linbakesbread

Good morning bread bakers!

Today I am going to make dinner rolls – hopefully the soft, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth kind of dinner rolls you might find in an old-fashioned diner. I decided to try a recipe that uses the Japanese Tangzhong method which promises to deliver just those qualities. First I will have to heat a portion of the flour and water to make a pudding-like mixture. It is this pudding-like mixture that should make all the difference. You see, I learned that flour can absorb twice as much hot water as cold water and it’s this extra water in the dough that will make the rolls super soft. I am ready to start baking and see what this technique can deliver! Oh, I almost forgot: I got this recipe from www.butterandbaggage and this person got the recipe from Cooks Illustrated.

Here is the recipe. Please bake Fluffy Dinner Rolls with me.

Special Tools you will need:
Stand mixer such as a KitchenAid

Here are all the ingredients -- nothing fancy!

Ingredients:

· Flour Paste:
½ cup water
3 Tablespoons Montana Sapphire flour (or other bread flour)

Dough:
½ cup cold milk
1 egg
2 cups Montana Sapphire flour (or other bread flour)
1 ½ teaspoons yeast (original recipe called for instant yeast which I would probably use in the future)
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened plus extra to grease bowl
½ Tablespoons salted butter, melted

Directions:

Make Paste: Whisk water and flour together in a medium-size microwave safe bowl until there are no lumps. Microwave, whisking every 20 seconds until mixture thickens to a stiff, smooth, pudding-like consistency (1-2 minutes total). Near the end, I microwaved for just 10 seconds at a time before whisking.

Make Dough: Add the milk to the paste and whisk until smooth. Then whisk in egg. Transfer this mixture to the bowl of your mixer. Add the flour and yeast. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed until all the flour is incorporated, about 2 minutes. Let sit for 15 minutes.

Add the sugar and salt and knead on medium-low speed for 5 minutes. Then add softened butter, 1 tablespoon at a time until incorporated and continue to knead for 5 additional minutes scraping down sides as needed.

Knead Dough & First Rise: Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. It will be sticky. Knead briefly to form a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Prep Pan & Form Rolls: Grease a 9-inch round cake pan. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and press gently to remove air. Pat and stretch to form an 8 inch by 9 inch rectangle. With the short side facing you, cut the dough into 4 equal strips and cut each strip into 3 equal pieces. Work with one piece at a time and press it into an 8 inch by 2 inch strip. Starting at one end, roll up each strip into a tight cylinder. Place seam side down in prepared pan, pointing inward. Place 10 around pan and 2 in the middle.

Second Rise: Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Bake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Let cool in pan for 3 minutes and then remove and brush with melted butter. Serve warm.

The finished rolls:

Reflections on this bake: Unlike any bread I’ve ever made before! It has a soft, pillowy texture – almost like Hawaiian Rolls (I dare say). None of the ingredients were unusual. Achieving that amazing texture was all due to that little bit of extra hydration made possible by the flour and hot water paste. I will have to learn more about that Tangzhong method; I’m quite intrigued. While the texture was the star, the light buttery flavor was delicious too. I am definitely making these again and may see if this recipe can be made into a “do-ahead” recipe.