Homemade Garlic Dinner Rolls

The softest, squishiest garlic butter dinner rolls are the perfect accompaniment to any meal. These are easy and fun to make, and the recipe can easily be scaled. They are baked until golden brown and then finished with garlic butter when they are hot from the oven.

DESCRIPTION

The softest, squishiest garlic butter dinner rolls are the perfect accompaniment to any meal. These are easy and fun to make, and the recipe can easily be scaled. They are baked until golden brown and then finished with garlic butter when they are hot from the oven.

INGREDIENTS

Bread Dough

• 150g whole milk, lukewarm
• 40g water, lukewarm
• 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 245g bread flour
• 50g all-purpose flour
• 20g milk powder
• ¾ tsp kosher salt
• 45g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Egg wash – 1 egg beaten with 1 tsp cold water

Garlic Butter (Optional – see FAQ for other finishing options)

• 50g unsalted butter, cold from the fridge is fine
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced or grated on a Microplane
• Big pinch of flaky sea salt such as Maldon
• Flaky Sea Salt such as Maldon to finish

Baked Chicken Thighs

INSTRUCTIONS

BREAD DOUGH

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the milk, water, sugar, and yeast, and leave to stand for 5 minutes until foamy.
2. Add the egg, bread flour, all-purpose flour, milk powder, salt, and butter, and mix with the dough hook attachment on low speed until combined, 2-3 minutes, scraping down if the hook is having a hard time reaching any dry flour. 
3. Increase the speed of the mixer to medium-high and mix the dough for 15 to 20 minutes, until it is smooth, supple, and is pulling away from the sides. It will go through stages where it looks like it will never come together – this is fine, just leave it to keep mixing and it will develop strength. It may not pull fully away from the sides but you will see that the gluten is developing and the dough generally moves as one mass. It will be very smooth and stretchy and will pass the windowpane test.
4. Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface, and shape it into a tight ball. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Leave to proof in a warm place until doubled in size, which will take anywhere between 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen. 
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide it into 12 pieces of equal weight. The dough should weigh about 600g so you want to shoot for 50 g per piece. Weigh your dough first just to check and divide that number by 12 to work out your weight per ball.
6. Working with one piece of dough at a time, flatten out the piece of dough, then tuck up into a ball, then turn the ball seam side down and roll it into a tight ball by cupping your hand to create a ‘claw’ shape, using the tension from the counter to roll the dough tightly. Place to the side and cover lightly with plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough, grouping the balls together on your counter with a little space between them so they don’t touch.
7. Grease or line a 9″x13″ (23x33cm) pan.
8. Leave the dough balls to rest under the plastic for 10 minutes, then give them a quick re-roll to tighten the ball back up, and arrange them in the prepared pan. There will be a little space between your dough balls.
9. Cover the pan with plastic and leave it to rise in a warm spot for about an hour, until the dough balls are puffy and when poked gently, an indentation that slowly springs back is left. See images in the post for immediately after rolling, and just before the oven.
10. When there are about 20 minutes to go on the second rising period of the rolls, preheat the oven to 375°f / 190°c. 
11. Brush the rolls with egg wash, and place in the oven. Bake uncovered for 15 to 18 minutes until the rolls are evenly golden brown and register 190°f / 90°c internal temperature on a thermometer (checking the internal temperature isn’t super important, just bake until nice and golden brown). 
12. When the rolls are done, remove them from the oven. If serving immediately, brush with the garlic butter and sprinkle with extra flaky sea salt (see notes).

Pizza Rolls

GARLIC BUTTER

1. Place the butter and garlic into a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Cook until the butter is melted, then cook for a further 1-2 minutes, stirring often, to infuse the butter and take the edge off the garlic. 
2. Add a big pinch of salt, then stir to combine and use. 
3. This can be made ahead and then just re-melted prior to use.

NOTES

If you are serving these right away, add the garlic butter. If you are making ahead, leave the garlic butter off until just before serving as it can make them soggy. Warm the rolls in the oven then brush with the garlic butter and serve.