Pesto Muffin Rolls
Pesto muffin rolls! These are exactly what they sound like: individual sized rolls made by layering dough and baking them in a muffin tin. To be honest, I was just playing around with dough one day and decided it would be fun to do something different. On occasion I’ve seen “butter book rolls” or things like that, but couldn’t find a recipe for shaping. This seems to work! Ideal for sharing, and even easier during a pandemic when everyone can just have their own instead of pulling bread off a communal loaf.
Makes 12 layered pesto “bread muffins”
For the dough:
1 cup milk (warm)
1 packet (7g) of dry active yeast
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons butter (melted)
2 eggs (beaten)
3 ½ cups flour (all-purpose or bread flour are ideal)
1 teaspoon of salt
Filling:
Approx. ~1 cup of pesto
Rolled out dough.
Beginning to slice into squares.
In a small bowl or measuring cup mix the yeast, honey & warm milk. Whisk thoroughly and let it sit until foamy (about 5-10 minutes). If you’re using instant yeast, skip the activation step with the warm milk and just mix the yeast straight into the flour. You may still want to dissolve the honey in the warm milk, though.
Meanwhile, whisk together the salt and the flour, followed by adding the melted butter and beaten eggs.
When the yeast mixture is foamy, add it to all the other ingredients and give everything a good mix. You can either knead it using the dough hook & stand mixer, or knead by hand until you have a nice smooth ball.
Let it rise in a lightly oiled bowl (covered) for 1 hour or until doubled in size. While the dough rests, get your pesto out.
The dough after it has sat for an hour and doubled in size.
5. When the dough has doubled in size, gently deflate it and preheat the oven to 375F. Flour a work surface and then roll the dough out as thin as you want it (mine was about 24 by 24 inches, see photos above and below for guidance).
6. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into squares that are about 2 by 2 or 3 by 3 inches. This does not have to be precise. And it’s ok if they’re bigger than that. Brush pesto onto all the squares and begin to stack them into 12 mostly even stacks.
7. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with canola oil or use butter to line each cup. Place each stack of dough into a muffin tin so that you can see the individual layers facing up. If you cut larger squares or rectangles, you can fold it like a book and place the spine down in the muffin tin.
8. If you have any pesto left feel free to brush it on now. Bake the muffin rolls for 25 minutes, and then check on them. If they seem a little pale, stick them back in for about 5-10 minutes, checking occasionally for doneness.
9. Remove them from the tin onto a cooling rack or into a serving bowl to eat immediately! Enjoy :)
These will keep in a sealed container for about a day. Move them to the fridge after that and warm one up when you want one! I’d love to see your creations! Tag @nokneadtoworry on Instagram.
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