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These melt-in-your-mouth dinner rolls, from Claire Saffitz’s cookbook Dessert Person, are even more tender and pillowy than the classic Parker House rolls that inspired this recipe. That’s thanks to the addition of tangzhong, a white roux made from flour and milk cooked to a stiff paste, often used to make Japanese milk bread. The cooked starches in the tangzhong help the dough retain moisture and keeps the rolls super soft and light. The slight onion flavor of chives and tang of sour cream give them oomph. They’re as equally excellent at mopping up gravy as they are at holding the contents of a leftover turkey sandwich. “If food could give you a hug, these rolls definitely would,” says Claire.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 24
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Whisk ½ cup milk, ⅓ cup flour (42 g), and ½ cup water in a small saucepan until smooth. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until a very stiff paste forms (it should resemble mashed potatoes), about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; scrape tangzhong into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.
Step 2
Gently warm remaining 2 Tbsp. milk in same saucepan over low heat until lukewarm. Remove from heat, add yeast, and whisk until dissolved. Let sit until mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.
Step 3
Add sour cream, sugar, kosher salt, 2 eggs, 4 Tbsp. butter, and remaining 5 cups bread flour (625 g) to tangzhong. Scrape in yeast mixture and mix on low speed until a shaggy dough forms. Increase speed to medium and mix, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally and adding more flour by the tablespoonful if sticky, until dough is smooth and supple, 8–10 minutes.
Step 4
Scrape dough onto a work surface and form into a smooth ball; dust lightly with flour. Place inside a clean large bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a silicone lid. Let sit in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in size, 1–1½ hours.
Step 5
Meanwhile, coat a 13x9" pan, preferably metal, with 2 Tbsp. butter (it will be a generous layer, which is what you want). Uncover dough and punch down lightly to expel some of the gas.
Step 6
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and stretch into a square.
Step 7
Roll out, dusting with more flour as needed to prevent sticking, to a 12" square and sprinkle chives evenly over dough.
Step 8
Starting at one end, loosely roll up dough. Flatten with the heel of your hands into a long rectangle. Roll out dough again, dusting with more flour as needed, into a 16x6" rectangle.
Step 9
Using a wheel cutter or bench scraper, cut dough into twenty-four 2"-squarish pieces (an 8x3 grid).
Step 10
Working with 1 piece of dough, gather all the corners and pinch together to form a teardrop shape. Place seam side down on work surface. Cup your hand over dough and drag across surface, moving your hand in a rapid circular motion, to form dough into a tight ball. Do not add flour, as you want friction between the dough and the surface. Place ball in prepared pan and repeat with remaining pieces of dough, spacing to make a 6x4 grid. Cover pan with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm, draft-free spot until rolls are nearly doubled in size, 45–60 minutes.
Step 11
Meanwhile, place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 375°.
Step 12
Using a fork, whisk remaining egg in a small bowl until no streaks remain. Uncover pan and gently brush tops of rolls with egg, then sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Bake rolls until tops are deep golden brown, 25–30 minutes.
Step 13
Remove pan from oven and immediately brush tops with remaining 2 Tbsp. butter. Let cool in pan 5 minutes. Slide a knife or an offset spatula around sides of pan to loosen rolls, then slide a metal spatula underneath to loosen the bottom. Slide entire grid of rolls out and onto a wire rack. Serve warm or let cool.
Step 14
Do Ahead: Rolls can be formed and arranged in pan 1 day ahead; cover and chill. Let rise at room temperature before baking (this can take up to 3 hours). Rolls can be baked 3 days ahead. Let cool; store airtight at room temperature.
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Reviews (5)
Back to TopI made this recipe twice. First as a test run prior to making for Christmas Day dinner at our sons home. The first batch where such a success! I share half of them with our neighbor who also raved about how delicious they where. I repeated the recipe on Christmas Day. Because of the time line they had more time to proof in the pan and they where even larger and fluffier than the first back. They spent at least 1 1/2 hours on the counter top. Definitely our favorite dinner roll. My daughter in law who is a wonderful cook assigned the dinner roll job to me for the future.
Joe Z
Neenah WI
12/29/2023
The most perfect rolls for thanksgiving or honestly any dinner where bread is welcome. We've made these every thanksgiving since the recipe came out, and they would absolutely be missed if we skipped them! I crave them all the time.
Molly
New York, NY
11/28/2023
Scrumptious
Anonymous
3/24/2024
This turned out to be a great alternative to classic garlic bread to accompany classic lasagna. I added garlic (confit in EVOO first) with the chives. Tender rolls that will be in rotation.
JL
Sonoma, CA
12/26/2023
Amazing! The most important thing is to make sure they more than double in size before baking.
FRS
Brooklyn
12/25/2023
I’ve made this many many times and it’s always a crowd favorite. I usually make it without the chives and they make amazing slider sandwiches.
Anonymous
Portland, OR
11/28/2023