For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned to Meghan's blog, Cupcakes with Sprinkles. I just love her blog. It looks so cheerful and her food looks amazingly good. I thought about making one of her sweets (you know me), but apparently I love bread as much as I love sweets and I couldn't get my mind off her Butterflake Rolls. Plus, I had just made some peach jam and I needed something to eat it with.
What I learned as I made them is that I need to pay attention more to directions. When I first set out to make the rolls, I just copied down the ingredients, thinking that it was just like all the other bread recipes I had made. So, as a result, after making the dough, I let it rise for an hour. That's when I found out I was totally wrong. When I looked at the recipe again, including the directions, I realized that you're supposed to start rolling and buttering the dough right after you make it. In fact, the only rise you're supposed to do is after the dough has been cut and formed into the rolls. Still, I figured, I could make this work. I took my risen dough, rolled it out, buttered it, folded it, buttered it, folded and buttered again. The dough began breaking off in layers and was a complete mess and totally unsalvageable. I would have to start again. Lesson learned - follow the instructions.
The second time around, I followed everything to the letter. This time, everything came together beautifully and the dough made it into the muffin tins intact. I was kind of skeptical about only letting them rise once before baking, but if they worked for Meghan, then I trusted that they could work for me too. Sure enough, once they baked, they were a thing of beauty. It was like magic. Instead of the four pieces of dough I put into each muffin cup, the intricate layers of buttered dough had unfolded, giving me even more layers to pull apart and enjoy (kind of like the layers in a croissant). The bread itself was pillowy soft, buttery in every bite, and paired really well with my homemade peach jam. Not to mention, since they only need to rise once, they're so much quicker to make! I'm thinking that these rolls are going to make many more appearances in my house, you know, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and basically any time in between. Thanks Meghan!
Butterflake Rolls (adapted from Cupcakes with Sprinkles)
1 Tbsp. yeast
3/4 c. warm water
1/4 c. sugar (I increased this to 6 Tbsp.)
2 eggs
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. buttermilk (I used 1/4 c. nonfat plain yogurt + 1/4 c. water)
3 1/2 - 4 c. flour
1/4 c. butter, softened
Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, mix yeast in 1/4 c. warm water with a pinch of sugar. Let sit till foamy, about 5 min. Whisk in the sugar, salt, and eggs. Add in the yogurt and remaining water until combined.
Use a wooden spoon to stir in about 3 cups of flour, adding more up to 4 cups, to make a soft dough. You want to be able to knead the dough and not have it stick to your fingers.
Knead dough a few times. Roll it out so that it's a 1/2" thick and spread with a thin layer of butter. Fold dough in half, then spread with butter, Repeat three more times.
After the final butter and fold, roll the dough out again to 1/2" thick and cut it into 1x2 inch squares. Place 4 squares upright in each sprayed muffin cup. Cover lightly with greased plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 45-60 min., or until doubled.
Preheat oven to 400F and bake rolls for 10-15 min. until golden brown.
