I did it again! - Butter Dipped Cloverleaf Rolls

I made bread again! I had no idea how addictive bread baking could be... Good thing I was never a fan of the Atkins diet!

Between this project and the one I did Tuesday evening (which I will post about some other day), I have spent the last two days covered in various types of flour. I felt like a kid playing in a sandbox.

I once again chose a recipe from Marcy Goldman's A Passion for Baking. I think I'm going to stop giving the recipes from this book (unless I adapt them). Why? Because I want to try every single one of them: every time I turn a page, I think "Oooh, that looks good". Obviously I'm not going to make them all in a row, but I've already borrowed extensively from this book, and will doubtless continue to do so. So, out of fairness, I'll stick to pictures and comments - and recommend that you check out this book for yourself.

This time around, I chose to make "2511 Rolls". They are called that because they were apparently downloaded 2511 in a single hour on Marcy's website. I believe they were originally called "Butter Dipped Cloverleaf Rolls", and you can purchase the recipe here.

These adorable little rolls were a delight to make. They contain buttermilk, which I can never find here. Fortunately, I recently learnt that you can replace buttermilk with sour milk, which you can make by adding one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk. It seemed to work, although the rolls came out tasting surprisingly sweet; I am not sure if this was intended, or if I just screwed up my sour milk, but I personally loved it. It reminded me of the "petits pains au lait" my mother used to pack in my lunch box: sweet little buns that disappeared in a flash.

The dough is quick to make, with no sponge or starter. After the first rise, the dough is divided into little balls, which are dunked into butter and placed into buttered muffin tins, in groups of three. This is how you obtain the "cloverleaf" shape.

All buttered up and ready to be popped in the oven

The rolls tasted buttery, to be sure, but without being heavy. They came out looking all crispy and golden, but remained soft and fluffy. I've always loved soft breads. It was a long time before I learnt to appreciate crusty, chewy, rustic breads: I was the type of child who liked her sandwiches with the crust cut off. Even today, I like to joke about my "American childhood" and my enduring "soft spot" for squeezable bread that practically melts on the tongue.

But I guess I'll try a crusty bread next time... Stay tuned!