Golden Pull-Apart Butter Buns
At last! The quintessential soft, buttery dinner roll. Nestled — we might even say "crowded" — into a couple of 8" round pans, the shaped buns rise into one another as they bake. The result? Soft-sided pull-apart buns, ready for melting pats of soft butter.
Read our blog about these buns, with additional photos, at Bakers' Banter.
Buns
- 3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons potato flour or 1/4 cup instant potato flakes
- 3 tablespoons Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 4 tablespoons soft butter
- 2/3 cup lukewarm water
- 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
Topping
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
Directions
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1) Combine all of the dough ingredients in a large bowl, and mix and knead — using your hands, a stand mixer, or a bread machine set on the dough cycle — to make a soft, smooth dough. |
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2) Place the dough in a lightly greased container — an 8-cup measure works well here — and allow the dough to rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until it's just about doubled in bulk. |
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3) Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface. |
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4) Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces, by dividing in half, then in halves again, etc. Round each piece into a smooth ball. |
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5) Lightly grease two 8" round cake pans. Space 8 buns in each pan. Can you use 9" round cake pans, or a 9" x 13" pan? Sure; the buns just won't nestle together as closely, so their sides will be a bit more baked. |
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6) Cover the pans, and allow the buns to rise till they're crowded against one another and quite puffy, about 60 to 90 minutes. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F. |
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7) Uncover the buns, and bake them for 22 to 24 minutes, until they're golden brown on top and the edges of the center bun spring back lightly when you touch it. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the center bun should register at least 190°F. |
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8) Remove the buns from the oven, and brush with the melted butter. After a couple of minutes, turn them out of the pan onto a cooling rack. |
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9) Serve warm. Store leftovers well-wrapped, at room temperature. |
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Yield: 16 buns. |
Recipe summary
- Hands-on time:
- 15 mins. to 20 mins.
- Baking time:
- 22 mins. to 24 mins.
- Total time:
- 2 hrs 37 mins. to 3 hrs 44 mins.
- Yield:
- 16 buns
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- Recipe comments (37) »
Tips from our bakers
- Rather than worrying about heating milk and water to lukewarm, simply combine cold milk with hot tap water. The result? Lukewarm liquid, which is your goal.
Reviews
02/28/2010
Just made these for the first time and they smell wonderful. However, I should have known better than to knead them for a short time. It would have been very helpful if you had included approximate kneading time in the recipe rather than only in the blog which I didn't read beforehand. The dough looked smooth and soft and the texture looked right after a minute or two so I stopped the knead (with my stand mixer) and proceeded but I'm sure they haven't risen as much as they should have. Also, I'm using a new, high-sided (3-1/4") 8" pan which I bought for your no-knead challah recipe (amazing and so delicious!) and, in this case, it may also be preventing them from browning as quickly. Am I right? Thanks...
That is right. The high sides of the new pan are preventing the browning. Frank @ KAF.
02/14/2010
Wonderful rolls! I just made these for a dinner party for which I started the rolls too early and then the guests were an hour late. These rolls went in and out of the refrigerator several times during both risings, and still came out perfect. There were 4 adults and 2 kids and the entire batch vanished quickly. Just a great recipe that I will definitely make again!
02/02/2010
This is a "no-fail" recipe for some of the best tasting rolls I've ever baked. Everyone raves about the taste and moistness and although they want the recipe, they'd really rather come to my place to eat the ones already made.
01/20/2010
These are absolutely wonderful, and very forgiving. I first made them for Thanksgiving, and just as the dough was starting the first rise, my mother-in-law called and needed for me to drive to the pharmacy for her. Into the fridge for an overnight cold rise, brought the dough out and shaped Thanksgiving morning, and they were wonderful.
01/10/2010
These turned out perfectly! I used a 9x13 glass dish and it worked just fine. They were so pretty and soft even though I only brushed with about half the butter called for.
12/26/2009
I've made these twice now and I'm quite pleased with them. The first time I wasn't too sure about the recipe, because they weren't quite as soft as I had hoped, but the flavor certainly had promise. I weighed the flour, dry milk powder and potato flakes the second time I made them and kneaded the dough for a longer period of time (about 8 min in my Kitchen Aid, scraping the dough of the dough hook 2-3 times) and the results were much better. I find that they really do need a long rise time - close to 90 minutes each time seems to give better results as well.
12/25/2009
One of the easier baked goods I've made. I've yet to finish them in under 3 hours, but hands on time is fairly short (especially if you are measuring by weight AND stick to round cake pans for baking). Recently I've been making fresh butter (from heavy whipping cream) to serve with these and have been substituting the resulting buttermilk for the called for milk. Good stuff!
12/24/2009
I love this recipe and so does my finicky mother! She is very particular about what get's put on her Thanksgiving table. I quietly suggested I make these and prepared them on Thanksgiving. She LOVED them! She even suggested I make them for Christmas Eve dinner! That NEVER happens! Woo-hoo! I am a baking novice, but every single recipe I have made from this website comes out delicious. I used the instant potato flakes(Idohoan "original" brand) and it turned out great. Happy Baking! :)
12/04/2009
Okay - I've finally found the PERFECT yeast roll recipe. I've tried the other ones on you website, but they were never 5-star!! Possibly because I had not ordered/used your POTATO FLOUR or BAKER'S SPECIAL DRY MILK! When these rolls finally came out of the oven, I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown! They were PERFECT!! Except that I baked them in a 9 X 13 pan. It was either that or the 9" cake pans. Will have to order the 8" cake pans. My husband said they were the best!! So - to anyone who is considering making these - I would say - ABSOLUTELY!! I took a picture, but don't see anyplace that I can post it. I know I will be dreaming about these tonight!!! I love your website - everything about it. And slowly, I'm ordering a few things here and there from you. Started out with the Expresso for my brownies. Then the mini and regular dough whisks. With each new item, I get more excited about making something else from your website. Every year I ask Santa for a gift certificate to Williams-Sonoma. This year it's gonna be for KING ARTHUR!!
12/04/2009
I made these for dinner and intended on freezing the second pan, bu they never made it. Everyone couldnt stop eating them. They were so tender, and very easy to make. I used my bread machine to do the kneading and first rise. This is one I will make over and over.
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