Sun-dried tomato & parmesan dinner rolls

My sister, niece and nephew were coming over for dinner one Saturday.  So I wanted to make something that my niece could help me with – since she loves to help Aunt Christine in the kitchen.  I decided on these glorified version of dinner rolls – that have the addition of sun-dried tomatoes and topped with parmesan cheese would be a great side to the lasagna I made.  When it got to the time to roll the dough into balls – it was the perfect job for a 3 year old to help with.  She loved getting her hands in the dough and she did a great job rolling them in her hands.

While these were cooling on the counter she managed to sneak one to try – just like the did with the halfway bars she helped with before!  

When we sat down to eat dinner she said aloud “I made all of this myself and it is so good”.  I just love her so much!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm whole milk (110 degrees)
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. instant yeast
• 2 tsp. salt
• vegetable oil spray
• 3/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1 large egg, whisked together with 1 Tbsp. water
• 1/2 grated parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Whisk the milk, butter, honey, and egg together in a liquid measuring cup.

2. Combine the whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, yeast and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.

3. With the mixture on low speed, gradually add the milk mixture and mix until the dough comes together, about 2 minutes.

4. Increase the speed to medium-low and knead until dough is smooth and elastic – about 8 minutes.  If more flour is needed so that the dough clears the sides of the bowl – add in remaining 1/2 cup flour, 2 Tbsp. at at time.

5. Add sun-dried tomatoes and knead by hand to incorporate into dough.  Form into a smooth round ball. 

6. Place into a lightly greased bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap.  Let rise in a warm place, until doubled in size – about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

7. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.   Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and press into a 10-inch square.  Cut the square into 16 pieces.   Working with one piece of dough at a time – round the dough into smooth round rolls and lay them staggered on the baking sheet.

8.  Spray the rolls lightly with vegetable oil spray and cover loosely with plastic wrap, let rise until doubled in size – 45 to 75 minutes.

9. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Brush the rolls with the egg-water mixture and sprinkle evenly with parmesan cheese.

10. Bake until the rolls are golden – 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through baking.   Let cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.

Source: America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook

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