This step-by-step garlic butter roll recipe will have you rolling dough like a pro
Don’t let yeast scare you. Follow these tips and you’ll be making light, fluffy bakery-style dinner rolls in no time.
Here’s everything you love about garlic bread, dressed up in a classy little knotted bun. They’re the perfect accompaniment to a dinner party or as a side to bring to a barbecue. Yeast can be intimidating to work with, but keep reading for my tips and tricks to making perfect buns, every time.
Technique of the month: demystifying yeast
Many bakers are intimidated by working with yeast, but I am here to show you how easy it is to achieve bakery-style results at home. The real skill needed when working with yeast is patience. Most errors made when baking yeasted doughs come down to rushing the proving times, resulting in dense, gummy doughs. There are three key points to ensuring success:
- Activating the yeast. This simply means mixing the yeast with water and sugar to begin fermentation. If the liquid is too hot it can kill the yeast, so stick to 35-40C (lukewarm or blood temperature). You can test it by running the water over the inside of your wrist. If it feels warmer than body temperature, but not hot, it’s about right.
- Temperature. Yeast needs warmth to activate, so ensure you are proving the dough around 25-30C.
- Allowing enough time. The first rise tends to be the slowest; allow between an hour and 90 minutes and ensure the dough doubles in size. The second rise tends to be slightly faster but is no less important. This is the final rise, and if done correctly, it will ensure you end up with fluffy and light rolls. Allow between 45 minutes and 1 hour, or until the buns have doubled in size. If the buns appear crinkled at the end of this process, they have over-proofed and will tend to collapse slightly during baking.
Ingredients
Dough
350ml warm water
10g instant yeast
20g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
500g bread flour
50g unsalted butter, softened
Garlic butter
100g unsalted butter, melted
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ bunch parsley (about 30g), finely chopped
1 tsp salt flakes
Method
Step 1
In a jug or medium bowl, combine the warm water, yeast and caster sugar and set aside for 5-7 minutes, or until the yeast is foamy. The foam is key to knowing whether your yeast is alive and active.
Step 2
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the salt and flour and slowly pour in the yeast mixture, mixing on medium speed until a soft dough forms. Continue to mix the dough for 5-7 minutes or until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Add the softened butter and continue to mix until the butter is incorporated and the dough is smooth and elastic. You will know the dough has been kneaded for long enough when it can be stretched without immediately tearing, a sign the gluten has developed and the dough is ready for its first proof.
Step 3
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover tightly with cling film. Set aside in a warm place. If your oven has a proofing function, this is ideal. If not, you could also turn the oven light on in the cold oven, creating a warm chamber for the first proof. For the first proof, allow 1-1½ hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.
Step 4
Once doubled, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 16 even-sized pieces. Roll each piece out into a 15cm log before tying it into a knot as if you were knotting rope. Tuck each end under the knot to form a neat knotted ball.
Step 5
Place the knots onto two baking trays lined with baking paper and cover lightly with clingfilm. Set aside in a warm place to double in size again, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional).
Step 6
Once the knots have doubled, brush them with some of the melted butter and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Step 7
To make the garlic butter, combine the remaining butter with the garlic, parsley and salt in a bowl. While the buns are still warm from the oven, liberally coat them with garlic butter. These are best served warm and fresh.
Tips
- This is a soft dough, so it’s simpler to knead it in a stand mixer using a dough hook rather than by hand.
- Don’t be tempted to add extra flour to the dough. The more you knead it, the less sticky it will become as the gluten develops. Adding extra flour, however tempting, will make the buns dry rather than fluffy.
- Activating the yeast before adding to the flour ensures it is alive and will give you the lift needed for these buns. You can skip this step if you are confident the yeast is still active.
- Brushing the buns with garlic butter while they’re warm will help the fresh, pillowy dough absorb the flavour.
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Emelia Jackson – Good Food’s Better Baking columnist is a former MasterChef Australia winner and author of two baking cookbooks.
