Rosemay and Garlic Butter Rolls

These rolls were pillow light, soft, fluffy and buttery, in short they were delicious.  My family really enjoyed these rolls.  They would have eaten all twelve if I had let them (I did not and they were dissapointed).  If you have a stand mixer these rolls are also super easy to make.

Rosemary and Garlic Butter Rolls

Ingredients:
2 tsp instant yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast)
1 stick butter (soft)
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup milk
2 tbsp sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp salt
3 cups flour
1 rosemary sprig
2 garlic cloves
coarse sea salt
Directions:
1.  First, mix 2/3 stick of butter with 1 cup of milk.  Lightly beat a large room-temperature egg.  Keep 3 cups of flour nearby.

2. Dump 2 tsp instant yeast (or 2 + 1/4 tsp active dry yeast) in a bowl and add 1/4 cup of warm water. Not hot, just warm. Stir and let the yeast sit there for 5 minutes.
3.  Pop the milk and butter mix in the microwave for a minute at full power. It doesn’t have to be hot, just luke-warm. Transfer the yeast water to your mixer bowl. Add 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, pour in the egg and add 1 cup of flour.Now pour in the milk with butter. The butter will have melted a bit.

4.  Mix until the flour is incorporated before adding another cup of flour. Repeat this process until all the flour is incorporated. As soon as the wet and dry ingredients are combined, turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for 5 minutes before starting the kneading process. Unless you’re doing this by hand, then you start kneading straight away and only use extra flour if the dough starts sticking to your hands. The dough will look really sticky at first, but that will resolve itself during kneading as the gluten are developed.

I let the machine knead for 6 to 7 minutes, by the end of which the dough will have formed into a ball. If your dough looks impossibly sticky in the final few minutes, add a tbsp flour at a time. But remember, it should still be sticky to the touch! Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
5.  If you used active dry yeast you now transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, apply some oil to the top of the dough to prevent it from drying out and instead of the 10 minutes I’m giving it now, let it rise for about an hour, until it doubled in size. Proceed with the recipe as listed below after the first rise.
6.  Lightly butter a baking tray. Or cast iron skillet if you want to get all fashionably old-fashioned on me.

After 10 minutes I transferred the dough to a lightly floured cutting board. It should be a really supple and slightly sticky dough.  Flatten it with your hand and using a sharp knife divide the dough into 9 pieces. Or 12, if you want them smaller.

7.  In stead of rolling the dough in your hand, you simply fold the sides to the bottom and shape them in the palm of your hand. Transfer them to the baking tray but give them a little room to rise. Cover them with a towel and let them rise for an hour to an hour and a half. Until they doubled in size.
8.  In order to get the flavor inside the butter, you have to release some of the oils. Strip the rosemary sprig and add 2 garlic cloves. Now smash the whole shebang, reallly bruise the rosemary. Add the remaining 1/3 stick of butter and lightly mix it. Leave it be for an hour or so, while the dough rises.

9.  That’s your cue to nuke the flavored butter, this will intensify the flavor and will make it easier to brush on top of the rolls. Give it 30 seconds at full power.  Brush it all over the dough.   Last but not least, sprinkle a generous amount of coarse sea salt all over them yummy rolls.
10.  Bake them in a preheated oven at 350F (175C) for 20 minutes. Until all puffy and golden brown.