Rolls

These splendidly soft dinner rolls, which my aunt June used to make for special occasions, are the Southern equivalent of brioche, minus the egg. I’ve added fresh sage for an aromatic boost.

When my friend Kate joins us for Thanksgiving, she brings these yummy refrigerator rolls. The best thing about them is that you can throw together the dough up to a week ahead of time, store it in the fridge, and bake the rolls whenever you want, which helps make for stress-free holiday planning. When I make them, I like to add sweet potato for the beautiful color and flavor it imparts. And, since I’ve always been a fan of the combination of sweet potatoes and pork, I often use this version of the rolls to make pulled pork sandwiches, tucking Slow-Roasted Pulled Pork Butt (page 177) and Quick Cucumber Pickles (page 287) inside. Note that you’ll need to let the dough rise for two hours between mixing and baking.

Shaped like half-moons, the plain buns are used like rolls: they are split open, a morsel of roast pork, duck, or char siu (barbecued pork) is tucked inside, and if there is a sauce, a little is drizzled over the meat. The resulting tiny sandwich is a great hors d’oeuvre or starter course. Steamed buns made from scratch take time. It is worth the effort to make your own dough for filled buns, but when you want the buns only as a small side dish, a shortcut may be in order.

This type of dough is often referred to as milk dough, since the primary enrichment is milk, whether whole, skim, buttermilk, or powdered. It also contains a fair amount of sweetener and some form of fat or oil. All of these enrichments serve to keep the bread soft and slightly sweet. Because of the many enrichments, the dough has a larger percentage of yeast than lean dough, so it’s especially important to put it into the refrigerator right after it’s mixed to avoid overfermentation. If you use honey or agave nectar instead of sugar, increase the amount of flour by 3 1/2 to 7 tablespoons (1 to 2 oz / 28.5 to 56.5 g). This dough makes wonderful sandwich bread and can also be used to make many different types of rolls, including hamburger and hot dog buns. See the variations on page 106 for a variety of possibilities.

I get emails all the time asking for Philadelphia-style hoagie and cheesesteak rolls. There is something about the cultural connection we Philly folk have with these iconic sandwiches that makes many people believe that Philadelphia’s Amoroso’s Baking Company is the only place to find a good hoagie roll, which is, of course, not true. The key to this type of roll is a nice balance of texture and flavor, somewhere between lean dough and soft enriched dough, with just enough “chew” to stand up to the fillings without making it overly hard to eat the darn thing. The overnight fermentation method is ideal for this because it brings out maximum flavor with very little hands-on time. The optional barley malt syrup provides a nice undertone of flavor that’s difficult to identify and also helps with crust color. This dough also makes great Kaiser rolls.

Meme may have made the rolls, but it was Dede who did a lot of the work. He beat the dough with a special wooden spoon that had a small ledge on the end for gripping. He’d cradle the big bowl in his arm and beat the wet dough so it slapped “wap, wap, wap” against the bowl. All that “muscle” developed the dough’s structure, causing the rolls to rise in the oven light as air, slightly sweet, and richly sour with the scent of yeast. We all thought it was Meme’s gentle touch forming the rolls, but it was actually Dede’s strong arms that made them taste so good. When yeast begins to ferment and grow, it converts its food to alcohol and carbon dioxide. The gluten sheets that form when water is stirred into flour trap the carbon dioxide and allow the dough to rise.

Baked buns, called guk bau in Cantonese, are a wonderful southern Chinese creation. They can be filled with a whole host of things, including sweet bean pastes and savory preserved pork shreds. Some have a crumbly crust that’s akin to coffee cake topping. My favorite renditions are slightly shiny and sticky from having been brushed with a lightly sweet honey glaze. Whatever the filling inside, whether it is spicy chicken curry, roast pork, vegetables, or bean pastes, you can’t lose. Commercially produced Chinese baked buns are nearly cloying and super soft, whereas these have a delicate flavor and texture resembling that of challah.

Because ovens were rare, Chinese cooks have been steaming their bread dough for thousands of years, most likely since wheat-milling technology arrived in northern China by way of the Silk Road. There are many ways to present the steamed bread, and the Chinese knack for stuffing it with a savory or sweet filling is perhaps the most well known and well loved. The filled buns, or bāo, are a delicious, convenient fast food in many parts of Asia, where you can buy them from street vendors and snack shops. Here in the States where stopping at a neighborhood bāo stand isn’t the norm, I make the buns myself in small batches and enjoy them for lunch or as road food, whether I’m driving or flying. They can be reheated until soft , allowed to cool, and then kept in a plastic bag until you’re ready to eat. Medium-size buns are the easiest to make, so you may want to start with those. After you’ve made buns with the various fillings presented here, create your own fillings. To make steamed rolls that can be used for mini sandwiches.

These multipurpose rolls are great as part of a continental breakfast, for making ciabatta sandwiches or panini, along with soup or salad for lunch, and they are a fabulous roll to pass at dinner. This one covers all your bases. Bon appetit!

These are the perfect dinner rolls. Light and tangy, they are delicious eaten out of hand, dragged through a bowl of sauce, or slathered with good butter. Leftover rolls can be kept in a plastic bag and reheated in the oven or they can be split and toasted for breakfast. They can be sliced for bread pudding or diced for stuffing. If you prefer, you can shape the dough into two long loaves instead of small rolls, or you can shape it into the traditional wide, flat slipper loaf that ciabatta is named for. Either way, it makes for excellent sandwiches or grilled crostini.

Baking temperature is reduced when baking these gooey rolls, but the baking time remains about the same as in a conventional oven. The advantage of convection? The rolls are moist and delicious, not doughy.

This is an easy refrigerator dough method, which requires no kneading. Once refrigerated for 2 to 24 hours, it is easy to shape and bake a number of different ways. These breads are rich with special ingredients, which will all brown quickly while baking. So, the baking temperature must be lower than that of conventional ovens while the baking time remains about the same. You’ll be delighted with the moist crumb; because the crust is formed early in the baking, it locks in moisture.

Nothing satiates the sentient like the gooey, almost raw central mass of a freshly baked sweet roll. As true seekers of new ways to sedate each other with homebaked carbs, we flipped the Cinnabon on its noggin' one New Year's Day and whipped up what has become our favorite recipe for savory rolls. Take everything sweet about a cinnamon roll and invert it: soft sweet bread becomes tart and savory, gooey brown-sugar butter morphs into salty caramelized shallot goo, and frosting slumps into melted aged cheese. Yeah this will take a few hours to a day … but it will hurt your friends and lovers in the most wonderful way.

This is a basic not-too-sweet dough that can be used for variously shaped dinner rolls.

These little crescents are gone in a couple of bites and can be surprisingly addictive. Their cinnamon sugar coating reminds me of churros, the deep-fried, cinnamon-sugar-coated lengths of sweet dough so popular in Mexico and in my own home state. For a dramatic buffet presentation set them on a tiered dessert tray along with Pequeño Chocolate-Pecan Tartlets (page 166) and Chubby’s White Pralines (page 168).

These are outstanding buns, substantial yet tender. The soft sides of the top-split hot dog buns are made for grilling or toasting.

A basket full of freshly baked rolls adds a welcoming touch to any holiday table. Combining the crunch of a cracker with the tender yeastiness of bread, these little numbers are especially fun.

Walnuts are commonly paired with whole wheat, but something pretty great happens when you team them up with tangy rye and bits of sweet sautéed onion instead. A batch of these is especially tasty alongside a platter of your favorite cheeses.

Elegant and deliciously buttery, these golden fantails are an obvious choice for entertaining. Their shape resembles a blooming flower, with each petal forming a perfect pull-apart bite. But don’t worry—they are surprisingly straightforward to put together in a muffin pan.

Who knew rolls could be so, well, adorable? But of course looks aren’t everything: They’ve got substance, too, with a satisfyingly salty crust—flaky sea salt has fantastic texture—embracing an enjoyably chewy, pretzel-like interior.

Classic shape plus not-so-classic flavors gives these rolls an element of surprise. That’s not to say the wintry blend of pumpkin and orange is overpowering; it’s actually very subtle, so the rolls go with just about anything you put on the dinner table. Leftovers would be awfully good slathered with butter and toasted for breakfast.

These rolls have a lot in common with brioche—both are rich and tender, and they bake up with a gorgeous browned crust. However, these are much easier to make than that time-intensive bread, and they have the added advantage of aromatic Parmigiano-Reggiano. We guarantee they’ll fly out of the bread basket.