I thought this recipe was really good. As you’ve probably already gathered, the rolls are made with buttermilk as well as orange zest. The buttermilk gives them just a tiny bit of tanginess, and though the orange flavor itself was actually pretty subtle, the little specks of orange zest visible throughout the rolls were so pretty! If you look closely in the photo directly above, I think you can see them. Texturally, they’re light and fluffy, but still sturdy. I used a few to make pulled pork sliders if that’s any indication of what they can handle! If you divide the dough into 13 pieces as suggested, you’ll get fairly large rolls. You could definitely get away with making a few more and I think they’d still be plenty big enough.
By Tracey
Orange Buttermilk Dinner Rolls
barely adapted from Cooking Light
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 4 teaspoons orange zest
- 14 oz (about 3 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/4 cups warm buttermilk (about 100-110 F)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted and divided
Directions:
Combine the sugar and orange zest in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Rub the sugar and zest together with your fingertips until moist and fragrant. Add the flour, yeast and salt to the bowl of the mixer then stir briefly just to combine.
In a measuring cup, stir together the buttermilk, honey and 2 tablespoons of the butter. With the mixer on low, gradually add the wet ingredients and mix until a rough dough comes together. Continue kneading on low speed until the dough is soft and elastic, about 5 minutes. The dough should mostly clear the sides of the bowl, but stick to the bottom (if it’s really sticking to the sides, add a tablespoon or two of flour to achieve the desired consistency).
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Spray a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Add the dough to the bowl, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
Remove the dough from the bowl. Divide into 13 roughly equal sized pieces. Shape each piece of dough into a ball and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches of space between the balls of dough. Once you’ve shaped all 13 pieces, brush them lightly with the remaining tablespoon of melted butter. Loosely cover the rolls with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 F.
Bake the rolls for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer the rolls to a wire rack and allow to cool slightly before serving.
Makes 13 rolls.
