Garlic Pull Apart Rolls

Garlic pull apart rolls have become a staple at my house. When I first started making them, it would start out as an occasion. I would keep aside an entire evening so that I could prepare the dough, wait until it rose and then bake it until the heavenly smells of home made garlic rolls would waft through the house and make all of us REALLY hungry! Now that I have made them countless times, I know the consistency and I have made several variations too which have come out with flying colours, the whole process has become a breeze...

The most exciting thing about this recipe is that you can make the most mouth watering, delicious smelling, savoury rolls or if the mood suits you, you can use sweet fillings to make it sweet rolls and make say, cinnamon rolls. For example, you can use the same recipe to make Nutella rolls by switching garlic filling with nutella filling. Tadaaaa, how easy is that? For the savoury fillings, you can use cheese and mint, paneer and mint, butter and pizza seasoning, basil and cheese fillings.... Oh, the list is endless. Every time, like clock work, the rolls come out amazing and taste out of this world! Another variation can be found in Monika's blog. 

The only change I would do is to double the salt in the dough, since  I find that it could do with some more salt. Rest, I wouldn't change a thing!

Garlic Pull-Apart Rolls Recipe

Ingredients: 

Plain Flour - 3 cups

Warm Water - 1 Cup

Dry active yeast - 1tbsp

Salt - 1tsp (I recommend making this 2tsp)

Sugar - 2tbsp

Olive Oil - 2-3 tbsp

1 egg+1tsp milk - For basting before baking

For the filling:

Salted butter - 50 gms (1/3 cup approx)

Garlic - 6-7 finely chopped

Coriander leaves - 3tbsp chopped

1/2 tsp Chilli flakes

1/2tsp white/black pepper

Method:

1) Mix warm water, sugar and yeast together and leave aside for 10 minutes till it looks frothy. That's when the yeast has been activated. Note: If the water is too hot, you will kill the yeast, if too cold, it won't activate.

2) Mix the above starter with flour and salt mixture and knead lightly till everything comes together as dough. No need to over knead it.

3) Add oil to it and knead for 20-30 min until the dough starts springing back. (You can add neutral vegetable oil as well. olive oil is not a must. Hand kneading takes 30-35 min based on the pressure you apply. With dough hook, I kneaded for 20min and finished with 2-3 minutes of hand kneading). Use the window pane test here or here to see if the dough is ready.

4) Keep the dough for resting covered by cling film for about 30-45 minutes till it doubles. Depends on the weather, you may have to wait for an hour.

5) While the dough is proofing, u can make the garlic spread ready by mixing all the ingredients together at room temperature.

6) After it has doubled in size, knock down to remove the air and roll in to a half an inch thickness sheet. Use dry flour to prevent sticking.

7) Apply the garlic filling. Spread evenly and roll the dough from one end to another.

8) Use a knife or a thread to cut it into 8-10 rolls of equal size.

9) Line them in a loaf pan, spread the left over garlic spread on top and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. 

10) Leave it for proofing for around 30min - 1hr. (you know its done when you poke it and it doesn't bounce back).

11) Apply egg wash and bake it at 180C for 20-25min.

12) Pull them apart. Pop in your mouth fresh and warm.

Nutella and Orange Rolls

Nutella and Orange Rolls are easy to make and yummy in taste. It is a yeast roll which are made with simple ingredients and the end result is spectacular. And the best part is that it is no-knead recipe. Yes, you heard it right!

I have got a couple of bread and rolls recipes in my kitty and have started making them one by one. Last week was my trial with Nutella and orange rolls. It is a simple recipe. Water, milk, sugar, yeast, orange zest and oil are combined with flour and the resulting dough mixture is left to rise. After the first rise, you roll it out  smear one side with Nutella, roll it and cut into pieces. The rolls are then left for second proofing and once the rolls have risen, they are baked and voila! your rolls are ready.

 

Here are some snaps for you to go though the process followed by the recipe:

Sugar and milk

Active Dry Yeast

Initial Dough Mixture

Rolls ready for the second rise

Rolls after second rise, ready to go into oven

Nutella and Orange Rolls

Nutella and Orange Rolls Recipe:

Ingredients:

Milk - 1 cup / 240 ml
Sugar - 1/4 cup / 50 grams
Vegetable Oil (or any flavorless oil) - 1/4 cup
Active dried yeast) - 1 1/4 teaspoon
All Purpose Flour - 260g (2 cups)  plus 33g (1/4 cup) Divided use
Baking powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Baking soda (scant, i.e, a little less than, just below the rim of the spoon) - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt - 3/4 teaspoon
Grated Orange zest - 3/4 teaspoon

For the filling: 

Nutella or any chocolate hazelnut spread - 3 tablespoons (alter to suit your taste)
Lightly toasted and chopped walnuts/ hazelnuts - 3 tablespoons ( optional but recommended)
  

Procedure: First things first -  Measure out all your ingredients and keep them ready.

• Mix milk, sugar and vegetable oil in a pan, preferably one big enough to mix the dough in too, less cleanup later. Scald (heat until just before boiling) the mixture. Leave to cool for 45mins to an hour. The milk mixture must be lukewarm at the end of this period. In case you leave it for longer, just warm it till it's lukewarm.
• When the mixture is lukewarm, add the active dry yeast, leave it for about 5-10 minutes till frothy. Whisk in the orange zest, make sure there are no clumps of it.
• Then add 260 grams of flour to the mixture. Stir to mix with a spatula, you will get a batter that's quite sticky. Cover and let the batter sit for 1 hour or till double. Mine took an hour. It may take lesser time if its warmer.
• Mix the 33 grams (1/4 cup) flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add this to the flour mixture in the pan. Mix till everything comes together. It will still be very sticky. You could make the rolls straightway or refrigerate the dough. I would not attempt handling the sticky mass at this point of time. Chilling makes it easier to handle. So transfer it to a large box, close the lid loosely. The box must be large enough to allow the dough to more than double and still have some space left over.
• When ready to make the rolls, before you even take the dough out of the fridge, get these things ready. Line your baking tin with parchment and grease the sides. Have your silicon brush, soft butter, rolling pin, sharp knife or dough scraper, extra flour ready. Flour your work surface with enough flour. This being a sticky dough, it would otherwise be impossible to roll out. If you take the dough out first and then spend time on this, your dough will lose the firmness and will not be as easy to handle.
• Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape of 17'' x 11''rectangle aprox. This will be quite thin. Dust the dough and work surface with flour when necessary.
• Spread Nutella evenly and sprinkle the toasted nuts.
• Start from the opposite end of the dough, roll the dough neatly in a line towards you. Roll as tightly as possible. Dust fingers with flour if the dough feels sticky. Pinch the seams to seal.
• Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut into1 inch thick slices and arrange in your pan(s). Place them spaced apart.
• Let the the rolls double in size. It might take 45-60min. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degree F towards the end of the rise time.
• Bake for 20 -25 minutes until golden brown. 
• Brush the rolls with melted butter for a softer crust. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then completely on the rack.