Butter Flake Rolls

Posted by - Nancy


My husband LOVES bbq. Plain and simple. And while we have tried a number of barbecue restaurants, we certainly don't have a smoker at home, which is the goal eventually. So tonight my husband decided to try some slow cooked ribs in the oven with a savory rub. 

Which was my chance to try a new roll recipe. A recipe I have wanted to try, but as with all yeast breads, you have to make sure you have time and cooperative kids to make them work. And the stars must be aligned or something because I had both this afternoon. 

Alton Brown's Butter Flake Rolls

Ingredients

• Nonstick spray
• 8 ounces warm whole milk (100 degrees F)
• 2 1/4 ounces sugar (about 1/3 cup)
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 15 ounces all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions

Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray and set aside.

Place the milk, sugar, yeast, flour, egg yolks, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine on low speed for 1 minute. Change the paddle attachment to the dough hook and rest the dough for 10 to 15 minutes.

Add 2 ounces of the butter and mix on low speed. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and you are able to gently pull the dough into a thin sheet that light will pass through, about 8 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll and shape with your hands to form a large ball. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm, dry place to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Remove the dough from the bowl and roll into a 12 by 12-inch square, about 1/2-inch thick. Melt the remaining 1/2 ounce butter and brush onto the top of the dough.

Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into 12 (12 by 1-inch) strips. Stack the strips into 2 stacks of 6 strips each. Lay the stacks on their sides and cut each stack into 6 (2-inch) wide pieces. Lay each piece on its side into a prepared muffin tin cup. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, dry place to rise until doubled in size, 30 to 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove the plastic wrap and bake until the rolls reach an internal temperature of 200 degrees F, 8 to 10 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking.

Remove the muffin tin to a cooling rack and cool for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.

Ready to mix

Resting before butter

Ready to stack

Nestled for second rise

Flaky deliciousness

Overall these were very good. I am not sure I let the KitchenAid knead long enough, and my first rise wasn't quite doubled. But when I rolled out the dough it seemed "fluffy" enough. The only issue I encountered was the strips grew when I piled them up so I ended up with extra dough. Since I didn't want to dirty up a whole other cupcake pan for two rolls, I used my small muffin tin to make 6 small rolls. Which ended up being the perfect size for the little miss. I will definitely make these again!