Honey Butter Pull Apart Rolls

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I was browsing Pinterest's Food and Drink category as I often do when I want to get a good drool on, and I came across a pin for Honey Butter Pull Apart Rolls from High Heels and Grills.   I wanted to make some bread today, and after reading the recipe, I was sold!  Within 15 minutes of finding the recipe, I was already making the dough.  This recipe is easy to do, doesn't take too long, and the rolls are unbelievably light, soft, tender, tasty, and slightly sweet.  I am addicted.  I will make these for family gatherings, snacks, breakfasts, midnight munching, Christmas dinner...there is no event I wouldn't make these for.  I modified this recipe very, very little, I mean, how do you mess with perfection?

Make these.  Seriously.  Make them.

Lovely, super soft, light layers.

One more picture, because they are truly drool-worthy.

 HONEY BUTTER PULL APART ROLLS
(Slightly Adapted from High Heels and Grill's Honey Butter Pull Apart Rolls)

Makes 18 rolls

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups warm water
• 1 Tbsp. instant yeast
• 1 tsp. diastatic malt powder (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1-1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 3-1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons salted butter, melted
• 3 Tbsp. honey
• 3/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together water, yeast, diastatic malt powder (optional), sugar, oil, salt, and 3-1/2 cups of flour.  Using a spoon, your hands, or a stand mixer, mix until well combined (I just did this and the kneading by hand, worked great).
2. Stir in more flour as need (1/4 cup at a time), until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl, is no longer sticky, and you are able to work with it to knead it.
3. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until fairly smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes, adding a tablespoon of flour or two if needed, to keep it from sticking.
4. Place the dough back in the large bowl it was mixed in, spraying some non stick spray or lightly oiling the bowl before returning the dough to it.  Cover with a damp cloth; let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
5. After doubled, punch down dough and lay on floured surface. 
6. Preheat oven to 375°F.
7. Roll dough out until about 20 inches by 12 inches.
8. In a small bowl, combine butter, honey, and salt.  Brush dough with half of the butter mixture.
9. With a pizza cutter, cut dough lengthwise into sixths and crosswise into twelfths.  Make stacks of 4 dough squares and place each stack into a greased muffin tin cup.
10. Brush with the remaining butter mixture.
11. Let these rise until they are visibly puffier, about 20 minutes.
12. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown. 
13. Serve warm.

Cheesy Cheddar Biscuits

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All that cheesy goodness oozing out from inside....so yummy!

 Ah, the taste of cheesy, tender, slightly salty, buttery, garlicky biscuits...like the ones that you get from that famous seafood restaurant.... Most of us know which one I am speaking of.  Well, my husband has never had the pleasure of trying their rolls, which I think is the only reason to go there frankly.  I made some cheesy straws a few days ago, and my husband turned to me after eating ones and said "I would be doubly happy if you could make these into rolls!!"  Well, my husband very rarely requests anything, so I jumped up from my chair (literally) and started pondering how I could do this.  Then it came to me--these taste just like that seafood restaurant's biscuits, and there are copycat recipes I have seen.  Of course, I looked through all my bookmarks, thinking surely I had marked it down once out of the 100 times I saw it, but of course I didn't.  After not being able to find it, I turned to my wonderful Facebook friends, and they helped point me in the right direction.  Since I did not have bisquick baking mix, I had to find a recipe that didn't need it.  I finally settled on Food Networks Almost-Famous Cheddar Biscuits recipe.  After making some changes to the recipe to make it closer to the cheese straws I made, and having now devoured one in like 2 seconds flat, I can say that I am so happy with how they turned out!  I think they are better than that seafood restaurant's.

These biscuits are tender, cheesy, not too salty, and have a light and fluffy interior.  Absolutely perfect.  I packed one in my husbands lunch, so I am anxiously waiting to hear what he thinks of them, but I am pleased with them.  These would be a beautiful addition to Thanksgiving dinner as well!  They only take a few minutes to throw together, and only 16 minutes to bake.  Nice and simple!

Mmmmm see the cheese crusty goodness on the outside, my favorite part!

Enjoying my new photo setup area, had to take lots of pictures since I had good light this morning...

CHEESY CHEDDAR BISCUITS
(Adapted from Food Network's Almost Famous Cheddar Biscuits)

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 ounces grated colby jack cheese (about 1 cups) 
• 1 ounce grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup 2% evaporated milk, or regular milk 
• 1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt

Topping:

• 1-2 tablespoons butter
• garlic salt, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. To make the biscuits, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.  Add the butter and cut in with a fork or your fingers, until you have pea sized pieces of butter throughout.  Add the colby jack cheese and parmesan cheese and mix together.  Add the yogurt and  milk and mix until the dough just comes together, it will have some dry bits.  
3. Drop by scant 1/4 cup portions onto baking sheet, 2 inches apart, and flatten slightly.
4. Bake in oven for 15-17 minutes, or until golden brown.
5. Right before they are done, melt the butter in a a small microwave safe dish.  When the biscuits come out of the oven, brush the tops with a bit of butter and sprinkle with garlic salt.  Serve warm.

Turkey Pepperoni Pizza Meatball Subs

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My husband loves meatball sub sandwiches.  He has been putting in very long days at school, and so I thought that I would try to surprise him with some homemade meatball sub sandwiches when he got home.  We use ground turkey a lot, have copious amounts of string cheese in our house, a huge basil plant begging to be used, and some turkey pepperoni left over from last weeks pizza making endeavors.  All this culminated into the idea for turkey pepperoni pizza meatball sub sandwiches. 

These turned out to be incredibly moist meatballs filled with melty cheese, pepperoni pieces and wonderful bursts of fresh basil flavor.  I know my picture doesn't to it justice, bu frankly, we didn't want to wait long enough for me to style a decent picture before we ate.

It is your choice as to whether you add the meatballs to the crock pot after they are baked so they can absorb the tomato sauce a bit, or just put the baked meatballs straight onto a roll out of the oven and smothered in some sauce.  I opted to throw them in with the sauce, and I am very happy with decision.  They were a big hit, and even my 1 year old boy devoured them.


TURKEY PEPPERONI PIZZA MEATBALL SUBS


Makes approximate 8, 4 meatball servings

Ingredients:

Crock Pot Tomato Sauce:

• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (6 oz) can  tomato paste
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons dried diced onion (or 2/3 cup diced fresh onion)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried granulated garlic (or 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced)
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 to 2 teaspoons salt, to taste
• 1 tablespoon honey, if needed, for sweetness

Turkey Pepperoni Pizza Meatballs:

• 1-1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
• 4 string cheese sticks, diced (like Sargento Reduced fat mozzarella sticks) or 3 oz. mozzarella diced
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 teaspoon dried granulated garlic (or 2 cloves, minced)
• 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
• 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 28 slices Hormel turkey pepperoni slices

Sandwiches:

•  8, four to six inch long sandwich rolls
•  mozzarella or cheddar cheese slices

Directions:

Sauce:

1.  In a 4-6 qt. crock pot  combine tomatoes, water, onion, oregano, basil, garlic, and red pepper on high, for 3-4 hours.
2. Season with salt to taste, and if the tomatoes are acidic, add a drizzle of honey to balance out the acid.
3. Turn to low while preparing the meatballs.

Meatballs:

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with foil and set aside.
2. In a  large bowl, combine the diced cheese, eggs, oregano, both basils, pepper, salt, garlic, onion, worcestershire sauce, and diced pepperoni.
3. Add the ground turkey and oats and mix until just combined, do not over mix.
4. Using a 1-1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop, or a heaping tablespoon, drop them on to the baking sheet.
5. Once all the meatball mix is scooped, go back and gently roll each into a ball.  Do not over handle or compress them too much.
6. Place in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until they are baked through.
7. Once they are baked, they can either be placed into the sauce in the crock pot and allowed to bake on low for 1-2 hours (this is what I did) and then placed on the rolls with some cheese,  or you can forgo putting the meatballs in the sauce, and place the baked meatballs on the rolls, right out of the oven, and pour sauce over the top, and then top with cheese.  I like them cooked in the crock pot for a few hours so they mingle with the sauce and are wonderfully moist and juicy. 

No Knead Pumpernickel Rolls

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 My husband's favorite bread is pumpernickel bread.  Unfortunately, most store bought pumpernickel is, according to him, flavorless and lacking all pumpernickel goodness.  The flavor that he wants in a pumpernickel bread is reminiscent of Einstein's pumpernickel bagels, his favorite!  But unfortunately we are about 90 miles away from the closest Einsteins.  I have been on a mission for years to make a good pumpernickel bread for him.  After more searching, I found a recipe from Artisan Bread in Five for Pumpernickel bread.  Since I love their method so much, I thought I would give it a try.  I made a few changes to it to punch of the flavor even more, and used cocoa instead of caramel color to get the pumpernickel color.  He was thrilled with the results, judging from the fact that three rolls where missing within seconds of me telling him I had made some and they were ready for trying.  They were delightfully crusty, and light and fluffy on the inside, with a wonderful flavor, but not overwhelming.

If you don't want to turn on the oven, use the baking method from my crock pot no knead herb roll recipe here, with this dough.

No Knead Pumpernickel Rolls
(Adapted from Artisan Bread in Five's Pumpernickel recipe here)

Ingredients:

•  2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

• 2 3/4 cups whole grain rye flour (most supermarket rye is whole grain)

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon kosher salt (increase or decrease to taste)

• 1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast (or 2 packets)

• 2 tablespoons dutch process cocoa

• 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten

• 2 tablespoon caraway seeds

• 2 tablespoons molasses

• 1/2 tsp onion powder

• 4 cups lukewarm water

•  Caraway seeds for sprinkling

• Corn meal for baking

Directions:

After 2 hours of rising on the counter, slightly bubbly.

After rising for 40 minutes, before slashing

1.  In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients and  mix well.
2. Pour in water and molasses and stir until well combined.  The dough will be fairly wet.
3. Let it sit covered loosely on the counter for a minimum of 2 hours.  Do not punch down dough, or deflate.  It will start to deflate on its own.  After two hours it will look like this:
4. After two hours it can be placed in the refrigerator for up to seven days.
5. If it will be being used right away after the two hours, sprinkle the top of the risen dough with a bit of flour for easier removal.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle with corn meal.
6. This is a sticky dough, so just flour your hands and the dough balls well to prevent sticking while working with it.  Tear off two ounce pieces and roll them into smooth balls.  Place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet**.  Repeat for desired number of rolls.  Any remaining dough just goes back in the fridge to be used another day.
7. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F about 20 minutes before rising is done.  Let the rolls rise for about 40 minutes, or until almost doubled in size and puffy. If the dough has been refrigerated, then let the rolls rise for 90 minutes instead.
8. When rolls are finished rising, use a serrated knife and make a 1/4 inch deep slash on the top of each roll.  Using a clean spray bottle or a basting brush, cover each roll with cold water and sprinkle the tops with caraway seeds.
9. Place rolls in the oven.  Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until they make a hollow sound when tapped.
10. Let cool for a bit before enjoying.

 

**If you have a pizza stone and like crustier rolls, place the rolls on parchment covered with corn meal and allow to rise.  Preheat oven with pizza stone in the middle of the oven.  When ready to bake, slide the parchment paper onto the baking stone.  For even crustier rolls, place a baking dish in the bottom rack of the oven and when the rolls are put in, quickly pour a cup of water into the pan to generate steam.  A clean water filled spray bottle can be used to squirt water into the oven to generate steam as well.

For more tips on making whole grain breads with this no knead method, check out Artisan Bread in Five's Whole Grain Master Recipe for more information.

Crock Pot No Knead Herb Rolls

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It is so hot!  Just the thought of turning on my oven makes me and my air conditioning cringe...Unfortunately, I love bread.  A LOT.  And I would turn my oven on for some great homemade rolls (and cookies, I would turn it on for cookies).  Then I saw a brilliant post by Artisan Bread in Five on making rolls in a crock pot.  Since I have three crock pots, I figured I could spare one to try this. 

I was doubtful about cooking bread in a crock pot, I won't lie.  I saw an idea for herb rolls, and thought "Ohhhhh that sounds good, I need those, and I need them like right now."  Sadly, they posted the method, but not the recipe for the bread, since it was published in a book they want you to get, so I understand not giving away all the recipes.  I would buy the book if I had the money, believe me.  I told my husband my dilemma, and he responds "then make your own recipe!"  So that's what I did.  I used the five minute no knead bread from The Italian Dish that I blogged about a while ago here as a base, and made the changes below.  I didn't even let it sit in the fridge, I only let it sit out two hours on the counter (which it can be used any time after the two hour period), and got right to making them.  It was hard to wait that two hours even.  I made the rest the next day, yum! 

These rolls come out lighter than air.  Seriously, they are so light and fluffy I wasn't sure they were cooked because when touched the top, they didn't spring back.  It was really just because they rise so much in the crock pot they turn in to a soft, pillow-y roll of herby goodness.

Crock Pot No Knead Herb Rolls

Makes 8 rolls per crock pot batch, or approximately 28 rolls for the entire recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 cups luke warm water
• 1 1/2 Tbs. instant yeast
• 1 1/4 Tbs. salt
• 1 tsp. diastatic malt powder (optional)
• 28 oz. all purpose flour
• 3 oz. whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed or chopped into smaller pieces
• 1/2 tsp. dried sage
• olive oil
• garlic salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix water, yeast, salt, diastatic malt powder (optional), basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and sage.
2. Add the all purpose flour and the whole wheat flour and mix well, until it forms into a ball and all the flour is moistened, about a minute. (Add more water if it is too dry, add more flour if it is way to wet, it is a very sticky dough though.)  Refer to this post here for more information on what it should look like.
3. Let sit on the counter, loosely covered for 2 hours, it will rise a bunch, don't worry about it.  
4. Once it has sat for two hours, it is ready to be used, or you can loosely cover it and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, and use it as needed for fresh bread any day.
5. In a large (5-6 qt.) crock pot, line with parchment paper, and then sprinkle the parchment with corn meal.  
6. Pull of 2 oz. piece of dough and roll into smooth balls.  Place up to 8 in the crock pot.  The remainder or the dough can be refrigerated for up to two weeks.
7. Cover the crock pot and turn on high for an hour.  This is where the magic happens.  As the crock pot heats up, it will also proof the rolls, they should get quite puffy and fill the bottom.
8. After an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes, check on rolls.  They will be very soft on the top, but not tacky or uncooked feeling.  
9. Remove the rolls along with the parchment (don't take them off the paper) from crock pot.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt.
10. To brown the tops: Turn the oven to 450 degrees (I know, it will heat the house up a little bit, but not as long as cooking them the whole time in there), and place rolls and parchment in for 5-10 minutes until the top is firm and browned nicely.
11. Remove from oven and enjoy!