Butterflake Rolls

The inspiration for these rolls is, if you haven’t already guessed, a whole foods product that comes around in the fall and around the holidays. I first noticed them two years ago and thought they looked so interesting: instead of the usual rounded roll shape there were layers and layers, kind of like a croissant. These ‘butterflake’ rolls though were all baked together and were flaky but soft. I thought I’d take the concept and create a recipe for us to make at home. 

If you’ve ever tried your hand at making croissants this process will be very familiar. If you haven’t and are intimidated, know that we aren’t actually making croissants. Our process is quite simple. I’ll have you make a dough, rest it to rise, then layer butter into it by doing just a few easy folds. We only need two sets of folds for this and we’ll still get lots of lovely, buttery layers. 

Recipe Origins

The dough is made a bit like a croissant dough rather than a typical roll (so no egg here), but I use all milk (instead of water & milk) to make for a richer, softer bread. I also use potato flour to make the rolls tender, as potato flour holds onto moisture, this way the rolls are still soft the next day. 

I shape these the way I would a croissant: making a butter block (just a stick flattened out into a big rectangle) and layering/folding it into the dough over and over. This helps us achieve many, many flaky layers.

Recipe Ingredients

Milk: whole milk, 2% works too. 

Yeast: I use Active Dry, but instant yeast works too. 

Sugar: this helps activate the yeast and very gently sweetens the rolls. 

Flour: all purpose, of a medium to high protein content. I use bob’s red mill or arrowhead mills. I did try this recipe with bread flour but found the rolls were tougher. 

Salt: fine sea salt. If you are using table salt, halve the amount added. 

Potato flour: a bit of a wildcard ingredient but it’s so good here! Adding potato flour tenderizes the bread rolls. I cannot speak to trying the recipe without it. 

Butter: unsalted, you’ll use some in the dough itself and most of it for the ‘butter block’ which we’ll use to laminate the bread rolls.

Water: just a bit, added only as much as needed to get a soft dough. 

Egg wash: an egg yolk mixed with some milk or heavy cream. Brushing this on the dough before it bakes helps it brown and turn shiny.

How to make Butterflake Rolls

Make the dough

We’ll knead the dough in a stand mixer so pour the warmed milk into the mixer bowl and whisk in the yeast. 

-> giving time for the yeast to bloom (the mix should turn foamy) lets us know that the yeast is good to use. 

Add the sugar, flour, potato flour, and salt to the bowl and affix the dough hook attachment. 

Begin kneading the dough on low, then work up to medium speed: as the dough starts to come around the dough hook, add the softened butter. 

Give the dough time to knead, if you see it looks dry add a tablespoon or two of water. Once it starts to come around the dough hook again it’s done kneading.

Knead by hand on the countertop until smooth then transfer it to an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. 

I leave my dough at room temperature for about an hour or 90 minutes then set it in the fridge for an overnight rest and rise. This prolonged rest accomplishes several things: it gives the dough a longer period to ferment and develop better flavor and it rests the gluten in the dough so that it’s very easy and pliable the next day to laminate. 

Laminate the dough 

Make a butter block by slicing a stick of butter horizontally into three strips. Fold a half sheet of parchment paper and lay the strips on the bottom half – leaving a bit of space between them. Fold the parchment down and use a combination of your hands and a rolling pin to press the dough into a thin rectangle that’s about 9×7 inches. Set in the fridge to firm up. 

Roll out the well-rested dough on a well floured countertop (this dough is sticky and thin, use flour to prevent it from sticking) so it’s a little over double the size of the butter block. 

Peel one side of the parchment paper off the butter block and place it face down on the bottom half of the dough (center the block so there’s a bit of dough on the sides). Fold the dough down, over the block and press the edges to seal it: 

Roll the dough out to twice its size and fold it in half: this will help with any uneven dough. 

Now roll it out again to a bigger rectangle and perform a letter fold: bottom up and top down: 

Turn the dough so the shorter side is closest to you then roll it out again and perform a second letter fold. 

The dough needs time to rest now so wrap it up and set it in the fridge for 1-2 hours. 

Shape the Rolls 

Let the dough sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes, so the butter can soften. 

>> If you see butter bits breaking as you roll, it’s too cold. Cover it and leave it to warm slightly before rolling. 

Flour the countertop and roll the rested dough so it’s about 14×11 inches: we’re slicing this into 9 long strips, each strip will be rolled up into a coil and become one roll.

Arrange the coils so you have 3 rolls per row in an oiled, 9×9 inch square pan. 

Lay a damp tea towel over the rolls and let rise: when you can press a roll and it leaves an indentation and doesn’t bounce back, they are ready to bake. 

Whisk the egg wash together and brush over the tops of the rolls. 

Preheat the oven to 350 F and bake the rolls on the middle rack. They’re done when they are a deep golden color, after about a half an hour or so.

Butterflake Roll Recipe

no comments