BREAD, SIDE DISH, YEAST BREAD

Honey Butter Rolls

by Tiffany March 15, 2019

When my husband was in grad school, we moved clear across the country, completely away from family. Some of the people we met there will always be our favorites largely because they became our family. We celebrated holidays with them, learned how to take care of and raise babies together, and shared all our favorite recipes and traditions. One of those recipes that I was lucky enough to become in possession of was this Honey Butter Roll recipe. You may never want to eat another kind of roll again. I know I don’t and if I have any say in what rolls are served at any family gathering (which, if we’re being honest, I usually do) these are the ones that we have. I don’t usually have to request them though. My mom typically does the honors and I’m pretty confident that if you asked her what her favorite rolls were, these would top the list. Though, one of her sisters makes pretty killer ones as well.

These are easy, relatively fast – at least in the yeast bread world, and taste oh-so-good. You simply mix the water, yeast, sugar, and oil and let it sit until the yeast swells. Then add in the salt and flour until the dough gets to a good consistency. This isn’t really something that can be easily explained, but has to be experienced. My best advice would be to get it to the point that it’s not sticky, but still very pliable. You don’t want too much flour because that means dense, hard rolls and nobody likes that. But you also want to be able to roll out your dough and be able to work with it a little. You can’t do that if it’s a sticky mess. Then you let them rise for an hour and a half or two hours. If you live in a sauna like we do down here in Houston, then you can easily get away with only an hour. If you need to rush them a little bit, you can sit them on top of a heated oven as it’s usually a little warmer there, but not hot enough to cook them or mess with the rising process. It just encourages them to rise a little faster.

When they are done rising, roll them out, slather them up with some delicious honey butter, cut them into squares and load them into your pan to cook. You want to have 36-48 squares when all is said and done. We’re going to load them 3-4 stacked squares into a cupcake cup and this recipe makes 12 rolls. I don’t ever stress about having an exact number and will add in a fourth to stacks that seem a little smaller than others once I’ve put 3 into each cup.

You coat the tops in honey butter as well and cook them. Done. Simple. Delicious.

Honey Butter Rolls

Author: Tiffany

Melt in your mouth yeast rolls made with delicious honey butter.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
• Total Time: 2 1/2-3 hours
• Yield: 12 Rolls
• Category: Bread

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 1 tbsp yeast
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 1/2-4 cups flour
• 6 tbsp butter
• 1/3 cup honey

Instructions

• Put your hot water into the bowl you intend to make the dough in. Sprinkle the yeast over the top.
• Add the sugar and oil to the water and yeast and allow the yeast to swell, about 5 minutes.
• Add in the salt and 2 cups of the flour and mix until the dough starts to come together. Add in another cup of flour and mix. Keep adding in flour in small amounts until the dough is no longer sticky. This may only be a couple tablespoons more, or it may be the full cup. Judge based on the feel of the dough.
• Turn dough out on a floured surface to knead and do so for a full 7-8 minutes. After dough is kneaded, put into a floured bowl and allow to rise for 1 1/2-2 hours, until it is doubled in size.
• While the dough is rising, mix together the honey and butter in a small bowl.
• Once doubled in size, turn out on a floured surface and roll flat until about 20 x 12 inches. Lather 2/3 of the honey butter mixture over the entire surface of your dough. Using a pizza cutter, cut into 36-38 squares. This ends up being about 6 strips vertically and 8 horizontally.
• Preheat the oven to 375 and grease a cupcake pan. Stack together 4 dough squares and put into each cup. Brush each stack with the remaining honey butter.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the tops are nice and golden.
• Enjoy!

Notes

• This can be made in a stand mixer with a dough hook – which is what I do. I mix, knead, and rise all in the same bowl. My dough never even leaves the bowl until it is doubled in size and ready to be rolled out.
• DON’T skip kneading the dough or shortchange the time. This dough needs a good, long knead and you will reap the benefits of it when you eat the finished product.
• Honey butter mixture can be warm and gooey, or cooled and easier to spread on like butter. Both options will end up tasting the same in the long run, it just depends on personal preference. I typically forget to make it until last minute and have cold butter that I have to melt in the microwave in order to be able to stir the honey into it. The few times I’ve remembered enough in advance to have room temperature butter, this makes for a much cleaner option.
• It is OKAY if you don’t count how many sections you cut your dough into. In fact, I rarely do. Just make your squares close to the same size and stack them 3-4 per cup. They will still be delicious.