Super Soft 'n Chewy Hoagie Rolls

I've made plenty of breads in my cooking life, but these ones may be among the best.  My friend Laura got a mixer for Christmas, and I think this has upped her baking, because out of the blue last week she texted me a picture of fresh, homemade sub rolls!  They looked so beautiful, and when she sent me the recipe, I was pleased to see they only need to rise twice, and only for a total of less than 2 hours, so I decided to give them a try too.

Check out those layers!

One big difference from most other bread doughs is that this one has butter added in.  It gets tossed right in, cold, with the dough.  It starts to melt a little because the dough is warm from the warm water, but I found it takes quite a while for the dough to come back together again.  Just let it mix with the dough hook till it all sticks together again.  This whole butter thing has pros and cons.  The biggest con is that Delilah is obsessed with butter.  Whenever I make bread, I let it rise in front of the wood stove; she has never once bothered the doughs... until these.  Nick caught her on her second raw dough ball, all because of the butter!  But I guess that is probably not a con for normal people's houses.

The pros?  This is the butteriest, softest, best textured roll I've ever made!  I made a batch of them Sunday night, and by Monday, they were gone (granted that was with 2 being eaten by Bad Lyle!).  We devoured them hot out of the oven, and even found that toasting them the next day brought them back to their first day splendor.  They were such a hit that I made a double batch Monday night; we used them to make meatball subs with the meatballs Mark's dad sent us, and then ate them with my fettucini alfredo the next day (stay tuned for that recipe!)  I made some of them into hoagie shape, some into dinner rolls, and some into strange blobs.  Basically you can't go wrong with them; use them as sandwich rolls, use them as dinner rolls, use them as dog treats.  Okay skip the last one, but just try these rolls!

Recipe:

super soft 'n chewy hoagie rolls
from The Kitchen Whisperer  
yield 8 rolls

Ingredients:
4 cups bread flour
1 3/8 cups warm water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold butter, cubed

Instructions:

1) Add the yeast, sugar, and 3/8 cup warm water (3/8 cup water is equal to 6 tablespoons) to the bowl of a stand mixer.  Using a whisk or spoon, mix and set aside for 5 - 10 minutes or until the yeast has bubbled quite a bit.

2) Add the flour and water.  Start off mixer on low and mix for 4 minutes.

3) Add in the salt and mix for 5 - 6 minutes until the dough is slack (the dough cannot hold a shape; it has no elasticity or spring; it is soft and smooth).  At this point, the mixer should be on medium speed.

4) Add in the butter and mix for 1 - 3 minutes, or until the dough comes back together.

5) Remove from bowl and transfer to a greased, covered bowl or until doubled in size, around 1 hour.

6) Divide into 8 pieces and shape as desired.  Transfer to a sprayed, parchment-lined tray and cover.  Allow to rise again, 30 - 45 minutes.

7) Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 16 - 23 minutes or until golden brown.