Brown and Serve Rolls
Cardamom Buns
Swedish Sour Cream Twists
Brown and Serve Rolls
Brown and Serve Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
Slurry
- 1 Cup Water
- ½ Cup Flour
Dough
- 4 ½ Cups Flour
- 1 Cup Milk, cold; whole preferred
- 8 Tablespoons Butter, unsalted, softened
- ¼ Cup Sugar
- 4 Teaspoons Instant yeast
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
Instructions
- To make the slurry: Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, whisk the water and flour until combined. Heat in the microwave in 20-second increments, whisking between each one, until the mixture is thick and pasty, 1 to 2 minutes total.
- To make the dough: Transfer the slurry to the bowl of a stand mixer and add all the dough ingredients. Mix with the dough hook on low speed for 1 to 2 minutes until combined, then increase the speed to medium and mix for 8 to 12 minutes, until the dough is smooth and silky, cleans the sides of the bowl, and passes the windowpane test (dough will stretch but not tear).
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl or 2-quart dough-rising bucket, cover tightly, and let rise for 45 to 60 minutes, until doubled in size.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide it into 18 pieces (about 67g each). Shape each piece into a tight ball and space evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (The rolls will expand and touch slightly as they bake; if you’d like total separation, arrange them on two parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them evenly apart.)
- Cover the baking sheet and let the rolls rise for 30 to 45 minutes, until puffy; when pressed with a floured finger, the dough should spring back slowly. While the dough rises, preheat the oven to 275°F.
- Bake the rolls for 25 to 30 minutes, until the internal temperature registers 190°F on a digital thermometer. The rolls should rise and take on almost no color.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the rolls to cool completely, about 45 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and freeze until the rolls are frozen solid, about 1 hour. (Alternatively, store the parbaked rolls, well-wrapped, at room temperature for up to 3 days. To finish, bake as directed in Brown and serve section.)
- Once the rolls are frozen, split them up for long-term storage by gently pulling the rolls apart and transferring them to a zip-top bag. Alternatively, break the slab of rolls into two or three smaller portions to pull apart after reheating; these will be softer and squishier than rolls that are frozen and finished individually. At this point, the rolls can be frozen for up to 6 weeks.
- To brown and serve the rolls: Preheat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the center.
- Remove the rolls from the freezer and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake the rolls for 8 to 12 minutes, until they’re deeply golden brown all over and the internal temperature registers about 210°F. If you froze your rolls as a connected slab, they may need 3 to 5 additional minutes
- Remove the rolls from the oven and brush the warm rolls with additional softened butter, if desired. Let cool slightly before eating.
Cardamom Buns
Cardamom Buns
Swedish Cardamom buns are a soft, plush sweet roll with fragrant cardamom filling.
Ingredients
Dough
- ½ Cup + 2 Tablespoons Unsalted butter
- 2 Cups + 2 Tablespoons Whole milk
- 2 Packages Instant Yeast
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Cup Sugar
- 5 ¾ Cups Flour, all purpose
Filling
- 10 Tablespoons Unsalted butter
- ½ Cup Sugar
- 1 ½ Tablespoon Cardamom
Glaze
- ½ Cup Sugar
- ¼ Cup Water
- ½ Teaspoon Vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter and then add the milk. Warm the mixture until it's lukewarm, and then add it to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Note: the milk should not be hot, just barely warm to the touch (112°-118°), or it will kill the yeast.
- Add the yeast to the bowl with the milk and butter mixture, and mix to dissolve. Then add the salt and sugar, and mix together.
- With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the flour. Once all the flour has been added, continue to knead for about 10 minutes. The dough should be smooth and pulling away from the side of the bowl.
- Cover the bowl (no need to transfer to a separate greased bowl) and allow to rise for 45 minutes to an hour, or until about doubled in size. Note: find a nice warm spot for your dough to rise.
- While the dough is rising, make the cardamom filling by simply mixing all of the filling ingredients together with a fork until uniform. Your butter should be soft enough to mix easily. Set aside.
- Prepare two large baking sheets by covering them with a sheet of parchment paper.
- Once the dough is risen, gently deflate it and divide it in half. Place one half on a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a rectangle about 14 inches wide by 18 inches long. Spread 1/2 of the filling over 1/2 of the rolled out rectangle.
- Fold the half of the dough without any filling over the other half of the dough. Roll out the dough a little bit more to get everything of a fairly even thickness.
- Using a knife or a pizza cutter, divide your folded rectangle, widthwise, into 8 equal strips.
- Take each strip and slice it lengthwise almost all the way in half, leaving a little bit connected at the top.
- Take each "leg" and gently twist it, both in the same direction.
- Next, twist the two "legs" around each other gently.
- Coil your twist into a small circle, tucking the end underneath and pinching it into place so it doesn't come undone. Don't worry about being perfect, just get it all twisted into a 'messy bun'.
- Repeat for the rest of your rectangles, and for the other half of the dough.
- Place your shaped rolls on your prepared baking sheets, spacing them a few inches apart. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel, and allow to rise again for about 1 hour. They may not puff up very dramatically, but should be a bit plumper.
- Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425F.
- When the buns are done rising, bake them for 15 minutes.
- Make the glaze by adding the sugar and water to a small saucepan and heating just until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- When the buns are done baking, remove them from the oven and brush them with the glaze while still warm. You can add a second coat of the glaze once they have cooled down a bit if you want them to be extra-shiny.
Notes
Note: If you don’t have Cardamom spice or you don’t like it (Grandpa doesn’t care for it) you can substitute Cinnamon or even Nutmeg.
Swedish Sour Cream Twists
Swedish Sour Cream Twists
Ingredients
- 1 cup Salted butter, softened
- 3½ cups Flour
- 1 tablespoon Yeast
- 1 cup Full fat sour cream
- 2 large Eggs
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1¼ cups Sugar, for rolling dough in
- ½ cup Sugar for rolling twists in
Instructions
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the flour and beat well.
- In another medium bowl, stir the yeast into the sour cream.
- Beat in the eggs, salt, and vanilla.
- Beat the sour cream mixture into the flour mixture until combined. The dough will be very sticky.
- Cover the bowl and let chill in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight. It's easier to manage the dough when it's cold, and it gives the yeast a chance to develop.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a few baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper.
- Sprinkle a generous handful of the 1 and 1/4 cups sugar onto a work surface. I used a pastry cloth, or a silpat would work well too. If you roll out on the countertop you will need quite a bit of sugar since the dough is so sticky.
- Scrape the dough on top of the sugar, sprinkle some more on top, and use your hands to pat it down. Roll it into a rectangle with a rolling pin. See photos.
- Sprinkle the rolled dough with more sugar. Don't be stingy! Use a lot so that it doesn't stick, you may need more than the 1 and 1/4 cup called for.
- Fold the dough in half, sprinkle the top with sugar, and roll out into another rectangle. Repeat this sugaring, folding, and rolling, process 3-4 times, until the sugar is gone.
- The final time you roll the dough in a rectangle, sprinkle with sugar, then fold the dough in thirds like a business envelope (add sugar in between layers).
- Roll into a long strip, about 4-5 inches by 22-24 inches. See photos.
- Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into strips about 1/2 inch wide. (Each strip should be about 1/2 inch by 4-5 inches).
- Use your fingers to twist each strip, then roll generously in 1/2 cup sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheets spaced about 2 inches apart.
- Repeat with the remaining strips of dough.
- Bake at 350 for about 17-20 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges. If you think you will like them extra crispy for coffee-dipping, leave them in a couple minutes longer.
- The recipe makes 36-40 twists, depending on how you long you made the twists.