Sleep In! How to Make Breakfast Rolls Ahead of Time
We love freshly-baked breakfast rolls in the morning, especially when we’re on vacation and have the luxury of lounging in our bathrobes until noon. The only problem is that yeasted breads take so long to make, and we’re not thrilled about the idea of getting up at dawn to knead dough. Here’s what we do instead!
Yeast doughs do very well if chilled and can actually be kept for quite some time in the fridge. The yeast activity slows down in the cool environment but then picks up again once you take the dough out of the refrigerator, allowing you to essentially put your dough in a suspended state for as long as you need to.
To make our breakfast rolls ahead of time, we mix and knead the dough the night before and let it rise like normal. Before going to bed, we shape the dough into rolls, arrange them in their pan, and then stick them in the fridge. Don’t forget to cover them with a lid or plastic wrap so the dough doesn’t dry out.
The first thing we do the next morning is take the rolls out of the oven and let them warm up for about an hour on the counter. When they’ve risen a bit and are puffy, we put them in the oven to bake. It still takes a bit of time and planning, but at least we can still sleep in a little!
It also speeds things up if your kitchen is warm or if you can put the refrigerated rolls in a warm place. Otherwise, you can warm your oven, turn it off (don’t forget!), and let your rolls warm up in there.
Try it with any yeasted bread recipe – like one of these!
• Spicy Sticky Cinnamon Rolls
• Rum Raisin Almond Brioche
• Fresh Bagels
• Beginner Sourdough Loaf
(Image: Flickr member whitneyinchicago licensed under Creative Commons)