No-Knead Buttermilk Pull-Apart Rolls
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If you like to make bread for holiday gatherings or dinner parties, a great way to get a jumpstart on preparations is to make the dough a day in advance.
Know this: any bread recipe you love can be mixed a day ahead of time and stashed in the fridge to rise. Or, if you like making rolls, you can make your recipe up to the point where you shape the rolls and stick them in the baking pan, at which point you can stick the pan in the fridge.
As I said, you can do this with any bread recipe you love, but if you don’t have one in mind, I have a thought: buttermilk pull-apart rolls. This is a recipe from Bread Toast Crumbs, my cookbook, and I made it recently with one small change: instead of splitting the dough and baking the rolls in two pans, I fit all 24 rolls in one 9×13-inch baking pan.
It’s fun seeing a whole mess of rolls all squished together, and my children enjoyed pulling the mass to pieces. Slightly sweet, soft and squishy, these pull-apart rolls resemble Parker House rolls in both taste and texture and are such a festive bread to serve at Thanksgiving or really any holiday gathering. Easy peasy, too. (There’s both video and photo guidance below.)
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Homemade Bread: Yes. You. Can. 🍞🍞🍞 Everyone will rave. (There’s nothing to it!)
Happy Thanksgiving, My Friends! I hope all of your preparations are going well. Happy to answer any bread (or other) questions you might have.
PS: No-Knead Thyme Dinner Rolls
Buttermilk Pull-Apart Rolls How-To:
Video Guidance in Three Parts:
Part 1: Mixing the Dough.
Part 2: Shaping the Rolls.
Part 3: Baking the Rolls.
How to Make Buttermilk Pull-Apart Rolls, Step by Step
Mix together the dry ingredients: 4 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons instant yeast, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 2 tablespoons sugar. (Metric measurements offered below.)
Pour 1 cup boiling water over 1 cup buttermilk and let stand for 10 minutes.
Add the buttermilk-water mixture along with 4 tablespoons melted butter to the bowl of dry ingredients.
Mix to form a sticky dough ball.
Let rise in a warm spot for 2 hours (see recipe notes for details). Love my Dot and Army cloth bowl cover.
After 2 hours, the dough will look something like this:
Turn it out onto a floured work surface. Divide the mass first into 4 equal portions, then each into 6 equal (roughly) portions to make 24 small pieces. (Video guidance here.) Shape each piece into a round and fit into a buttered 9×13-inch pan. (I love this 9×13-inch USA pan for so many things.)
If you have trouble shaping, try this simple technique:
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
The following morning, let come to room temperature for 30-45 minutes, then bake at 375ºF for 25 minutes.
Out of the oven, brush the rolls with 2 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt.
Serve immediately with softened butter.
No-Knead Buttermilk Pull-Apart Rolls
- Total Time: 3 hours 25 minutes
- Yield: 24 rolls
Description
Adapted from Bread Toast Crumbs
Notes:
- Salt: I now make these with 10 grams of kosher salt, which is about 3 teaspoons of Diamond Crystal brand, but which will vary from brand to brand. Use what you like. If you are sensitive to salt, stick with 2 teaspoons.
- Warm place to rise: To create a warm place for your dough to rise, preheat your oven for 1 minute, then shut it off.
- Other vessels: If you don’t have a 9×13-inch pan, you can use two 8- or 9-inch round or square pans. I love this 9×13-inch USA pan.
- Water: If you live in a humid environment, consider holding back 2 to 4 tablespoons of water (15 to 30 grams) — this dough is very wet and sticky, and while you can use as much flour as needed while shaping, you might save yourself some trouble by holding back some of the water from the start.
- Preparing the dough in advance: I have received questions about how many days the shaped rolls can stay in the fridge, and I recently experimented. I let the shaped rolls (with the pan wrapped in plastic wrap) sit in the fridge for 48 hours before baking them. While the texture was the same — as feathery light as ever — I did not like the flavor, which tasted sour, but not in a pleasant way. So, unfortunately, I cannot recommend stashing these in the fridge for much more than 18 – 24 hours.
Ingredients
- 4 cups (512 g) all-purpose or bread flour, plus more for shaping
- 2 to 3 teaspoons kosher salt (10 g), see notes above
- 2 tablespoons (25 g) sugar
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) instant yeast
- 1 cup (236 g) boiling water, or less, see notes above
- 1 scant cup (236 g) buttermilk
- 6 tablespoons melted butter, divided
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
-
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour salt, sugar, and instant yeast.
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In a 2-cup liquid measure (or something similar), pour the boiling water over the buttermilk and let stand for 10 minutes. Give it a stir. The buttermilk will likely look curdled. This is okay.
-
Pour the buttermilk mixture and 4 tablespoons of the melted butter over the flour mixture. Stir until a sticky ball of dough forms. Cover the bowl with a tea towel, cloth bowl cover, or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to rise (see notes above) for 2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.
-
Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish. Flour a work surface and sprinkle flour lightly over the dough and around the edges. The dough will be very sticky, so use flour as needed. Gently coax the dough out of the bowl onto the floured work surface and shape into a rough ball (video guidance here) using flour as needed. Use a bench scraper to divide the ball into 4 equal portions. Shape each portion roughly into a ball, then use a bench scraper to divide each ball into 6 roughly even portions (about 45 grams each if you feel like measuring) to create 24 small pieces total.
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Using as much flour as necessary, shape each piece roughly into a circle. It’s okay if each piece is a little misshapen. Place the dough balls into the prepared pan, spacing them evenly apart.
- At this point, you can cover the pan and refrigerate overnight. Otherwise, heat the oven to 375ºF. Let the dough rise, uncovered, for 25 to 35 minutes, or until the dough pieces have puffed to almost fill the pan. (Note: If you refrigerate overnight, remove the pan 30 to 45 minutes prior to baking.)
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Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Note: If the rolls aren’t beginning to brown after 10-15 minutes, turn the oven up to 400ºF. Remove pan from the oven and immediately brush the surfaces of the rolls with the remaining 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Sprinkle flaky salt over top to taste. Let the rolls cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn the pan out onto cooling racks and invert onto a plate or serving platter.
- Serve warm with more butter on the side.
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: buttermilk, rolls, pull-apart, yeast, Thanksgiving
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
266 Comments on “No-Knead Buttermilk Pull-Apart Rolls”
Hey Ali! I can’t believe I haven’t tried these until now. 😉 It’s currently in my (fairly) new Brod & Taylor proofer. What DDT (Desired Dough Temp) would you think is best? And would that be the same for all of your no-knead bread?
Oh fun! I’ve heard such good things about that. So, can you set the DDT on the proofer? I’ve only ever considered DDT with Marurizio Leo’s english muffins, and that DDT is 78ºF. So I’m thinking something similar? Or maybe slightly lower?
Ooops, I didn’t see your response until now, as I’m making another batch of rolls lol. I make Maurizio’s “My Best Sourdough” loaf once or twice a week, which is also 78°F DDT. But (If I recall correctly) I made it 80% for your rolls. I should really do what he suggests and have a sourdough notebook. There’s too much to keep track of!
Also! When I first got the proofer, I thought it was broken because it didn’t seem warm enough. But, alas, the proofer’s temp is the DDT – not the ambient temperature. And it’s almost always exact! It may fluctuate with the type of bowl, etc. but I just check with my thermometer to be sure.
So excited for the pizza book, btw!!
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Ok, Great info! It sounds like such a handy tool especially since my kitchen is so cold for so many months of the year. Adding it to my wishlist! Thank you for the kind words regarding the pizza book… means a lot 💕
I am a fairly proficient baker, but yeast breads/rolls have only been moderately successful and although everyone eats them and loves them, I know that they are just “fine”. This recipe is the first that I, myself, have been very happy with. Halved the recipe and followed it exactly and was rewarded with delicious, light, fluffy rolls. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your detailed instructions, tireless recipe testing and hard work on this blog do not go unnoticed.
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So nice to read all of this, Kristin 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing and sharing this — it’s so encouraging for others — and I so appreciate your kind words.
These were so easy and so delicious! In fact, these tasted great even though I brushed top with LEMON JUICE GLAZE rather than melted butter. 🙁
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So great to hear this! Also hilarious re lemon juice glaze… so glad it worked out!
Love all of your recipes! Do these rolls reheat well? Due to busy schedules, I’m hoping to bake them ahead of time and wonder if they’ll be fine to reheat just before Easter dinner? Thank you!
They’ll reheat beautifully! Go for it 🙂 And thank you 💕
These were a success! I was a little leery about needing to portion/shape them but they came out sooo good! Thank you for your wonderful recipes and helping me become a bread baker, It’s so much fun!
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Great to hear, Kris! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your experience. And thank you for your kind words, too 🙂
These make excellent cinnamon rolls, by the way. I mix up the dough the night before and stick it in the fridge. In the morning I shape and rise until the oven is hot and bake as instructed. Then slather with cream cheese glaze.
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Wow, great to hear! Thanks for sharing 🙂 🙂 🙂
How could I replace sourdough starter for the yeast or is the instant yeast best?
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I’d say start with 50-100 grams of starter and omit the yeast. The first rise will take much longer. Are you a seasoned sourdough baker?
Hi Alexandra. I love your recipes. They give me confidence! However with this recipe have you or anyone frozen them after shaping them to bake later? I wanted to try that for Thanksgiving. Thanks in advance:)
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Hi and thank you! I unfortunately haven’t tried this, but my gut is that it won’t work — this dough is a little more finicky than others, and I find it doesn’t do well after more than 1 night in the fridge. I’m sorry! Wish I had better news for you!
Thank you for your reply 🙂 I was digging in your older comments and somewhere in your older comments someone mentioned they froze them after shaping and then baked them after thawing them and letting them rise. I wasn’t sure if you had personally tried it. Happy early thanksgiving!
OK! Well if that is the case, then go for it! Good research work 🙂
Can’t wait to try this recipe! Looks delicious and love the time saving way to prep the day before and keep covered in the fridge to bake the next day. Yum! I just found your website and am excited to explore all of these great looking recipes. I notice that your recipe has you mix up the dough but doesn’t necessarily have you knead the bread. Do you always do this by hand or do you ever use a stand mixer? I was thinking of making up multiple pans for some friends and was wondering if I could do multiple batches in my Bosch mixer, but wasn’t sure if the movement of “kneading” in a stand mixer will mess up the texture. Thanks for your thoughts.
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Hi! Yes, I love my no-knead doughs… I never find kneading to be necessary, especially with high hydration doughs. A few thoughts: if you are going to do a large batch, using a mixer is a great idea just because it will take a lot of elbow grease if you are using a spatula.
Are you using a scale to measure?
Finally, this is a very wet, sticky dough, so consider holding back some of the water if you live in a humid environment.
Thanks for the reply. I will make sure to let it stay wet and sticky and not wait for it to pull from the sides of my mixer like other breads.
Would you recommend I use a scale or not a scale? I can do either. Haven’t used a scale before in my bread making over the years but I’m open to it.
Also – do you prefer using bread flour or all purpose?
I’m in Arizona so I won’t need to hold back on the water. Lol.
Thanks!
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Hello!! I love your recipes!! I’m wondering though if this would work as hamburger buns if I shape them appropriately?
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Can you use low fat buttermilk? That is all I can find!
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Hi Ali! Have you ever tried adapting these to sourdough? What changes would I need to make? Thank you!
Ashley, unfortunately, I have not! Check out Heart Beet Kitchen — Amanda has some awesome looking sourdough rolls.
Hello Alex, At what point can I freeze the dough? Thank you. –Sara
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I would do it after the first rise. Shape the rolls; then freeze immediately.
I appreciate the prompt response! I will do that to save time and stress this Thanksgiving. I have made them for the past four years, but never tried freezing the dough. These are my family’s favorite. Thank you!
These are unbelievably good.
I didn’t have buttermilk, so made my own with vinegar and milk. When I added boiling water, the curds coagulated together, so it was essentially
whey. I removed the curds and carried on. It seems the buttermilk is for flavor and milk could be used instead. I believe the boiling water is used to bring the buttermilk up to temperature and letting it sit out to come up to room temp could also be done. A tip: weigh the empty bowl in grams and again after the dough has proved, subtract the empty bowl weight and divide that by how many rolls you want and weigh the dough balls for uniform rolls. The cinnamon roll variation is now my Holiday AM tradition. Love bakers who use grams and thank you for this wonderful recipe. I bought your book.
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So nice to read all of this Andy! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes/thoughts, all of which are great. And thank you for buying my book, too! Means a lot 🙂
I just LOVE your recipes Ali. So glad I found your site. We made turkey sliders with these buttermilk rolls the day after Thanksgiving. I could eat a dozen!!
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Yum!! That sounds outstanding. Great to hear. Thanks for writing, Mary 🙂 🙂 🙂
I made these for Thanksgiving. SO delicious! Everyone loved them. Thanks so much for such a great recipe.
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Great to hear, Jane! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
I made these for Thanksgiving, my first time ever making rolls, and they were fabulous. I feel so empowered. And now my 11yo son is hanging over Bread Toast Crumbs eager for more deliciousness. I can’t wait to be the homemade-rolls girl at dinner parties!
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