnamon buns.
This Japanese technique cooks a small percentage of the flour and liquid (water or milk) in a yeast recipe very briefly before combining the resulting thick slurry with the remaining ingredients.
How does this technique affect yeast dough? It pre-gelatinizes the starches in the flour, meaning they can absorb more water. In fact, flour will absorb twice as much hot water or milk as it does the cool/lukewarm water or milk you’d usually use in yeast dough.
Not only does the starch in the flour absorb more liquid; since heating the starch with water creates structure, it’s able to hold onto that extra liquid throughout the kneading, baking, and cooling processes. Which in turn means:
• Since there’s less free (unabsorbed) water in the dough, it’s less sticky and easier to knead;
• The bread or rolls may rise higher, due to more water creating more internal steam (which makes bread rise in the oven — along with the carbon dioxide given off by the yeast);
• Having retained more water during baking, bread and rolls will be moister, and will stay soft and fresh longer.
Citizens, this recipe is simply superb – I hope you choose to incorporate this into your Christmas meal and the tangzhong technique into your yeasted bread baking repertoire!
Battle on – The Generalissimo
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons potato flour or ¼ cup instant potato flakes
- 3 tablespoons Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 4 tablespoons soft butter
- ⅔ cup lukewarm water
- ½ cup lukewarm milk
- ***
- Topping:
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
Instructions
- Combine all of the dough ingredients in a large bowl, and mix and knead — using your hands, a stand mixer, or a bread machine set on the dough cycle — to make a soft, smooth dough.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased container — an 8-cup measure works well here. Cover the container, and allow the dough to rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until it's just about doubled in bulk.
- Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface.
- Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces, by dividing in half, then in halves again, etc. Round each piece into a smooth ball.
- Lightly grease two 8" round cake pans. Space 8 buns in each pan. Can you use 9" round cake pans, or a 9" x 13" pan? Sure; the buns just won't nestle together as closely, so their sides will be a bit more baked.
- Cover the pans, and allow the buns to rise till they're crowded against one another and quite puffy, about 60 to 90 minutes. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Uncover the buns, and bake them for 22 to 24 minutes, until they're golden brown on top and the edges of the center bun spring back lightly when you touch it. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the center bun should register at least 190°F.
- Remove the buns from the oven, and brush with the melted butter. After a couple of minutes, turn them out of the pan onto a cooling rack.
- Serve warm. Store leftovers well-wrapped, at room temperature.
- Tips from our bakers:
- Rather than worrying about heating milk and water to lukewarm, simply combine cold milk with hot tap water. The result? Lukewarm liquid, which is your goal.
- To make the buns the day before, then bake them just before serving, prepare them up to the point where they're shaped and in the pan. Let them rise until they've filled the pan and are touching one another, but aren't fully risen. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
- Next day, remove the buns from the fridge (keeping them covered), and let warm/rise for an hour or so before uncovering and baking as directed.
- For smaller buns, divide the dough into 24 pieces instead of 16. Bake in a 9" x 13" pan (four rows of six buns each), if desired.
- Want to make these buns a day or so ahead of time? Try the tangzhong technique, a Japanese method for increasing the softness and shelf life of yeast rolls. Begin by measuring out the flour and milk you’ll be using in the recipe. Now take 3 tablespoons of the measured flour and the ½ cup milk; put them in a saucepan set over medium-high heat. Cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until it forms a thick slurry; this will take about 1 ½ to 2 ½ minutes.
- Transfer the cooked mixture to a bowl, let it cool to lukewarm, then combine it with the remaining flour and the other dough ingredients, increasing the amount of water to ⅞ cup (7 ounces). Proceed with the recipe as directed. Well-wrapped and stored at room temperature, your finished buns should stay soft and fresh for several days.
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