Oatmeal Molasses Rolls

You're not going to want to miss this one folks!

Hope everyone had a great holiday! After a whirlwind of wedding cake-making and traveling home for the holidays, I was ready for an entire day of pulling my life together and a little baking on the side! 

I typically don't have the patience to wait for bread to proof, so I like to save bread recipes for days that I have a lot going on - this project was perfect. It proofs twice, so you'll have two hours in between proofs to tackle laundry, go to the gym - or to just sit there and stare at your beautiful dough. After all, it is a beautiful dough... 

These rolls are super soft, sweetened just slightly with the molasses and brown sugar, and topped with the salted butter it makes for the absolutely perfect pull-apart roll.

Just look at that inside! They proofed perfectly and are super soft and moist enough to not require extra butter slathered on top... but we all know that's no way to live!

Check out the original recipe HERE. I made some minor tweaks (including adding pumpkin seeds for added crunch!) which I've included below.

You Will Need:

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 Tablespoon brown sugar (you can use dark or light)

1/4 cup lukewarm water

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup butter cut into cubes

2 Tablespoons molasses

2 teaspoons salt

1 egg

2 1/2 - 3 cups all-purpose flour

2-3 Tablespoons melted butter for topping the rolls

extra oats and pumpkin seeds for topping

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar. Let stand until bubbly.

Scald milk (do not boil!) and then add it to the butter in your mixing bowl. Whisk until butter has melted, then add brown sugar, oats, molasses and salt. Whisk until smooth and cool to lukewarm.

Add egg and mix well. Add the yeast and mix to incorporate. Then mix in 2 1/2 cups of flour adding additional flour 1/4 cup at a time until dough loses its sheen. (Do not add too much flour, just enough to keep it from sticking to the touch - dough should still be slightly tacky.)

Place dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of two hours or overnight. It will not rise a lot. 

Turn chilled dough onto a floured work surface and knead or fold and turn tough slightly. Cut dough into 12 balls. Press each ball into a flat rectangle and tuck the ends under. Place seam-side down into a well-buttered 9-inch round pan or 9x12 rectangle pan. In a small bowl, combine melted butter with a pinch of salt and brush over rolls. Sprinkle tops with oats and pumpkin seeds (if using), cover top with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until rolls are nicely browned and sound hollow when you tap the tops. Remove from oven and brush again with remaining butter. 

Cool for 5-10 minutes before serving!

My rolls all shaped and ready to proof before baking!

The recipe book that I keep? This recipe is good enough to put in twice! Make these rolls your first New Year's Resolution. And then your second. And possibly third. They're that good!

Hope everyone enjoys their last week of 2015!