Dark Dinner Rolls

So I have a little survey for you. If you were to bring rolls to Thanksgiving, would you:

A. Buy a bag of dinner rolls from the grocery store.
B. Buy a bag of partially baked dinner rolls, bake them at home and bring “fresh-baked rolls” to dinner.
C. Bake fresh dinner rolls from scratch.
D. Bake FOUR DIFFERENT KINDS of dinner rolls from scratch.

Many of you that know me personally know that I am an overachiever and love to go above and beyond in all that I do. It bothers me when others point that out as a bad quality or one to be mocked instead of something to be celebrated and appreciated. Sure, sometimes I take on tasks that seem outrageous but at least I can enjoy every last bit of my madness when it comes to delicious food like this!

So, yes…at the Early Thanksgiving Dinner a few weeks ago, I also signed up to bring rolls. I decided it was my chance to bake some recipes from a Holiday Baking 2007 magazine that I had earmarked but hadn’t yet tried. I know, four kinds seems unreasonable and ridiculous but to me, one kind seemed plain and boring. I guess when it comes to the two extremes, I err on the side of unreasonable and ridiculous.

I loved the idea of a dark roll, but one that was slightly sweet instead of rye based. When I realized the dark color actually comes from cocoa powder, I knew I could not resist! These rolls are actually ones that I had baked before, according to the recipe, but found the size a bit too large. This time, I made them a bit smaller so they would be rolls instead of small loaves. This is one of my favorite recipes for rolls since they produce something so different from normal. But, after making all four types, I do have a new favorite, but you will have to stay tuned to find out which one that was!

Dark Dinner Rolls

2 – 2 1/2 cups of bread (or all-purpose) flour, divided
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
1 cup of water
1/3 cup of orange juice
1/3 cup of honey
1/4 cup of butter, cut into pieces
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
2 cups of whole wheat flour
melted butter

1. Combine 1 1/2 cups of the flour, cocoa powder, and yeast in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, combine water, orange juice, honey, butter, sugar and salt. Heat over medium heat until butter begins to melt, stirring occasionally. Pour the water mixture over the flour mixture. Mix at medium speed for 30 seconds followed by 3 minutes at high speed, scraping down the sides as needed. Add in the remaining flour and whole wheat flour, first with the mixer, then with a wooden spoon. Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead until dough becomes elastic and soft, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball and place in a bowl, coated with cooking spray, turning dough once to coat all sides. Loosely cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

2. Punch dough down and turn out to a lightly floured surface. Divide into 16 equal pieces. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

3. Shape each piece into a small oval, with the top being smooth. Place on a large baking sheet, allowing some room to grow in size between them. Brush rolls with melted butter. Using a sharp knife make 2 or 3 diagonal slashes in the top of each roll. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 350F. Uncover rolls and bake for 20-25 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Immediately transfer to a cooling rack. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Dark Dinner Rolls are being submitted to Susan at Wild Yeast for YeastSpotting.