Sour Cream Pocketbook Rolls
So few ingredients for an incredibly light, buttery, yeasty, salty bread with a hint of tang and sweetness. These rolls will be a favorite at your holiday table. They can be made weeks ahead of time and frozen for later consumption. NO KNEADING REQUIRED!!!! Mix the ingredients and place in the fridge for 8-24 hours. The only work is rolling with an assembly line of cutting and folding. You'll be sure to want to make these again! Adapted from Southern Living November 2011
Servings: 43 rolls
Ingredients
- 8 oz (1 cup) sour cream
- 4 oz (1 stick / 8 tbsp) butter
- 100 g (½ cup) sugar
- 6 g (1 tsp) salt for salted butter in the dough, use 1¼ tsp salt for unsalted butter in the dough
- 4½ tsp (2 pkgs) active dry yeast
- 4 oz (½ cup) water
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten and at room temperature
- 480 g (4 cups) all-purpose flour
- 2 oz (4 tbsp) butter divided
Instructions
Day 1 or Early Morning: Combine ingredients and refrigerate
- Activate yeast: In a small bowl, whisk together yeast and warm water (100˚F-110˚F / 38˚C-43˚C). Set aside for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is activated, bubbly and frothy.TIP: If the yeast does not bubble or become frothy (even a little), the yeast is dead and you need to start over with a new package.
- Heat up butter & sour cream: Dice butter and place it in a glass bowl. Add sour cream and microwave for 30 seconds and stir until melted. Add another 5 second increments until butter is melted.TIP: Diced butter will require less heat (less mass) to melt. Thus, less heat means less time you need for the butter to cool down enough to add to the yeast.
- Stir sugar and salt into the sour cream & butter mixture. Set aside for a couple of minutes to cool until the temperature is between 100˚F-110˚F (38˚C-43˚C).TIP: The sugar is NOT too much for this recipe. It really balances out the tang from the sour cream and salt from the butter. Don't hold back!!
- Once the butter and sour cream mixture has cooled, stir in the beaten eggs.TIP: Crack eggs on a flat surface to prevent shells from getting into the egg white. Place eggs, one at a time, in a separate small bowl so you can easily fish out broken shells or a bad egg. Also, a small bowl allows you to beat the eggs before adding them to the mixture.
- Mix all ingredients together: In a large bowl, add flour and stir in sour cream mixture followed by yeast mixture until well combined. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight for a maximum of 24 hours.
Day 2 or 8 hours later: Divide, shape, rise, and bake
- Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll each dough half to ¼-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter (biscuit cutter or drinking glass) that is ~2 ½ inch in diameter to cut out roll rounds. Put aside leftover dough as you cut out the rounds. Roll up leftover dough and add it to the other half. Continue rolling and cutting with the other dough half until all dough is used.TIP: The dough should not be any thicker than a ¼ inch. If so, you'll end up with rolls that pop open as they rise and the shapes will be unrecognizable (weird looking pocketbooks). You'll certainly have a messy pan of bread, but they rolls will still taste good!
- Melt 2 tbsp of butter. Brush each dough round with melted butter. Use the dull side of a knife and create a crease in the center of each dough round to mark a fold line. Fold each round in half along the crease. Press the edges to seal.TIP: Salted butter is best for brushing. The little extra salt isn't too much!
- Place rolls with sides touching on a large parchment-lined cookie sheet. Cover and allow them to rise in a warm place ~1 hour or until doubled in size.TIP: I use a very large cookie sheet that measures 18x12½ (internal measurements). I can place all 43 pocketbook rolls on this one sheet. However, if you use anything smaller, you might need 2 pans.
- Preheat oven to 375˚F (191˚C) during the last 30 minutes of the rise. Bake rolls for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Brush rolls with the other 2 tbsp of melted butter. Serve and enjoy.
Video
Notes
Storage
-Store rolls sealed on the counter for a couple of days. For longer storage, place them in freezer bags and in the freezer for up to a couple of months. Remove as many as you’d like at a time and thaw on the counter for about 30 minutes. Heat in the microwave or wrapped in foil in the oven at 350˚F (177˚C) for 10-15 minutes or until heated through.
Substitution
-If you don't have sour cream, you can substitute with plain, unsweetened yogurt (Greek or regular). Just use the same amount.