Ingredients:

• 3 cups (360 grams) all-purpose flour, plus for dusting the work surface
• 1 teaspoon (6 grams) salt 
• 1 tablespoon (11 grams) sugar 
• 1 tablespoon (15 grams) baking powder 
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) vegetable shortening, frozen, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 
• 1 cup (240 milliliters) low-fat buttermilk 
• 1 large egg 

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Whisk for thirty seconds to combine and evenly distribute the leavening. Add the shortening and butter and toss to coat the fat a bit with the flour. Using your fingertips, gently work the fats into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal with some pea-size chunks of fat.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg, and add this to the flour mixture. Stir together with a wooden spoon. Then, gently work through the mixture with your hands to separate any wet patches and bring the dough together.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, sprinkle with the minced thyme and knead gently until it just holds together. Pat it into a rough 1/2-inch-tall disk and cut it into 7 biscuits using a 3-inch round biscuit cutter. (Bake off the scraps and use for croutons in the Broccoli Salad recipe.)

Yield: 12 rolls

INGREDIENTS

Dough:

• 1/2 cup warm water, 110 degrees F
• 2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup whole milk, room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 large yolk
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, cut into tablespoons
• 1/2 cup finely chopped Oreo cookies

Filling:

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 cup finely chopped Oreo cookies

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of fine sea salt
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• finely chopped Oreo cookies, to garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

1. DOUGH: Sprinkle yeast over warm water. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar and stir to combine. Let sit for 5-7 minutes to allow mixture to bubble and activate.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together yeast mixture, warm milk, remaining sugar, egg, and egg yolk. Whisk salt into flour. Add 2 cups of flour to mixing bowl. Use the dough hook attachment to mix together. Add another 1 cup of flour. Continue to knead on low speed while adding softened butter 1 Tbsp at a time. Add remaining cup of flour and knead until dough is smooth and cleans the sides of the bowl. Add chopped cookies and mix until evenly distributed.
3. Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for about an hour until dough has doubled in volume.
4. Punch down risen dough. Transfer to a clean working surface. Roll dough into a 20 x 14- inch rectangle.
5. FILLING: Spread 1/3 cup softened butter over dough. Sprinkle sugar and chopped cookies on top. Gently press until dough.
6. Starting at the long side, roll dough into a log. Slice log into 12 equal parts. Place rolls into a greased 9 x 13-inch baking pan (quarter sheet pan size) . Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30-45 minutes at room temperature to allow roll to rise.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove plastic wrap and bake rolls for 30-33 minutes until golden brown on top and the internal temperature of the rolls hit 185 degrees F. Allow rolls to rest for 5 minutes to slightly cool before frosting.
8. CREAM CHEESE FROSTING: Beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add vanilla, salt, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Spread over warm rolls. Top with chopped Oreo cookies.

RECIPE NOTES

REHEATING NOTES: To keep the rolls moist, place a glass of water in the microwave along with the bread roll. Microwave for 30 seconds, or until bread is warm. The water prevents the bread from drying out. 

Prep: 15 min Rising: 2 hrs Bake: 35 min Total: 2 hr 50 min Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients

Dough:

• 4 cups bread flour
• 3 Tbsp white sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp salt reduce if using salted butter below
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 1 3/4 cups + 2 Tbsp water lukewarm, about 100F
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter cut into 3 pieces, at room temperature

For brushing baked loaves:

• 2 Tbsp butter melted

Instructions

• In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a kneading hook, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast. With the mixer running (or with a spoon), stir while you slowly add the water to the flour mixture.
• Mix/knead for about 6-7 minutes, or until dough is soft and moist. Add the butter and continue mixing/kneading until dough comes back together, about 3-4 minutes. Form dough into a ball and place into a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise about 40-45 minutes, or until doubled.
• Punch the air out of the dough, then re-shape into a ball and place back in the bowl. Cover and let rise another 30 minutes, or until dough doubles again.
• Stick a floured finger into the dough. If the hole you just created remains, the dough is ready. If the hole shrinks, it needs to rise a little longer.
• Place dough onto a floured work surface. (If you have a kitchen scale, weigh the entire dough ball, then divide by 4 to determine the desired weight for each ball.) Divide dough into 4 equal sized pieces (should be somewhere around 280-300g each). Shape the pieces into balls by pinching together at the bottom. Place on counter, pinched side down and cover with a clean tea towel and let stand 5-8 minutes.
• Grease two 8×4-inch bread pans and set aside.
• Shaping: Flip dough over so the pinched side from making the balls is facing up. With a rolling pin, roll dough to about 1/2-inch thick, or about 9-inches long by 6 inches wide. Fold in 2/3 of the way down, then fold the bottom 1/3 up to cover the top. Rotate the rectangle 90 degrees. Roll up the dough tightly, by pulling and stretching as necessary, to make a smooth surface. Gently pinch together the end of the roll with the roll itself.
• Placing in pan: Before placing rolls into pan, check the direction of the roll for each dough piece. The rolls should be placed in the pan with the ensuring that the right side piece is rolling to the right and the left side piece is rolling to the left. (check the direction of the top of the roll and which direction that last top roll is heading). Place two rolls in each pan, with the balls just barely touching the ends of the pan and with a small gap between the rolls in the centre.
• Cover pans with a clean tea towel. Let rise about 45-50 minutes or until the dough rises to about 1 cm above the sides of the pan (for square/pullman pan baking, it should be 1 cm below the sides of the pan).
• Preheat oven to 390F.
• Once risen, bake in the preheated oven for about 35 min. *Check at about the 20 minute mark and loosely cover with aluminum foil if bread is browned enough already.
• Remove from oven and immediately remove to a cooling rack. Brush tops of loaves with melted butter, then leave to cool completely.