These are effectively a brioche dough with a little butter and a book fold to give them their characteristic shape. As far as I’m concerned, they’re essential for Thanksgiving. Though they’re great at any time of year.

I like to use a quarter sheet pan for this. A standard 9 by 13" baking dish works too, but I feel like it’s more cumbersome.

Ingredients

  • 290 g whole milk, room temperature (ca 20-30 °C)
  • 5 g active dry yeast (or 10 g fresh baker’s yeast)
  • 50 g sugar
  • 50 g (about 1) egg
  • 20 g (about 1) egg yolk
  • 550 g all-purpose flour
  • 9 g salt
  • 60 g unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small cubes
  • Melted butter

Method

Combine the milk and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let the yeast bloom and hydrate. Then add sugar and eggs, followed by the flour and salt.

Using the dough hook attachment, mix the dough on a low speed until the mixture for four minutes, or until the mixture is very well-combined. Then, with the mixer still running, add the soft butter 10 to 20 g at a time, and wait until each portion of butter is completely incorporated into the dough before adding more.

Pour the dough out of the mixer bowl. Shape it into a taught ball and store it in a large airtight container or a large bowl covered tightly with plastic.

Let the dough rise until it’s roughly doubled, about 90 minutes at room temperature.

Portion the dough into fifteen balls, 65-70 g each, rolling each one into a taught shape. Let those relax for 10 to 15 minutes.

Lightly grease a quarter sheet pan, and line the bottom with parchment.

Then roll each ball of dough out into something around 10 cm (5") long, brush each with melted butter, and fold them in half along the long axis. Arrange them on the prepared baking tray. Brush the tops with the remaining melted butter.

Let them rise until they’ve once again doubled in size, around 45 minutes.

Preheat an oven to 180 °C (350 °F) with fan (convection) if available.

Bake the rolls until they’re lightly browned and fully cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes.

Let the rolls cool slightly in the tray on a wire cooling rack before serving them. Or, let them cool completely and store them in an airtight container for up to 48 hours, and reheat them in a warm (ca 150 °C) oven before serving.