Butterflake Dinner Rolls

You would have laughed had you been a fly on the wall when I took these delicious dinner rolls out of the oven........
..........I thought that.......... well, it was sort of my responsibility to take a tiny taste since this was my first attempt at this recipe. They looked beautiful, but looks can be deceiving and I needed to determine whether they were "blog worthy". Now, I don't generally talk to myself, but I took one bite and knew right away they deserved a huge shout out! I blurted out "Wow, these are crazy good!"............. and then sheepishly looked around to see just who might be listening! 🙂 ...........and then I was forced to eat the rest of the roll, just to make sure the were reeeeeeeealy good!

Seriously, these are totally delicious: they joyfully tear apart in irresistible, melt in your mouth, unswirling, flaky layers. I saw this recipe on Brooke's blog, Cheeky Kitchen, a beautiful blog that I'm always inspired by. She always has something wonderful to share and her fun (and funny) personality shines throughout her interesting posts. Check out Cheeky Kitchen - I think you'll find yourself going back there again and again.

This recipe is a bit unique in two ways; there is no butter in the dough but it is added later in a simple folding technique. Also, instead of two risings (like most bread recipes) the dough is allowed to rise just once - after being shaped and placed in the pan. I did adapt Brooke's recipe a bit; I cut back a little on the butter and I used a different method for shaping the rolls however the results are the same; amazingly fabulous dinner rolls that might just make you talk to yourself too!!

P.S. I served these yummy rolls with Maple Butter - just take one stick of softened butter and mix with two tablespoons of pure maple syrup, honey would work too - heavenly............!!!

Butterflake Dinner Rolls

2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
¾ cup very warm water, 110˚-120˚ - use a thermometer for best results
⅓ cup sugar
1 egg
2 egg yolks
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup buttermilk
3 cups all-purpose flour, you might need a bit more or less
6 tablespoons butter, softened

1. Prepare a muffin tin for baking by spraying it with nonstick cooking spray, or tossing a small pat of butter into the bottom of each cup and rubbing with a paper towel to coat each cup. Set aside.

2. Combine yeast, sugar and water and mix well. Let sit about 5-8 minutes or until yeast is foamy.

3. Place yeast mixture in a large bowl, Whisk, in the salt and eggs. Beat in milk until well-mixed.

4. Use a wooden spoon to stir in about 2 ½-3 cups of flour, adding more as necessary to make a soft dough. You want to be able to knead the dough and not have it stick to your fingers, but still have the dough be soft and pillowy. You can also use a stand mixer for mixing the dough - after allowing the yeast to proof, place in the bowl of a stand mixture (with dough hook attached), add eggs, salt and milk and mix well. Add 2 ½ cups of the flour and mix until incorporated. Add more flour as needed to form a soft pillowy dough.

5. On a well floured surface, knead dough a few times. Roll out to ½ inch thickness (about a 12 x10 inch rectangle) and spread with a approximately ¼ of the butter. Fold dough in half, roll again to same size rectangle and spread with another ¼th of the butter. Repeat this 2 more times but do not fold the dough the last time. Instead, beginning with the long side of the rectangle, roll up dough, jelly-roll fashion and pinch seams to seal - do not seal ends of roll. Cut rolls into 12 equal slices and place slices into prepared muffin cups.

6. Cover and let rise about 45-60 minutes, or until well risen and almost doubled in size.

7. Bake in middle rack at 400° F for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan and cool for 5 minutes before tearing into!!

******watch the muffins carefully, at this temperature they will go from beautiful to burned very quickly! I usually set my timer for 12 minutes, then reset it for 2-3 minute intervals until they look just right.