These pull apart dinner rolls are Dave’s favorite – and they are a staple on Thanksgiving. I’ve tried to change it up, make alternative buns but every time I do he refers back to these rolls and requests I stop fussing. It normally goes like this: I really like your other buns…. then some quip about my back end. ha ha.
Mind you he doesn’t mind doing the taste testing…. (Try this roll, Dave. Is it better than the thanksgiving rolls?) Thanksgiving – which is David’s favorite holiday – he repeatedly and continually requests that I make the below rolls. I do continue to try to sway him – and the reason being is that sometimes even I struggle with this recipe. Not sure what it is… but I’ve waited hours and hours for these dang rolls to rise some years on Thanksgiving – but in the end they do… Maybe it’s just general cooking stress of Thanksgiving and the rolls don’t get the usual love… Or maybe I’d had too many mimosa’s and didn’t start the rolls in time. ha. Dunno. But here is the recipe in all it’s glory.
Why are these Dave’s Favorite Pull Apart Dinner Rolls?
I think it must be sensory memory and these were the rolls that I made the first few years we had Thanksgiving together. They say that smell is the strongest sense tied to memories. If you smell something – and it’s tied to a strong memory – it will last forever. Like the smell of your grandma’s house…
Maybe it’s the texture – these rolls are not pillow-ey soft – and certainly not dense – but they have a sturdy texture which makes for good (but small) sammiches the next day. They do hold up for a few days – not easily stale and don’t change texture over the couple of days during which they are gobbled up with left overs.
I found this recipe on the King Arthur Flour Website
#KeepingItReal
Most of the time – I find recipes and I change them up. I reduce the sugar, add an egg and switch the flour to white whole wheat flour or something like that. But not in this case… You can see the original recipe at this link.
So no changes, then?
Maybe reduce the sugar from 2 Tbl to 1 or even zero…
Make the dough, let it rise. Shape the rolls, bake.
Daves Favorite Butter Pull Apart Rolls
Ingredients
Dough Ingredients
- 3½ C Flour – All Purpose
- 2 tsp Yeast
- ¼ C Dried Potato Flakes – the stuff that comes in a box that you mix with water to make instant mashed potatoes
- 3 Tbl Dry Milk Powder
- 1 Tbl Sugar – KAF recommended 2 – not entirely sure why we add sugar to bread?
- 1½ Tsp Salt
- 4 Tbl Butter – Softened
- ⅔ C Water – Lukewarm – like a nice bath temp
- ½ C Milk – Lukewarm – like a nice bath temp
After Baking
- 2 Tbl Butter – Melted – for the top of the baked buns
Instructions
- Add all ingredients for Dough into your mixer bowl and mix / knead with your dough hook until the dough is combined, smooth, and well kneaded.
- Place dough in a clean and oiled container or bowl to rise till doubled. (Maybe 1 – 1½ Hr.)
- Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and split dough into 16 portions (half / half again….)
- Form dough into balls, pinching dough on the underneath. Then cup your hand and rotate your hand in a circle and press down ever so slightly to tighten the circle and firm up the dough ball.
- Place the dough balls into a greased 8" or 9" cake pans – having space between the rolls.
- Allow the rolls to rise a second time to appx double again – which will take appx another 1 – 1½ hours. After about 30 minutes – heat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Once the rolls are risen to about double – bake them at 350℉ for 22 – 24 minutes – Until they are brown and done. (I always seem to bake mine a bit more – maybe my oven is off a smidge — final internal temp is Appx 190℉ for bread.)
- Using a pastry brush, apply the melted butter to the top of the rolls.