Thanksgiving Make-ahead Recipe: Buttermilk Dinner Rolls
November 15, 2007 by Marye Audet
Filed under Breads, Thanksgiving
I never understood the need for people to pick up the brown and serve rolls when they could make homemade dinner rolls themselves so easily. Saying that, I must hang my head in shame and admit that I do buy them each year as an addition to the breads I make because my son, Chris (currently in the Air Force) says that you can’t have Thanksgiving with out them. My mom liked these rolls and brought them every year. After she passed away I thought we would be free of them, but no. We must buy them for Chris. And honestly, I smile while I am saying this. I would buy them daily if it meant that he would be home again.
Anyway..(pass me a tissue?) … These buttermilk rolls are light and wonderful. They freeze really well if you want to do them ahead, or you can make your own brown and serve version by baking them until done but not colored (about 10 minutes. Be sure they are baked all the way through though. Sacrifice one for the cause if you need to), and freezing. Thaw and brown when you need them.
There is nothing like them, warm, with some butter melting down the roll, a little tupelo honey drizzled on..and…sigh. They are so easy to make you will never go back to..you know..the dark side.
Light Buttermilk Dinner Rolls
1/4 cup warm water (105-115°F) The easiest way to check temp is to pretend it is a baby’s bathwater. If you would bathe a baby in it it is just right.
1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast
1 tablespoon mild honey (tupelo, orange blossom, alfalfa, blueberry…these are all perfect)
2 teaspoons salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole fat buttermilk at room temperature. Please, do not buy fat free. Yuck
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 egg yolk lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Stir together water, yeast, and honey in a small bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, discard and start over with new yeast.) Stir salt into 3 cups of flour and then add yeast mixture, buttermilk, and butter, stirring until it makes a soft, sticky dough.
Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead, adding just enough more flour to prevent sticking, until smooth and elastic, 6 to 10 minutes.
Form dough into a ball and transfer to an oiled large bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with kitchen towel and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The top of your fridge, in the oven with the light on, on top of the counter when the dishwasher is running are all good places. If your kitchen is very chilly it may take a little more time. If it is warm it may take a little less. You will know it has doubled when it looks like it has and you can push your finger in it and the dent will remain.
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead several times to remove air. Cut dough into 18 equal pieces. Form a smooth ball with each piece, or roll into a rope and make a knot..Pretend it’s Play-do.. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough, arranging balls 1 inch apart on baking sheet. Cover loosely with kitchen towel and let rolls rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Brush rolls lightly with egg yolk and water mixture. This is an egg wash and will make the crusts more golden and beautiful. You can omit if you want. Bake until rolls are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on bottom, 15 minutes.
The dark side, though, does sound rather delicious too…
Kate! Say it isn’t so! You can wet those things down and use them for spackle!
What a handy recipe to have – I’d forgotten about buttermilk biscuits completly since moving to London, but you’ve brought it all back. Since I can’t get access to the easy boxed stuff here (cough cough) I’m very excited to give your recipe a try. And who knows, the buttermilk biscuit fairy might see me making the bisuits and help bring your son home sooner.
Well, I am all for that! Although I would trade you the rolls for some sausage rolls and pickled onions ANY day
Hi, Tracee just stopping by to say hey from Blog Fabulous. Trolling the new channel to meet my new neighbors.
Have you seen this digital recipe file? http://www.blogfabulous.com/cookies-digital-recipe-book/ – my sister sent it to me. Very handy baking resource!
yum, i love dinner rolls. I am definitely going to make these for thanksgiving.
I had gotten that email as well, Tracee, I didn’t even check the links because I am too visual to deal with words with no pictures ..LOL! Have to have my pictures!
Viv- I KNOW! The homemade ones are so much better and the house smells so good! I lvoe your blog! And I am going to make the Pain au Lait rolls as soon as I can clear a counter in MY messy kitchen. They looked SO good. One of my goals for this month is a tutorial on homemade croissants….stay tuned!
This recipe list honey as an ingredient twice. I assume the 1 tblsp. goes with the yeast and water.
When do you add the 2 tblsp. of honey is my question?
Thanks
This has really been a very busy month so far,…. Nov. 4th election day,Nov.10th Marine Corps B’day, Nov. 11th Veteran’s day, Nov. 12th my B’day (got to the dbl. nickel).
As a vet, I hope with all of my soul, that your son shall return unharmed from his duty of serving our nation’s military. That’s not saying that he won’t be a changed man when you see him again, as war places burdens that only the most stout of heart can carry alone, and I’m not stating that one should attempt to do so. But given time to heal from within is as important as it is to heal from the loving embrace of family & friends. Allow him his due space, but be there for him if he so requests.
I’ve been browsing different recipe blogs/sites, & I really like your recipe for the rolls, but I am wondering if this could also be used for making small bread loafs, as we usually gather together for Thanksgiving, and geez, I guess that there are about 50-55 of us when everybody gets there. This is usually held @ my mother-in-law’s home. And that is just on my wife’s side of the family, but our kid’s have there own kids now, along with sister-in-laws, nieces, nephews, brother-in-laws, etc., etc.
I’ll need to make approx. 75 rolls, or six, maybe seven small bread loafs.
If you can, …. help me out here, as there is only one oven there, & I’m sure it will be used busily, for most of the day, as well as my brother-in-law cooking on the 2 grills outdoors.
Thanks ahead of time,
themaninthemoon
Yes, you can certainly make small loaves of bread ahead of time! Use the same recipe but shape as you like and you will probably need more bake time depending on the size.
My husband and I are both Vets as well, and our first date was the Marine Corps Ball 1979..
Semper Fi, Marine.