Fantail Rolls

The February issue of Gourmet has a recipe for fantail rolls (they are also known as butterflake rolls) – the image on the cover includes them, and they look just the same as what’s served with supper at The Bright Star in Bessemer.  I made them this past weekend – tweaked the original recipe only very slightly – oh, they turned out *fantastic*!  Everyone loved them.

Ingredients:
6 tbsp. butter, melted
olive oil
2 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105–115*F)
1 tbsp sugar
3 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
Directions:
I used a bit of olive oil in each cup of a muffin pan.  Set aside.
Together in the Kitchenaid, stir together the yeast, water, and sugar, then leave alone for five minutes so that it becomes foamy.

Fantail Rolls

Into the bowl, add the flour, salt, buttermilk, and 6 tbsp. butter.  Mix on low with the dough hook until the dough is elastic and smooth, plus not sticking to the bowl, which took about six minutes.

In a large bowl, spread a little olive oil, then place the dough in the bowl and cover with Saran and a kitchen towel.  Let rise for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Fantail Rolls

Once it has risen/doubled, punch the dough down, then onto a floured cutting board, cut the dough into two equal balls.  Roll each of the halves into about a 12″ x 12″ square, then cut the square lengthwise into six strips.  I brushed the strips with a bit of olive oil, but you could use melted butter if you like:

Fantail Rolls

Stack those six strips, oiled/buttered side up:

Fantail Rolls

Cut through that stack six times from top to bottom so that you have six stacks.  Turn each stack onto its side and into a muffin cup.  You can fan the individual pieces out however you like:

Fantail Rolls

Do the same with the other half of the dough so that you’ve made twelve rolls ready for the oven. Cover the pan with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise another hour.

Preheat the oven to 375*, put the rack in the middle. Bake at 375* for 20-25 minutes (mine were ready in about 23 minutes).  When they came out, I brushed the tops with butter:

Fantail Rolls

They turned out so pretty and tasted even better:

Fantail Rolls

Fantail Rolls

Fantail Rolls

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