2tablespoonsgranulated sugar(25g) or liquid such as maple syrup or agave
2 ¼teaspoonsinstant yeastabout 1 packet
1teaspoonsea salt
1cupvegan milknot hot - warm to touch ranging between 110 to 120°F (240mL)
¼cupmelted vegan butterolive oil or any oil (56g)
For top:
3tablespoonsmelted vegan butter(42g)12
Instructions
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Whisk the ingredients together.
Create a well in the centre of the flour. Slowly add the warm milk and vegan butter to the dry ingredients, and then mix together with a spatula until just incorporated. The dough should look shaggy.
Using your dough hook, knead the dough for about 5-6 minutes on the first or second speed. The dough might be sticky at first, but you can add up to 2 tablespoons of flour while kneading to make it easier to manage. You want the end dough ball to be smooth, with slight dimples with a bit of tension formed.
Lightly grease the bowl of the dough with some additional oil and place the dough ball back into the bowl. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it sit for at least 2 hours on the counter in a WARM area. If your kitchen is too cold, you can place it in your OFF oven with the pilot light on which will provide enough residual heat for it to rise. The dough should rise and double in size.
Punch down the dough and fold over.
Divide the dough into 15 equal balls and roll each into a ball. I like to weigh the dough, then split the figure into 15 for equally round balls. Using your fingers, pinch and pull the undersides to shape each ball round. Now would be a great time to check out the video in this post for clarification! But you essentially want to make them as round as possible with the seam on the underside so it isn’t visible.
Grease a 9x13 container with some vegan butter lightly. Line up the balls evenly beside each other.
Cover with a light kitchen towel and allow the balls to proof/rise for another 1 hour. The dough balls with touch - and you want them to!
You can also begin preheating your oven to 400°F/200°C within the last 20 minutes so it's ready when they're done rising.
Using a silicone brush/pastry brush, brush the 3 tablespoons vegan butter over the top of the rolls.
Bake your rolls for 15 minutes in the oven. Remove from oven. You can leave them to cool mainly in the pan, or move them to a cooling rack after about 5 minutes. The rolls soften completely after resting for about 15 minutes.
Slice, tear, slather in butter, and enjoy!
Notes
Expert Tips & FAQ
Rise Time – I know it’s tempting to skip the rise time, but let me count the ways it makes a massive difference! These rolls do need both rise times, so just start them early so you can set them and forget them!
These separate rises actually help to make these pretty foolproof and help create their beautiful rounded shape. You don’t want to skimp on rising time or skip either, because they result in the ultimate end product.
Always have some bench flour with you in a small container while kneading the dough – which just means extra flour. If you live in a humid climate like me, you may end up needing up to an extra ¼ cup flour while kneading. If not, perhaps only 2 tablespoons extra. The recipe is designed in a way that it’ll still turn out incredible either way.
Speaking of kneading, kneading here is key. Kneading helps to work the gluten, which is crucial for the texture and pull of these rolls. I always set a timer while kneading, and throw on a show so the time goes by faster. To knead, you want to fold the dough over onto itself, then push into a ball. Fold and push. You want to really work at it because those ten minutes of needing will make all the difference. If you have a stand mixer, you can use this too of course!
Lastly, use a scale to weigh out your ingredients. It makes such a difference with accuracy and also comes in handy if you want to create equal sized rolls. Each dough ball weighed 49.4 g for me.
I don’t recommend skimping on the vegan butter in this recipe. I like to think of it as the natural dough conditioner, and it helps to yield these incredibly soft rolls.
(each dough ball weighed about 49.4 g each for me)