Good morning!
Thanks for all your great comments on my Fluffy White Clouds post. I loved reading them.
I woke up to a spooky and foggy morning outside…
and the leaves on the ground have at least doubled since I got home last Thursday!
I can’t believe today is the last day of September. Where did it go?
I made an equally spooky breakfast…
Meet Pumpkin Delight Vegan Overnight Oat Parfait:
That would be my Gingerbread Vegan Overnight Oats layered with Pumpkin Gingerbread Soft Serve (recipe below)!
Pumpkin Gingerbread Banana Soft Serve
Process together:
- 1 frozen banana,
- 1 tbsp almond milk,
- 3 tbsp canned pumpkin,
- 1 tsp blackstrap molasses,
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice.
It was ridiculously good!
Yesterday marked the first time I have ever made Vegan Dinner Rolls. I admit, I was quite apprehensive about making dinner rolls, especially after the ‘hard as baseball’ rolls I made last year. Those weren’t even vegan either and they were a huge fail. The disaster sort of crushed my roll making confidence.
But I decided to fear a dinner roll was silly.
After all, it was just a bit of flour, yeast, water, salt, sugar, Earth Balance, and egg replacer….
After a few prayers and a lot of patience, magic happened.
Vegan Pull-Apart Fluffy White Dinner Rolls
Adapted from Spark People.
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp sea salt (or regular)
- 2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast
- 1 cup very warm water
- 2 tbsp Earth Balance Buttery Stick
- 1 egg replacer (1 tsp egg replacer + 2 tbsp warm water)
Directions:
1) Proof your yeast! In a small bowl mix 2 1/4 tsp of Active Dry Yeast with 1/4 cup of very warm water (between 110 and 115 degrees F). Stir and let dissolve. Now add 1 tsp of sugar and stir. Let it sit for a good 5-10 minutes. You will know the yeast is active when it is slightly foamy and smells like bread.
2. In a stand mixer or by hand, add 1 and 1/4 cup of flour, remaining sugar (1 tbsp + 2 tsp), salt, and yeast mixture. Mix briefly for 10 seconds or so. Now, add the remaining very warm water (3/4 cup), slightly melted Earth balance, and egg replacer and mix until smooth. Slowly add in the rest of the flour (1 cup) and mix until smooth.
3. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. I put my bowl of dough in the oven with the light turned on (but not the oven itself!)
4. Grease a pie pan and set aside. After 30 minutes, remove the dough from the oven and knead with hands for a few seconds. Divide the dough into 12 balls with hands and place the balls into the pie pan (see image below).
5. Cover pie pan with towel and place back into the oven with light on for another 30 minutes. The rolls will expand and fill the pie pan during this time.
6. After 25 minutes, remove from oven and preheat the oven to 400F. After 5 more minutes, it is time to bake the rolls for 15-18 minutes until golden and fluffy. Makes 12 pull apart rolls.
7. Serve with Earth Balance and enjoy!
After rising the dough for 30 minutes, it was time to put 12 balls of dough into a pie pan! I decided to create pull-apart rolls because I think they are so fun.
I was nervous at this point, thinking that they weren’t going to rise, but lo and behold after 30 minutes they filled out and looked beautiful!
Look at that before and after:
Fun, right?
Then I basted the rolls with a coating of Earth Balance and popped it in the oven for about 17 mins. at 400F.
Deep inhale.
The house smelled wonderful!
Insert self-congratulatory pats on the back. ;)
The best part about baking fluffy rolls?
Getting to be the official taste tester!
I enjoyed 2 rolls with Earth Balance and had to practice serious self-control not to devour the entire lot.
These are some good rolls. Slightly crispy on the outside, but soft and fluffy on the inside.
Moral of the story: Do not fear making dinner rolls. It really wasn’t that hard! The toughest part was waiting for the dough to rise as I impatiently peeked at it every 5 minutes like a mother who just brought home her baby from the hospital.
Have you ever made dinner rolls or bread from scratch? Did it turn out?
Quick question – what is blackstrap molasses? Is that something you need to go to a specialty foods store for? I’d love to try making the soft serve!
Blackstrap molasses is a natural sweetener that is good for you…unlike white sugar it is not processed and refined too much and it retains significant amounts of iron and other minerals. You can find it at most grocery stores in the natural food section.
I’ve made lots of quick breads just using baking soda or poswder, bit I haven’t played around much with yeast doughs. I usually rely on frozen dough:(
But, based on my success with frozen dough, can I offer some variations on the (already perfect looking) pull-apart rolls?
Try dousing them in a bit of EVOO, parsley and tons of garlic!
Or cinnamon, Earth Balance and some pecans for monkey bread.
Yum!
Thanks for sharing! I love reading your vegan twists on recipes!
OH wow YUM!!!!!!!!!!! great ideas :)
I was going to make a herbed roll, but I thought I best be safe for round #1 lol
I don’t ever buy white breads, rolls etc for the house but these are vegan and simply mouth watering!!! Pull apart rolls are fab!
I went through a phase of trying to bake different breads every week or so. I tried things like baguettes, challah, and honey whole wheat breads. While I enjoyed it, it was a big challenge, and eventually bought a bread machine to ease the process. We now eat fresh bread all the time.
I like how your rolls remind me of Monkey Bread.
Oh My DEAR!… that looks to die for! I am such a HUGE bread person, since I was a kid. I must try those expeditiously! I could probably eat that whole pan if I didn’t know better.
i have never made rolls before but i have taken a shot at bread<- maja fail right there lol! i think its because i dont have a bread maker. i tried to make the bread recipe on the back of the king arturs whole wheat flour bag but it turned out horribly dry and hard! not a good experience :). but maybe ill try again soon.
are you kidding me. i am getting on a plane to canada right now. i need these angela.
u better hurry! hehe
I have never tried to make dinner rolls from scratch, but it’s something I’d love to try. These vegan rolls look so mouthwatering. I would have to practice serious self-control. I could eat nothing but white bread for days and be a happy camper. :)
getting over a fear of yeast is a huge step. :) i’m proud.
i just recently started making my own bread weekly, and i will never go back to store bread.
bread baking is so satisfying!
i’ve been eyeballing this honey walnut spelt bread recipe, maybe i’ll grow a pair and try it this weekend. :P
amazing! I love how you make this stuff mid week like it is nothin. :) Those look better than anythin I have seen in a long time!
I only make rolls around the holidays but I bake weekly.
Omg they look delicious…I must try!
I have never made rolls before, but I’ve been craving Hawaiian Bread (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31%2BIEeFNKlL._SL500_AA300_PIbundle-2,TopRight,0,0_AA300_SH20_.jpg)… I think I will use this recipe, but add some pineapple juice and some stevia and make my own version!
I’ve always been afraid to try homemade breads, but these look too good to not try! I have a problem with self control when it comes to homemade, fresh bread. I give you credit for only eating two rolls! Can’t wait to try these :)
I made dinner rolls for my wedding- same method, pull-apart. Sometimes fluffy bread is just what you need :-) Your look great.
My boyfriend’s mom makes the Dark and Soft Restaurant Dinner Rolls from King Arthur Flour’s recipe. They are so wonderful! Dark from molasses and whole wheat and so very soft and fluffy. My boyfriend loves them so I tried to make them. The taste was all there, but the fluffy texture was not. I always have problems with my yeast, but I think the biggest problem lies in the lack of patience to let them fully rise. ;-)
Those look perfect. I really love baking bread. It takes time and precision and you get to watch something grow from nothing. It’s such a great experience.
I thought about you yesterday, because we had 2 Canadian college guys come up to our church and asked if they could camp underneath the carport. The crazy thing is, they we’re on their bikes, which they had ridden all the way from Canada. I live in FLORIDA!!! They decided one day to take a year off of school and ride their bikes to Ft. Lauderdale Florida, get on a plane and then fly to South America. Then they will bike to Argentina to get to the “end of the earth” before you get to the Arctic. How inspirational is that?? They ride 80-100 miles a day. We gave them food to refuel and talked to them for a while. What an awesome story huh. :)
haha that is so random and funny!
Congrats on the delicious looking rolls! The only time I have made bread from scratch was in a cooking class during college. I think I’m almost ready to try on my own!
Bread is one of those foods I’m scared of making because I’m so sure I’ll mess it up! :P
I have tried a couple of times, but, for some reason yeast and I are not friends. Now I cheat and use a Gluten Free bread mix that all I have to do is add water.
Maybe soon I will try again to make friends with yeast :-)