Soft Vegan Dinner Rolls (2 ways)
Servings: 12 rolls
Ingredients
- 500 - 900 grams refrigerator dough
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon agave or maple syrup, more to taste
Instructions
How Much Dough?
- Pinch off a large piece of refrigerator dough depending on how many dinner rolls you'd like to make.
- FYI: In the recipe photo I made 21, 50ish gram (just over 1 ½ ounces) rolls with about half the bucket of dough. Each dough ball was around the size of a large golf ball.
- Lightly flour your work surface and quickly shape the large piece into a nice ball. Using a bench scraper or large knife, divide into evenly sized pieces (they don't have to be exact).
Shaping (Rounding) the Rolls
- Shape each piece into a ball by rounding (see blog post for specific details). Basically, place a cupped hand over the piece of dough and make circular motions on the work surface creating friction which produces a smooth tight, round ball.
- Arrange balls on a parchment lined or greased bottom and sides of a quarter baking sheet. ½" apart for soft dinner rolls and 2" apart for crusty dinner rolls.
- Cover with plastic and a light kitchen towel and let rise in a warm spot until light and puffy (about 30-45 minutes depending on how warm your kitchen is).
Preheat Oven
- While the rolls are proofing (rising), preheat the oven to 400º F or 445ºF depending which dinner rolls you are baking.
- Place the oven rack in the center of the oven.
Baking the Dinner Rolls (2 methods)
- Soft Dinner Rolls - remove plastic, place in preheated 445º F oven until medium golden ~12-15 minutes (depending on size of rolls and how hot your oven runs).
- Soft Dinner Rolls - remove from oven, brush with butter. Let cool around 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely so the sides don't steam and get soggy.
- Crusty Dinner Rolls - remove plastic. Right before placing in hot oven, spray a couple times with water. Immediately put into 400º F oven and close the door. Set timer for 18-23 minutes (depending on size of rolls and how hot your oven runs).
- The rolls will be medium brown, and beautifully crunchy/crusty - very difficult to resist! Do not brush with any topping. Do not place in plastic bag.
Notes
Rolls Browning Too Fast?: I didn't have this issue, but if your rolls are browning too quickly, place a piece of foil over the top for the last few minutes.
Preventing Soggy Rolls: Remove the baked tear-apart dinner rolls (soft dinner rolls) from the baking sheet after a few minutes so the sides don't steam and become soggy while cooling.
Pull-apart Roll Option: After baking, brush the top of the dinner rolls with a mixture of sweet butter (2 tablespoons melted non dairy butter and 1 tablespoon maple syrup). Add a pinch of flaky sea salt to rolls for salty sweet option.
Whipped 'Honey' Butter: Stir together a tablespoonful or two of maple syrup with 2 tablespoons of soft vegan butter and serve alongside the rolls for a kiss of sweetness.
Storage Tip: Soft dinner buns can be stored in a plastic bag at room temperature for several days. They can also be stored in the fridge for several days (but refrigeration may some cause drying).
Storing crusty rolls (or bread) in plastic causes the crust to lose its crispness.