Hello Foodies!
The Holidays are coming up and what’s more perfect than fresh baked dinner rolls! As many of you know, Hmong food is a cuisine I love to share with you all. However, my expertise is also in Pastry Arts. I love love love baking especially baking bread or any yeasted dough in general. Today, I’ll show you a super easy dinner roll recipe that is great for a low key Thanksgiving, or any dinner in general. My grandma loves bread and this recipe is just right for her taste buds. Not too salty and not too sweet. Many of you have requested so I hope this recipe is to your liking. It’s a little time consuming but so worth the wait. Soft, pillowy, buttery, and oh so very good! Great with more butter, jam, garlic butter, or just as is.
Happy Holidays and I hope you all stay safe and healthy during this uncertain time 🙂 Happy Baking!
What you’ll need
I’m using all purpose flour for this recipe. Bread flour is higher in protein which will great a much chewier bread. But I want these dinner rolls to be on the softer side so we’ll be using all purpose flour but mix it a little bit longer to create some good gluten strands. Other ingredients includes instant yeast, sugar, egg, butter, salt, and whole milk.
Mixing for a total time of 20 minutes to create good gluten strands
Since this dough has quite a bit of butter, it will take a little longer to proof. First proof will take at least 2 hrs
Portion out to 16 equal pieces. Each weighing 2oz each. You can also do 12 portions weighing about 2.5oz each
How to roll and create the layers so that when you pull them apart after baking, you can see the soft flaky layers
Using a 9×13 pan laying the dough 4×4
Second proof: Should take about 1.5-2 hrs to proof until it doubles in size. Do not overproof or else they will deflate when it’s done baking.
Bake! 
Brush with melted salted butter 
And see the shine! 
Pull them apart
And enjoy! 
So soft and pillowy!
Happy Baking!
-CHawjCreations
Ingredients
- 450 g all purpose flour (~3 ¼ cups not packed) (I used King Arthur)
- 7 g salt (1 tsp)
- 11.5 g instant yeast (~1 tbsp)
- 75g sugar (~⅓ cup)
- 1 egg (50g)
- 200 ml room temp (warmish) whole milk (3/4cups) [best at 95' F or 35' C]
- 87 g unsalted soften butter (6 TBSP)
- 5 Ice cubes (for baking) (or about 1/2 cups of water)
- *Melted salted butter to brush the top after it's done baking*
Instructions
1) In a mixing bowl add in warm milk (milk temperature should be at 95'F or 35'C: Any higher, it will kill the yeast so make sure it's not HOT). Slightly warm milk will activate the yeast. Into the milk, add the yeast, sugar, egg, flour, and then the salt.
2) Place your mixer with a hook and mix (under speed 2) for 3-4 minutes until the dry are hydrated. Once you notice the dry is starting to hydrate, add in the soften butter. Mix for 15 minutes. Total mixing time should be about 20 minutes (first 4-5 minutes is hydrating the dough and then another 15 minutes to finish the mixing after the butter is added) to fully develop the gluten and make the dough nice and shiny. If you notice (throughout the mixing process) the dough isn't attaching to the hook anymore, scrape the dough so the hook can continue do its work. Once 15 minutes is up, you'll notice the dough has formed. If you mixed it right, the dough shouldn't be sticky to your hands. **If mixing by hand, it should take about 15 minutes or so too
3) Once mixed, finish rolling the dough out into a ball on your table. Then place into a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Put it in a warm place and let it proof for 2 hrs or until double in size (depends where you live). Since it's cold here, I placed mine in my oven with the HEAT OFF and just the oven light tuned on. Once proof, we can shape.
4) Cut the dough into 16 equal pieces, weighing around 2oz each. For each portion, tuck and roll to get a smooth surface. Then with a roller, flatten out the dough. From the bottom up, continue to roll over the dough, rotate, and roll again (refer to the picture). Then do your best to roll it into a ball.
5) After all the portions are rolled out, place each ball onto a non stick 9x13 baking sheet pan. Spray with cooking oil and cover with plastic wrap. Cooking oil will help so the dough doesn't stick to the plastic wrap when its proofing. Proof in a warm place for about 1.5-2 hrs or until double in size.
6) Preheat oven to 350'F or 176'C along with a small baking pan in a lower rack so it can heat through while the oven is preheating. Once preheated, add 5 ice cubes onto the hot pan you placed in. This will create steam and help the dough rise faster and provide moister to create a softer dinner roll. Then place the rolls in & bake for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes rotate and bake for another 8-10 more minutes (cooking time depends on you oven). Once golden brown, remove and brush the top with melted salted butter. Let it cool for 5 minutes or so and enjoy while it's still warm.
7) To store: Place each roll in a plastic bag or wrap individually in plastic wrap. You can reheat it in the microwave for 10-15 secs or so or reheat in the oven if desire. It will stay soft for a good day. I recommend just reheating it in the microwave for 10 secs or so just to soften it back up.
ENJOY!
Notes
Great with jam, butter spread (salted or garlic butter), dipped in coconut custard etc. I highly recommend using a scale to measure out everything since it's more consistent. You'll get better results every time you make it.
