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No-Knead Rosemary Dinner Rolls

No-Knead Rosemary Dinner Rolls

Chelsea Colbath
A rosemary-infused dinner roll recipe that requires no kneading or fancy techniques, but yields 16 perfectly soft & fluffy rolls every time. Made with half whole wheat flour for a little extra nutritional boost!
10 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 25 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 cups warm tap water
  • 1 Tablespoon maple syrup or honey
  • 1 teaspoon yeast instant or active dry
  • 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour*
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*
  • 1/2 Tablespoon salt
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 Tablespoons finely chopped rosemary from about 1/4 cup of fresh rosemary leaves
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

Instructions
 

  • 1. Put all ingredients EXCEPT baking powder (water, maple syrup, yeast, flour, salt, olive oil, and rosemary) in a large mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Since this is a no-knead recipe, there is no need to use a stand mixer. Just a bowl and a spoon is perfect!
  • 2. Cover the dough and let it rise at room temperature for 1-2 hours, or until the dough has nearly doubled in size.
  • 3. Once risen, stir the dough once more, cover, and transfer to the fridge. The dough needs to rest in the fridge at least overnight, but can stay there for up to 5 days before you want to make the rolls.
  • 4. When ready to make the rolls, remove the dough from the fridge and stir in the baking powder until it has been fully absorbed by the dough.
  • 5. Dump the dough onto a floured surface and sprinkle the top of the dough with more flour, then cut into 16 pieces (to get 16 relatively even sized rolls, cut the dough into 4 even pieces, then cut each of those into 4 pieces). Use your hands to tuck and roll each little piece of dough into a ball.
  • 6. Grease a large baking dish (such as a 9x13 inch or similar) and place all 16 rolls into the dish, leaving about a half inch of space between each roll. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise at room temperature for 35-55 minutes, or until the rolls have nearly doubled in size.
  • 7. When the rolls have risen, preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, then bake for 20-25 minutes, or until rolls are golden brown (if you are already baking something else on Thanksgiving day at a slightly lower or slightly higher temperature and need to cook the rolls at the same time, don't worry- just bake the rolls for a little longer or a little shorter, they'll turn out just fine). If desired, brush finished rolls with a little melted butter or a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt.
  • 8. Rolls are best served warm with butter (but you already knew that), though are still great leftover at room temperature for up to a week.

Notes

*If you'd like to make 100% whole wheat rolls, just use 3 cups of white whole wheat instead of the combination of all-purpose and whole wheat. The baking powder in the recipe ensures that they still get nice and fluffy, though the color is a bit darker and the flavor is slightly more 'whole wheat' tasting. I find them to still be enjoyable with all whole wheat, but for Thanksgiving I wanted to make sure these rolls would appeal to every one of our guests, hence the half all-purpose flour.
Not into rosemary rolls? Feel free to use a different herb like thyme or sage, or to leave it out entirely for plain dinner rolls!
Adapted from my No-Knead Whole Wheat Pizza Dough