Garlic, Herb, and Cheese Bread Rolls

How to Make Perfect Garlic, Herb, and Cheese Bread Rolls

Which Yeast Is Best to Use For Rolls?

• Think of instant yeast as a sort of foolproof shortcut ingredient. It’s also labeled rapid rise or quick rise yeast and is available at most grocery stores
• Instant yeast is formulated to allow you to skip proofing (the step where you combine the yeast with warm liquid for 5 minutes). 
• You can buy my all-time favorite instant yeast on Amazon.

If you don’t have or can’t find instant yeast, you can easily use active dry yeast instead. Simply combine it with the warm liquid called for in the recipe and allow it to proof for 5 minutes before adding into the bowl with the other ingredients. Skipping the proof will lengthen the rising period as it will take the yeast longer to get moving.

Tips for Fluffy Garlic, Herb, and Cheese Bread Rolls

• Avoid adding too much extra flour to the dough. This dough is enriched with milk, butter, oil, eggs, and sugar. These ingredients slow down gluten development and can make the dough a little sticky. Your instinct might be to add extra flour; however, any extra flour will create a denser, tougher roll instead of the light, fluffy roll we want.
• Measure your flour correctly. I highly recommend using a digital kitchen scale for accuracy, but if you don’t have one, be sure to use the spoon and level method to ensure you’re not accidentally compacting too much flour in your measuring cups.
• Don’t skip the sugar. There’s just a touch in these herbed dinner rolls, to help make the rolls tender and golden brown. Learn more about sugar’s role in baking here.

Can I Knead This Dough by Hand? 

Yes! I call for a stand mixer to make easy work of kneading in this Garlic, Herb, and Cheese Bread Rolls recipe, but you can also knead by hand. Be sure to knead the dough properly, until the dough is smooth and elastic, to get rolls that hold their shape and bake up nice and fluffy. You can see my full tutorial on how to knead dough here.

How to Tell When Dough Is Risen

• A lot of factors will influence when your Garlic, Herb, and Cheese Bread Roll dough is done rising and ready to be shaped – particularly the temperature and humidity level in your kitchen.
• Place two fingers in the risen dough up to the second knuckle and then take them out. If the indentations remain, the dough is ready to be shaped. If not, cover and let the dough rise longer until the indentations remain.
• The same test can be done again for the second proof before baking.

How to Shape Bread Rolls

1. Once the dough is risen, press it down to gently deflate.
2. Place the dough onto a clean surface (not a floured surface).
3. Use a bench scraper to section the dough into 12 equal pieces. Don’t worry if they’re not perfectly equal in size. However, if you’re a perfectionist, you can weigh the entire mass of dough, divide that number by 12, and then portion each piece perfectly by weight.
4. As you’re shaping each piece into a round, make sure to pinch the dough into one central point to create a tight ball. This will help the rolls rise beautifully. Don’t flour your work surface when shaping the rolls because you want some resistance to roll them into taut balls.

You can also get creative with the shapes. Check out my video post on 5 ways to shape bread rolls here.

What Type of Pan for Garlic, Herb, and Cheese Bread Rolls?

This Garlic, Herb, and Cheese Bread Rolls recipe uses a 9×13-inch baking pan. While I usually prefer metal baking pans over glass or ceramic (learn why here!), I prefer the table presentation ceramic pans offer when making dinner rolls. 

How to Make Garlic, Herb, and Cheese Bread Rolls Ahead of Time

1. Make the dough all the way through to rising once and shaping into rolls.
2. Once the rolls are shaped, cover the pan well with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
3. When ready to bake, bring to room temperature as the oven preheats before baking as the recipe directs.
4. If the rolls haven’t doubled in size yet, allow to sit at room temperature until they do.
5. The rolls are best served the day they’re baked. 
6. Store leftover Garlic, Herb, and Cheese Bread Rolls in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
7. Reheat the rolls briefly in the oven or toaster oven at 300°F until warmed through to refresh before serving.