australian desserts: Butterflake Dinner Rolls

Butterflake Dinner Rolls

When I was in college I interned at a local grocery store bakery. It was the first bakery I had ever been in & I did a lot. I got to try everything from donuts, to rolls, to decorating cakes. It was a fun job! It was also the place that I met the best baker in the world, my friend Jason! And guess what? Today is his birthday! Happy Birthday Jason! To celebrate, I am sharing this beautiful butterflake dinner rolls recipe with you today. It's layered with butter & peels apart into tender, flakey pieces of roll.

This is the PERFECT Thanksgiving roll to impress your family with this year. You don't have to be a pro-baker to make these either, because I have the best of the best teaching us step-by-step how to make this beautiful roll. There are also a couple of variations at the bottom for an orange or raspberry sweet butterflake roll, & a savory garlic butterflake roll too. You are going to fall in love with these! This recipe makes 2 1/2 dozen, so you might have a couple left over for those turkey sandwiches after Thanksgiving day. Have fun with it! Enjoy! And thanks to Jason, for being my helper on this post! Keep scrolling to the very end for the recipe.

Once the dough is made, take the dough out of the bowl & place it on a lightly floured surface. Shape the dough into a square, cover with a towel & let it rest for 10 minutes.

Flatten dough with a rolling pin into about 1/2" thick square.

Spread SOFTENED butter on 2/3 of the square.

Do a tri-fold, by folding the non-buttered side over first...

Then the buttered side on top of that. Place dough on a baking sheet in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Once the butter has had time to chill inside the dough, flatten again long ways to about 1/4" thick.

Then brush melted butter on the center half of the dough.

Fold the bottom fourth of the dough up...

...& the top fourth of the dough down so the two ends meet in the middle (book fold.)

Flatten gently with the rolling pin.

Brush melted butter on the bottom half of the fold...

...& then fold the top half over. You won't use all the butter. Save the rest for brushing the hot rolls when they come out of the oven.

Use a rolling pin & flatten the strip of dough to roughly 1" thick & about 3 inches wide.

Cut 1/2" to 3/4" thick pieces.

Take each piece & lay flat on the table.

Roll them from the top down.

Put rolls into sprayed muffin pans with the seam side down.

Cover the pans with plastic wrap that has been lightly greased with pan spray. Let rise until the rolls are a good 1/2 inch over the top of the muffin pans, about 1 hour. Bake at 350˚F for 15 minutes. Brush the hot rolls with the remaining melted butter hot from the oven.

Butterflake Dinner Rolls
Recipe from Jason Allen & shared by: Amber (Dessert Now, Dinner Later!)

1/4 lb whole eggs, whisked (about 2 large eggs)
3/4 lb warm water (approximately 1 1/2 cups water)
1 3/4 lbs flour (approximately 5 3/4 cups flour)
3 oz sugar (approximately 7 Tbsp sugar)
3 oz shortening (approximately 7 Tbsp shortening)
2 oz milk powder (approximately 7 Tbsp milk powder)
1/2 oz salt (approximately 1 Tbsp salt)
1/2 oz dry instant yeast (approximately 5 tsp yeast)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup butter, melted

Place all the ingredients but the butter into a stand mixer with the hook attachment. Mix on medium speed for about 20-25 minutes or until the dough balls up & pulls completely away from the bowl (the bowl comes clean.) It will look sticky for a while, so be patient with it, you don't want to add a bunch of flour & dry it out.
Take the dough out of the bowl & place it on a lightly floured surface. Shape the dough into a square, cover with a towel & let it rest for 10 minutes.
Flatten dough with a rolling pin into about 1/2" thick square.
Spread SOFTENED butter on 2/3 of the square. Do a tri-fold by folding the non-buttered side over first, then the buttered side on top of that. Place dough on a baking sheet in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Once the butter has had time to chill inside the dough, flatten again long ways to about 1/4" thick. Then brush melted butter on the center half of the dough. Fold the bottom fourth of the dough up & the top fourth of the dough down so the two ends meet in the middle. Then brush melted butter on the center half of the dough. Fold the bottom fourth of the dough up, & the top fourth of the dough down so the two ends meet in the middle (book fold.) Flatten gently with the rolling pin.
Brush melted butter on the bottom half of the fold & then fold the top half over. You won't use all the butter. Save the rest for brushing the hot rolls when they come out of the oven.
Use a rolling pin & just flatten the strip of dough to roughly 1" thick & about 3 inches wide. Cut 1/2" to 3/4" thick pieces. Take each piece, lay it flat on the table, & roll them from the top down. Put rolls into sprayed muffin pans. Cover the pans with plastic wrap that has been lightly greased with pan spray. Let rise until the rolls are a good 1/2 inch over the top of the muffin pans, about 1 hour.
Bake at 350˚F for 15 minutes. Brush the hot rolls with the remaining melted butter hot from the oven.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen.

*Variations:

Use orange marmalade or raspberry preserves on top of a THIN layer of softened butter in step #4 for an orange or raspberry roll. Complete other steps as written. Allow rolls to cool. Combine powdered sugar mixed with a tiny bit of water to create an icing. The less water you use the thicker the glaze will be. Flavor the glaze with orange marmalade or raspberry preserves & dip the tops of the rolls in the glaze; allow glaze to dry.
Make Garlic Butterflake Rolls by sprinkling garlic salt on top of the butter in step #4. Complete other steps as written. Brush hot rolls with butter & an extra sprinkle of garlic salt & even grated parmesan cheese if desired.