Fluffy Garlic Rolls

Hi Early Risers!

Thank you for your patience, waiting for this recipe. This holiday season wasn't the most fun for us, we had one of "those" couple of weeks where everything goes wrong! Our Christmas lights activity was stressful and my 5 year old twins had to pee the whole time, causing us to miss it all. Both of my siblings ended up not able to come, and our annual Christmas party was the same day I got a gnarly head cold which now, a week later, my final child finally got. Keeping friends away during the break really stinks when you have 3 kids going crazy at home!

With that being said, I want to acknowledge that we still have it so good and are so fortunate. I try to hold that feeling when I get sad about being far away from loved ones. I hope you had a wonderful end of December and got to celebrate with your loved ones.

Enough rambling from me, here is the recipe.

Instructions

Mix the starter, milk, eggs, flour, sugar and herbs. This recipe is easiest using a stand mixer, but it can be done by hand. Once that comes together, let it rest for 15 minutes and add the salt. Slowly incorporate the butter and mix until the dough becomes smooth and shiny and you can pull a nice windowpane. This can take up to 30 minutes in a Kitchenaid, take it slow and don't burn out your motor.

Once the dough is mixed, put it in a warm spot for 6 hours, or until it almost doubles in size. I put mine in my Brod and Taylor proofer at 78f for 6 hours.

Right after mixing.

After first proofing - this is when it went in the fridge.

After 6 hours, put your dough in the fridge for 1-2 hours. It's very helpful for the dough to be cold when you roll it out and fill it, it is much less messy.

Mix your filling by putting all ingredients into a bowl and mix them well. If you're using mozzarella, don't mix it into the filling, you will sprinkle it on top of the butter mixture.

Pull the dough out of the fridge. Roll it into a rectangle that measures roughly 18" by 12". You want the rolled and filled dough to end up 18 inches long, so roll up the short side. It's helpful to spread the filling with an offset spatula. Once it's spread, add the mozzarella, if you're using it.

Cut each roll into 1.5 inches and put them in a half sheet tray and cover. At this point, you can choose to put the rolls in a very warm spot and let them rise until they double in size. This took 1.5 hours in my proofer at 78f. Or you can put the rolls in the fridge overnight to bake the next day. If you do this, they will take 2-3 hours in a warm spot to be ready to bake. OR the third option is to prep it all, leave the ready but unbaked rolls in the fridge until RIGHT before you go to bed, and then you can leave them in a cold kitchen overnight and bake them in the morning. That's what I did in the video I shared with these. The main thing to look for is that they're doubled in size before you bake them.

15 minutes before the rolls are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Brush a beaten egg on each roll and bake for 20-25 minutes. If you've added cheese, you can also sprinkle some on top before baking. Don't let the rolls get too brown or they'll end up dry.

Mix the melted butter, parsley and salt. Immediately after the rolls come out of the oven, brush them with the topping. Serve warm!

If you find your rolls are dense or dry, you did not let them rise long enough after rolling them. Next time, let them get bigger and puffier before baking.

I mixed my dough at 8:30am and served them for dinner the same day at 6:30pm.