Dreamy Dunkable Dinner Rolls
Dreamy Dunkable Dinner Rolls
There’s nothing quite like the aroma of freshly baked bread and the taste of crusty, warm bread straight out of the oven. And you can have both by making your own dinner rolls at home. So, let’s get started!
Happy & Healthy Cooking,
Equipment Checklist
- Oven
- Muffin pan (1-2)
- Medium mixing bowl
- Liquid measuring cup
- Dry measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Small bowl
- Large mixing bowl
- Clean, dry kitchen towel, paper towel, or plastic wrap
Ingredients
Dreamy Dunkable Dinner Rolls
- 1 C + 2 T of warm water
- 1/3 C vegetable oil **
- 2 T active dry yeast
- 1/4 C granulated sugar
- 1 egg **(for EGG ALLERGY sub vegetable oil + water + baking powder—more info below)**
- 1/2 C Parmesan or asiago cheese, optional **(Omit for DAIRY ALLERGY)**
- 3 1/2 C all-purpose or bread flour **(for GLUTEN ALLERGY sub gluten-free/nut-free all-purpose flour + extra sugar + more water—more info below)**
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tsp garlic powder
Food Allergen Substitutions
Dreamy Dunkable Dinner Rolls
- Soy: Substitute canola oil or other nut-free oil for vegetable oil.
- Egg: For 1 egg, substitute 1 1/2 T vegetable oil + 1 1/2 T water + 1 tsp baking powder.
- Dairy: Omit optional Parmesan or asiago cheese.
- Gluten/Wheat: For 3 1/2 C all-purpose flour, substitute 3 1/2 C gluten-free/nut-free all-purpose flour + 2 extra T sugar + 2 T to 1/4 C more water.
Instructions
Dreamy Dunkable Dinner Rolls
preheat + measure + mix + rest
Preheat the oven to 400 F. To a mixing bowl, measure and mix together 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water, 1/3 cup oil, 2 tablespoons active dry yeast, and 1/4 cup sugar. Allow this mixture to rest, covered, for at least 15 minutes.
scrumptious science
Even though yeast looks like large grains of sand, it is actually a living organism. Yeast is a label broadly used to describe about 1,500 different kinds of fungi. This means that yeast makes up about one percent of the fungus you would come across in the world. The type we are using today is called active dry yeast. It means that the yeast is alive but sleeping in its container. To "wake up" the yeast, you will need to feed it its favorite breakfast: sugar! Once the yeast begins eating the sugar, it creates a byproduct: carbon dioxide. (I like to think of the yeast as burping little, itty bitty burps from eating the sugar too fast!) This carbon dioxide will later be trapped inside the naan dough you are creating in this recipe, which is super important for making a light, fluffy texture.
crack + whisk + add
Crack 1 egg and whisk it in a bowl. Add whisked egg to the yeast mixture. Add 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Measure 3 1/2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, and 2 teaspoons garlic powder together in a separate mixing bowl. Add the dry ingredients 1/2 cup at a time to the wet ingredients, mixing well after each addition to form a dough.
rest + oil + bake
Let dough rest, covered, for 5 to 20 more minutes. Brush two muffin pans with oil. Then shape the dough into 24 balls and nestle one into each well of the muffin pan. Bake until bread rolls rise and are golden brown on top, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Hi! I'm Baker's Yeast!
"Did you know that I'm a living organism? If you add baker's yeast to dough, it will cause your bread, cinnamon rolls, doughnuts, and more to rise up! Just add me to warm water with a little sugar (which I love to eat) and wait at least five minutes until I burp some gas bubbles (excuse me!) and get foamy at the top before adding me to your flour and other ingredients!"
- Yeasts are single-celled, microscopic members of the fungus kingdom. Baker's yeast is from the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is the strain of yeast used to leaven (or raise) bread and other types of dough. It is also used in beer and winemaking.
- There are several varieties of baker's yeast: active dry yeast, compressed yeast, cream yeast, deactivated yeast, instant yeast, and rapid-rise yeast. Home bakers and Sticky Fingers Cooking chef instructors generally use active dry yeast, instant yeast, or rapid-rise yeast when baking.
- Active dry yeast must be activated by adding a warm liquid, like water or milk. Its granules are larger than the other dry yeasts, instant and rapid-rise, which do not have to be rehydrated (or proofed).
- The word "yeast" comes from the Old English "gist," of Germanic origin, from an Indo-European root "yes-," meaning to "boil," "foam," or "bubble."
- Baker's yeast has some protein, fiber, B vitamins, and potassium; however, the amount you would get from a packet of active dry yeast distributed throughout a dough would be minimal.
- Nutritional yeast, a deactivated yeast, contains more protein, fiber, B vitamins, and potassium than active dry yeast. People who eat a vegan or vegetarian diet often add nutritional yeast to foods to supplement these nutrients and add a nutty or cheesy flavor to foods.
Fun facts about French Bread!
- A loaf of what we call "French bread" uses four basic ingredients: water, flour, yeast, and salt.
- There are other types of bread that are French in origin but include additional ingredients. For example, a "brioche" dough adds butter, eggs, and sugar.
- Bread was a staple for the French people, rich and poor, at the time of the French Revolution in the late 1700s. The lower classes rioted when wheat became scarce and more expensive, and they either couldn't make bread or had to make it with poor-quality flour. After the monarch was gone, regulations were put into place to create more social equality, including the Bread of Equality.
- In 1993, a French law (le Décret Pain—the Bread Decree) was passed that dictated how "French" bread must be made, including the use of only the four ingredients above.
- In France, they call a loaf of French bread a "baguette," which can be translated as "stick." As you might guess, a baguette is a long and thin crusty loaf!
Let's Learn About France!
- Bonjour (hello)! Bienvenue en (welcome to) France and the spectacular Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci, and ancient Roman ruins in the Provence region.
- France is a European country, and its official name is the French Republic. The capital city is Paris, which also has the most people.
- France's land area is 248,573 square miles. That is almost the size of the US state of Texas! The number of people in France is 67,874,000, about 43 percent more than in Texas.
- The official and national language is French, which is also the official language in 12 other countries, and a co-official language in 16 countries, including Canada.
- France's government consists of a president, a prime minister, and a parliament and is divided into regions and departments rather than states and counties.
- The French have a well-known motto, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."
- In addition to the Eiffel Tower, France is known for the Louvre, the most visited art museum worldwide (the Mona Lisa resides there), the Notre-Dame Cathedral, and the French Riviera (Côte d'Azur) in southeastern France on the Mediterranean coast.
- France is famous for the "beaux-arts" (fine arts). Paris is still home to many artists and great painters, artisans, and sculptors. Great literature came from French authors, such as Victor Hugo's novels Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
- Paris has two popular nicknames. The most common is "The City of Light" (La Ville Lumière), which came about because Paris was the first European city to implement street lighting in 1860, lighting up the city with 56,000 gas street lamps. The second is "The City of Love," (La Ville de L'amour). This name is probably due to Paris being considered one of the most romantic cities in the world and the high number of marriage proposals at the Eiffel Tower!
- French cuisine is known for its freshness and high quality. Many of the world's greatest pastries originated in France, such as the croissant, eclair, and macaron!
- Other French foods are escargot (snails!), baguette (bread), ratatouille (roasted tomato, zucchini, and eggplant—remember the movie?!), and crepes (very thin pancakes).
What's It Like to Be a Kid in France?
- Most kids start school (preschool) at around age three. Depending on the area and the school, students go to school 4 to 5 days a week. They often get a 1½-hour lunch break, and some kids go home for lunch.
- Dinner is served at 7:30 pm or later, so afternoon snacks are essential. "Le goûter" (goo-tay), or afternoon tea, often includes a "tartine," a slice of bread topped with something sweet or savory (like cheese, butter and jam, or Nutella). Other popular snacks are yogurt, fromage blanc (white cheese), and fruit.
- Popular sports for kids are soccer, bicycling, and tennis.
- There are several parks in France, in and around Paris. Napoleon III even designed one of them, the Bois de Boulogne, where you can find beautiful gardens, lakes, a zoo, an amusement park, and two horse racing tracks. In addition, kids can go on pony rides, play mini-golf, and race remote control boats at many public parks.
- Of course, kids can also go to the most popular theme park in Europe, Disneyland Paris, which opened in 1992. While there, kids can go on a ride unique to Disneyland Paris: Ratatouille: The Adventure!
That's Berry Funny
"Knock, knock!"
"Who's there?"
"Yeast."
"Yeast who?"
"At yeast I knocked!"
Lettuce Joke Around
What did the yeast confess to the bag of flour?
I loaf you dough much!
That's Berry Funny
What did the yeast say to the bag of flour?
Come on, we knead to be serious!
