Buttery Garlic Parmesan Rolls,Easy Homemade Hamburger Buns

Buttery Garlic Parmesan Rolls
I believe the name of these delicious rolls speaks for
itself! These buttery, garlicky, parmesan cheesy, carb-olicious
rolls are perfect to eat with your next Italian
dinner or just by themselves, because yes, they are that good.
Slather on some extra butter, melt some provolone cheese on
top, or just eat them plain, you can’t go wrong…I promise!
The real reason I baked these delicious babies up is because
my son has a complex about his bread at school now. Yes, the
3rd grade pressure is really getting to him! I asked him if he
wanted a sandwich in his lunchbox and his first question was
“Well what bread are you using?” We pretty much only eat Food
for Life Ezekiel bread because it is the best store bought
bread I have found. I totally love the Ezekiel bread because
it is loaded with natural nutrients and tastes great. It
doesn’t include any ingredients that I can’t pronounce and it
doesn’t contain any preservatives. My son is more of a
processed, packaged bread lover (because I can’t shield him
from everything!) so I’ve resorted to making my own breads and
skipping the processed, unnecessary ingredients in store
bought white breads and rolls (I also add in whole wheat
flour).
Did you know that some brands of shelf stable breads can even
include hidden trans fats??? I KNOW! Ridiculous! The hidden
source will be labeled as mono-and-diglycerides, which can be
found in a ton of processed foods. I’ve seen it in everything
from dips, to ice creams, to most processed breads. I have
even seen it in grocery store “bakery” breads, also know as
“We are just pretending to bake this but in fact it came in
frozen and isn’t really the fresh product you thought you were
buying.” Those “bakery” breads can be super misleading because
they look homemade but if you take a gander at the ingredients
sometimes they are even worse then the pre-packaged stuff. I
have looked and looked for a grocery store that carried a
bread that doesn’t contain anything weird and I have only
found ONE option at Wegman’s, their organic sourdough bread.
I’ve noticed that it has been sold out every week so maybe
Wegman’s will take the hint and come out with more options!
That would be awesome!
With that being said, I wanted my son to be able to take
something he wasn’t embarrassed about and would actually eat
so here it is.
I settled for using mostly bread flour (King
Arthur’s brand) and stone ground whole wheat flour which
created a really nice end result. Bread flour has never failed
me to create the perfect roll, so I highly recommend using it
in this recipe. I baked the rolls in pie pans (10 per
pan) right next to each other because I like that pull apart
aspect I get from doing it like that, but you could certainly
separate them and bake them on a sheet tray or in a
rectangular pan.
*Recipe adapted
Foodnetwork.com
from
Almost
Famous
Breadsticks
by
Easy Homemade Hamburger Buns
Today I’m ditching the whole wheat flour for a soft and fluffy
Homemade Hamburger Bun made with unbleached bread flour (King
Arthur’s brand). Let’s be honest here… the two are just not
the same!
I’ve been experimenting a lot with baking breads lately and
I’ve come to realize that using all whole wheat flour will NOT
yield the same result as using bread flour. I used to think I
could just sub whole wheat flour in for anything. The more and
more I experiment the more I’m coming to see that making that
substitution has been causing me to think I’m just not good at
baking breads. I’ve been longing for a perfect result…and
have come up short time and time again.
I’ve known bread flour was a completely different animal for
years, after all I did spend $25,000 on Baking and Pastry
School. You see, bread flour has a higher protein content
which makes it better for gluten development. This is going to
give you a nicer rise and a fluffier product. I’ve seen people
making substitutions between all purpose and bread flour,
however I strongly recommend using bread flour for this recipe
because I promise….it is just perfect!
I know yeast breads are scary… and believe me… I know why.
With all of my experimentations lately I fully understand the
complete letdown you feel when you’ve dedicated time, energy,
and money into something that just doesn’t produce the results
you were looking for. Today I’m taking the “scary” out of
Homemade Hamburger Buns because if you follow this recipe I
promise you will get the same results pictured. All of my
Hamburger Buns were perfect, and far superior to those
processed, shelf stable buns you buy at the supermarket that
NEVER mold!
A few other notes about these Buns:
Do not skip the egg wash! Egg wash is simply an egg + a
bit of water brushed onto your buns before you bake them
to give them that nice golden brown color. I have tried
to cut corners by skipping the egg wash on yeast breads
over and over again and every time I end up thinking
“Gee I wish I would have used that egg wash” when my
product isn’t nice and golden brown like I hoped it
would be.
Temperature matters. Temperature is a crucial part of
baking yeast breads. You can actually kill the yeast if
your water is too hot, so be careful. I never take the
temperature of the water with a thermometer, but when my
water feels ever so slightly warmer then lukewarm,
that’s what I go with. Obviously, that’s not the
“professional” method of figuring out water temperature
but it has never failed me. How quickly your dough rises
also depends upon the temperature of the room your dough
is in. My kitchen is always a little warmer then the
rest of the house, which is great for rising dough. In
the winter I turn my oven on and sit the dough on top of
the oven. Again, nothing “professional” about this, just
my own experience.
This dough can be turned into a number of things:
Hamburger Buns, breadsticks, garlic bread, hoagie
rolls…. you name it. I adapted the recipe from this
Almost Famous Breadsticks recipe from Food Network. It
is definitely my new favorite dough!
Whole
Wheat
Kale
and
Prosciutto White Pizza +
#52NewFoods GIVEAWAY!
Remember that time you got that genius idea to make homemade
pizza with whole wheat flour and it was a total flop? Been
there, done that! There has always been something I really
hated about how the crust turned out, because truth be told
shaping a pizza is really hard!
I was looking for recipes on Martha Stewart’s website and
there it was..one of the most genius food hacks I have
ever seen! A pizza in a cast iron skillet! Where has this idea
been my whole life? I know, I know, Pizza Hut has essentially
been doing this forever and calling it panned pizza but it
never occurred to me that maybe this would be the tool I
needed to fix my homemade pizza problems.
I decided to incorporated kale into our grocery list this
week, because it isn’t something I pick up very often. This
week was different though, because Jennifer Tyler Lee’s
new book, The 52 New Foods Challenge, made me realize I have
been ignoring a few vegetables that I’d like to start using
regularly. You know, when you get into a grocery shopping
routine and forget about all the other stuff the grocery store
has? Yeah, that has been me lately and I wanted to challenge
my family to trying something new!
What better a way to introduce kale to my children then pizza?
I can’t remember a time my kids refused pizza and the dough is
an awesome way to get the kids involved and having fun. I kid
you not, my toddler had a piece of dough that he played with
for hours. Who needs toys when you have pizza dough?
If you haven’t checked out my Sweet-Fire Chilli post,
Jennifer’s book is based upon challenging your family to try
just one new food a week. This is a genius way to handle
transitioning to cooking from scratch and eating healthier
because we all know how busy life with kids can get. Jennifer
suggests dedicating at least one day a week to cooking with
the whole family and trying something new. Not just that, she
has made it into a game for kids to play to entice them to
actually eat the new food! Again, where has this idea been my
whole life?
Sometimes it is important to step back and take a look at the
big picture. With Jennifer’s book, the big picture of eating
healthier, getting your kids to try healthy foods, and cutting
processed foods seems so much more attainable for families who
aren’t sure where to start. Can you imagine though, a year
from now having 52 new healthy ingredients to cook for your
family with? How amazing is that big picture?
Pizza Dough = Hours of fun! I do believe that is Batman
getting wrapped in dough!
I know this question is coming, so I’m going to go ahead an
answer it! Is prosciutto processed?
No. Prosciutto is cured, which means it was heavily salted to
draw moisture out of the ham and make it safe for consumption.
Although this is a process, the prosciutto I used only had 2
ingredients that were ham and salt. Some companies will use
nitrates as well, but shop around and find a brand that
doesn’t. Since the prosciutto is cured, it is very high in
sodium, so I wouldn’t suggest using it as anything other then
a heavy garnish in a dish like this. Just a few shreds will
give you flavor enough to bring a really great taste without
adding gobs of sodium.
If you are intimidated by mixing the pizza dough and using
yeast, do not be! It is honestly easier then making cookies, I
promise.
The dough only takes about 8 minutes to mix up,
then rests in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, although
you can refrigerate it for up to 24. I highly suggest using
whole wheat white flour which is a softer wheat, therefore
yields a softer and less dense product. Whole wheat white
flour can be confusing because it sounds like it is similar to
bleached, enriched, white flour but it IS NOT.
The Giveaway
Jennifer’s book can be pre-ordered below, PLUS I am giving
away a copy this week! Simply leave a comment with 1
ingredient you’d like to challenge yourself to cook with this
week! Next Thursday, I will randomly select a winner.
*Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe adapted from 100 Days of Real
Food’s recipe Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza. Thanks Lisa!
Lunchboxes Love Mini-Whole Wheat Pizzas
Too!
If you find yourself with extra dough, simply cut it into
squares and press it into muffin tins. Top with garlic oil,
cheese, and veggies.