Rosemary Challah Rolls
The prettiest savory rolls you ever did see
There is something about a fluffy roll, am I right? Yes, I am. Add in some rosemary and you have fluffy roll magic. Rosemary is one of the best herbs in my opinion (which is an opinion I share a lot based on my various recipes like my beloved Rosemary Shortbread and these Rosemary & White Chocolate Scones) for both baking and cooking.
The beauty of these rolls, besides their literal beauty amirighttt, is that they are fairly simple to turn into something gorgeous. Once you divide your dough - yes, you will need a digital scale for this - and roll each piece into a cylinder, simply flatten with a rolling pin, split with a knife, and twist! Spiral your twist into a round roll and leave on your baking tray to rise. Voila! P.S. I understand that reading that likely made you say “simple??” but I promiseee they come together easily.
The richness of the challah dough combined with the savoriness of the fresh rosemary makes for a roll match made in heaven. These soft, braided, beauties will look perfect on your plate as a side or cut in half and used to make a delicious sandwich!
Yields: 8 Rolls
Ingredients:
½ cup + 2 tbsp warm water
1 ½ tsp dry yeast
⅓ cup beaten egg (less than two eggs, save the remainder for egg wash)
⅓ cup canola oil
3 ½ tbsp honey
2 ¾ cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
2 tbsp salted butter, melted
1 tsp fresh chopped rosemary
Directions:
In a mixing bowl fitted with a dough hook, combine your water and yeast and leave to sit for five minutes to allow it to bloom
In a pitcher, combine your beaten egg, canola oil, and honey and give a good mix. Pour half of the mixture into the mixing bowl with the yeast/water.
Add flour to the mixing bowl and set to lowest speed.
Once mostly combined, add the remainder of your honey mixture to the mixing bowl
When the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium for five minutes
Scrape down the bowl and put up to the next highest speed. Mix until the dough is clinging to the hook and cleaning the bowl
If you need to, scrape the bowl down a final time and mix briefly to bring any remaining pieces together
On low speed, add your salt and 2 tbsp of rosemary; mix until combined
Scrape down the bowl and then cover with a towel, leave to rest until doubled in size (roughly 1 hour)
Press your finger gently into the dough, when the indent you made slowly releases it’s ready!
Using a digital scale and a dough scraper (or a knife), split your dough into eight, 94g balls, cutting from other pieces until all come to an equal weight. Do not tear or pull your dough to do this.
Take each of the eight pieces and de-gas them one by one, flattening lightly into a rectangle
Gently roll out each piece of dough into roughly a foot-long cylinder. Lightly flour your surface as needed, so the dough doesn’t tear.
One cylinder at a time, use a rolling pin to flatten your piece of dough, and then with a knife, cut a vertical line from the halfway point down, splitting the dough down the middle. Do not drag your knife. Twist one piece over the other, to form a twisted strand. Cut a vertical line from the halfway point upward now, and twist the remaining dough together. With one end of your twisted strand in each hand, swing the dough lightly like a jump rope, to tighten the strands. Then, holding one end, swirl the dough around it to form a spiral, tucking the last end underneath. Place on a parchment-lined baking tray
Once you’ve formed all of your rolls, cover them with a towel and let proof until double in size (about an hour)
Preheat your oven to 350F
Brush your challah knot with the remainder of your beaten egg, be careful not to let the brush pull at the dough
Bake on the third shelf down in your oven for 13-15 minutes. You will need to insert a thermometer into the middle hole of the dough - probing through the middle crack, don’t poke through one of your pretty knot lines. The temperature should be between 188-194F for your dough to be fully cooked.
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely
Melt 2 tbsp butter with 1 tsp of chopped rosemary and brush over your cooled rolls
Enjoy!
If you love this recipe, please comment below and tag @accentgolden in your posts on social!
Notes:
You can make smaller rolls, at 94g each these are a little closer to bun size to feel free to drop them down in size to make them smaller. This will give you more than eight rolls. Be sure to start checking their internal temperature with your thermometer for doneness earlier, since your rolls will be smaller and should cook faster.
This recipe has been minimally adapted from a recipe I received from Chef Ashley during my patisserie course in Scotland.
