The first time I made these rolls they turned out perfectly — and not because I know how to bake (I can assure you I am still a novice), but because this recipe is foolproof. These are now a holiday staple in our home, especially for leftover turkey sliders and French toast.
Fluffy Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
Flour Paste
1 cup water
6 tablespoons flour
Dough
1 cup cold milk
2 large eggs
4 cups flour
3 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
4 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoon course sea salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Preparation
Flour Paste
Whisk water and flour together in small bowl until no lumps remain. Microwave, whisking every 15-30 seconds until mixture thickens to a stiff, smooth, pudding-like consistency (roughly 60-100 seconds).
Dough
In a stand mixer, whisk flour paste and milk together until smooth. Add eggs and whisk again until incorporated. Add flour and yeast. Swap your whisk for a dough hook, and mix on a low speed until all flour is moistened, 1 to 2 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes.
Add sugar and salt and mix on medium-low speed for 5 minutes. With mixer running, add softened butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue to mix on medium-low speed about 5 minutes longer, scraping down the dough hook and sides of bowl when needed. Dough will be sticky at this point.
Transfer your dough to a lightly floured counter, and knead briefly to form ball. Place seam side down in a lightly greased bowl, and cover with clean cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel. Let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
Grease two round cake pans and set aside.
Transfer dough back to your counter, and lightly press down to expel all the air. Split the dough into two separate mounds. Using your hands, pat and stretch each mound to form a long rectangle (about 8x9 inches each). With the short sides of the rectangles facing you, cut lengthwise into 4 equal strips each - you should have 8 strips total. Next, cut each strip crosswise into 3 equal pieces.
TLDR; you need 24 equal-size pieces of dough.
Working with 1 small piece at a time, stretch and press gently to form small strips (about 6x2 inches each). Starting on the short side, roll each strip lengthwise to form snug cylinders.
Arrange your small dough cylinders seam side down in your greased pans, placing 8-10 rolls around edge of pan (like a clock face), pointing inward, and remaining 1-2 rolls in center. Cover again, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
Heat oven to 375°. Bake rolls 25-30 minutes, until they are a deep golden brown.
Let your rolls cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring them from your cake pan to a wire rack. Once transferred, brush the tops and sides with melted butter.
Let rolls cool for another 20 minutes or so before serving.
The next day…
Leftover Turkey Sliders
Ingredients
1 dinner roll, sliced in half
2 slices of fresh turkey
Mayonnaise, measured with your heart
Fresh cranberry sauce, measured with your heart
Preparation
Combine to make the best little sammy you didn't know you needed.