Cheddar Beer Bread Rolls
These cheesy rolls pack a lot of flavor considering their short ingredient list. Thanks to the beer, they’re also especially light and fluffy, taking any meal to the next level. But they're also perfect all on their own, slathered with butter.
Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 815 grams bread flour 6 cups, plus more for work surface
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tablespoons softened, 2 tablespoons melted, 55 grams, plus more for the bowl and pan
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 cups beer such as pale ale
- 200 grams shredded sharp Cheddar cheese preferably white, divided 115 grams/85 grams, 1 cup, ¾ cup
Instructions
Make the dough & let it rise
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine bread flour, yeast, salt, 2 tablespoons softened butter, honey, and beer.
- Mix on low speed for 4 minutes. The dough should come together around the dough hook.
- Increase speed to medium and continue to mix for 2 minutes more, occasionally stopping to scrape the dough from the hook.
- Add 1 cup/115 grams of the Cheddar cheese and mix until incorporated, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
- Let rise until nearly double in size, about 1 hour.
Shape the dough & let it rise again
- Lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch pan.
- Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 even pieces.
- Gently round each piece of dough into a ball, and place into the prepared pan. (The rolls may not touch now, but they will fill in the gaps when they rise and bake.)
- Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise for 35 to 45 minutes, until they look visibly puffy.
- Toward the end of the rise time, heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Bake & serve
- Brush the rolls with 2 tablespoons melted butter, and top each roll with 1 tablespoon of the remaining white Cheddar, being careful to keep the cheese away from the edges of the pan.
- Bake the rolls until golden brown, and the cheese on top is melted and browned (the rolls should have an internal temperature of 190 degrees), 17 to 22 minutes.
- Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Reader's notes:
Many readers have indicated that this recipe makes huge rolls and suggest either halving the recipe (except the cheese and yeast, or making 18 or 24 rolls, instead of 12. 1. Both times, I halved the recipe but left the cheese and yeast amount the same.
2. This time, I didn't have cheddar, but I did have pepper jack and feta. Even better than cheddar, IMO
3. I added a couple of tablespoons of chives this time as well, which made them even tastier!
Many readers have indicated that this recipe makes huge rolls and suggest either halving the recipe (except the cheese and yeast, or making 18 or 24 rolls, instead of 12. 1. Both times, I halved the recipe but left the cheese and yeast amount the same.
2. This time, I didn't have cheddar, but I did have pepper jack and feta. Even better than cheddar, IMO
3. I added a couple of tablespoons of chives this time as well, which made them even tastier!