FRASER ELISABETH TAN, PHD

Fluffy Dinner Rolls

Another winner from ATK! These rolls are soft, fluffy and oh so delicious, with just a hint of extra sweetness from the honey. While the original recipe calls for making 15 rolls (5 x 3), you can easily downsize them to make twenty four (6 x 4).

Makes 15 rolls (big ones) VEG

Ingredients

  • 5 cups (25 ounces) all purpose flour
  • 2 1/4 tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 cups (12 oz) whole milk, room temperature or lukewarm
  • 1/4 cup (4 oz) honey
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 4 tbsp (1 2/3 oz) vegetable shortening, melted
  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp water and pinch of salt (for egg wash)

Equipment

  • stand mixer
  • 9 x 13 baking pan
  • foil
  • kitchen scale (optional but recommended)

Directions

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, yeast and salt.
  2. Whisk together the milk, honey, egg, melted shortening and melted butter in a 4-cup measuring cup until honey has dissolved.
  3. Using the dough hook on low speed, slowly add milk mixture to flour mixture and mix until a cohesive dough starts to form and no dry flour remains, about 2 minutes; you may need to scrape down the bowl a few times.
  4. Increase speed to medium-low and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, and pulling away from the sides of the bowl, about 8 minutes.
  5. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand to form a smooth round ball, about 30 seconds. Place dough seam side down in a greased bowl, cover tightly and let rise, until doubled in size, 1.5 to 2 hours.
  6. I usually do this in my oven on the bread proof setting.
  7. Make a foil sling for your baking dish, then spray the sling and dish well with nonstick baking spray.
  8. Press down on dough to deflate. Divide the dough into 15 equal pieces, keeping dough under greased plastic wrap as much as possible to prevent a dry skin from forming.
  9. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time (keeping remaining covered), form dough into balls by stretching dough around your thumbs and pinching ends together (to form a gluten cloak). Place ball seam side down on a clean counter and, using your cupped hand, drag in small circles until dough feels taut and round. Place roll in pan. Repeat with remaining balls.
  10. Cover dough and pan loosely with greased plastic and let rise until nearly doubled, roughly 1 to 1.5 hours. Dough should spring back minimally when poked with your knuckle.
  11. Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and preheat oven to 350°.
  12. Gently brush rolls with egg wash mixture.
  13. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating halfway through baking time.
  14. Let rolls cool in pan for 15 minutes, then use sling to remove rolls and transfer (without sling) to wire rack.

Notes

  • Total rising time: 2.5 to 3.5 hours, Baking time: 25 minutes, Total time: 4.5 to 5 hours
  • I moved from table salt to kosher salt, as the rolls were just the tiniest bit too salty for my taste
  • Make sure the egg and milk aren’t cold, as this will solidify your melted butter and shortening
  • The dough can be refrigerated overnight after shaping the rolls (8 to 16 hours); let them sit at room temperature for an hour or so to come up to temperature before baking
  • Try as hard as you can not to add additional flour; this dough feels a bit sticky, but it doesn’t stick too much due to the shortening and butter. If you add too much flour, the rolls will come out stiff and hard and dry.

Source: ATK's Bread Illustrated