Buttery Dinner Rolls - Plain Rolls # 3

This is a Peter Reinhart’s recipe, found in the book Baker’s Dozen. This book has very very few pictures and most of those that I have attempted are those with pictures. I guess pictures do play a very important role whether or not we want to read through the recipe, moreover try it out.



The name is a bit misleading. It doesn't taste that buttery. Compared to Parker House Rolls, this is a clear loser in the "buttery" competition. I was almost tempted to change the name to Yogurt Dinner Rolls, but somehow, didn't. The original recipe called for buttermilk and we can hardly find that here. Even if you can find it, it is very expensive. Usually I will substitute with soured milk (lemon juice + milk) or just use yogurt for it. I used almost full yogurt the first attempt and the yogurt was homemade stuff bought from the Indian eateries that is locally called as ‘tairu’. And they can be very sour at times. Well there isn’t any QA since it’s homemade. I wasn’t satisfied with the first outcome, and I did it again. This time using less yogurt, store bought manufactured yogurt.

Peter said this dough is slacky and tacky and it's meant to be that way. The tackiness is reduced after the 1st proofing. But if you really cannot stand the tackiness after the 1st proofing, add a little bit of flour, but not too much. The buns get wrinkly all the time after baking, I've made this 3 times, 3 times! I wonder did I overproof or I should reduce the yeast. Or I should just bake them after they get puffy but not doubled after shaping? I won't give up on these rolls, and I hope that one day I will be able to make them look like what is in the picture, smooth and round. And these 2 rolls shown are the best among the 3 batches I made. LOL.

Buttery Dinner Rolls

Recipe source: Baker's Dozen
Converted into metric weight by Wendyywy

500gm all purpose flour (I choose the type with 9.8% protein, read the nutritional label)
200gm plain yogurt (I used Nestle Natural Set)
200gm fresh milk/full cream milk
60gm butter
50gm sugar
8gm salt
10gm instant yeast
1 small egg, beaten
Some poppy seeds for sprinkling

1. Put everything together and knead until you form a dough.
2. Continue to knead on low speed for 8 minutes (I used speed 2 on my KA)
3. A slacky and slightly sticky dough will form.
4. Let it proof (covered) until double (Peter said, 1.5 hours, true indeed). It will turn tacky.
5. Divide into 50gm balls of dough (I got 21pcs)
6. Roll the dough into balls and place on a lined or greased pan
7. Proof (covered) until dough balls double up again.
8. Preheat oven to 160(fan)/180C.
9. Brush top of dough with beaten egg and sprinkle on some poppy seeds.
10. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Verdict: Buns are hard to shape, I've made this 3 times and they get wrinkly all the time, but the texture inside is fine and delicious. To me, it has that "bounce" when you bite into it, and it's what I love about this ugly bun. Not manual kneading friendly at all.

Come let's slather on some butter............... yummy!