Garlic Swirl Rolls
my latest must-bake recipe I can't stop eating
Amazing plush and pillowly soft garlic swirl rolls are baked until golden brown and indescribably delicious! They are the perfect thing to enjoy with some pasta or as a side dish for any holiday meal.
I love many things in life. Big things like how much I love the cosmos. Small things like that first sip of coffee in the morning, cuddles from my dog, driving and listening to the perfect playlist, and who can discount the feeling of freshly washed sheets.
And I love these garlic rolls.
Garlic rolls are neither new nor fancy, but my goodness how I am loving them. And one day I wondered if I could roll them up like little cinnamon rolls and bam, this recipe was born.
Admittedly, these rolls do take a bit of time to make. But that gives you time to fall in love with the tiny moments of this recipe. Love how the dough rises in a warm spot in your home. Love how the flour rushes across the table as you dust it to roll the dough out. Love the aroma of garlic and butter and basil all wrapped together in a hug that tells you, “I know the world is a little scary right now. But these garlic rolls are here. So for this tiny moment, the world is okay.”
Let’s get baking.
Yield: 8 large garlic rolls
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Rise Time: 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours, depending
Bake Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hr 40 minutes to 2 hours
Equipment
Stand mixer, recommended
Large bowls
Measuring cups and spoons
Baking dish
Food thermometer
Rolling pin
Ingredients
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup plant based milk, warmed to 100F-110F (38C-43C)
3 tablespoons mashed potatoes
2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup bread flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegan butter
6-8 cloves of garlic, mashed
1 teaspoon flaky salt, optional
1 cup vegan mozzarella cheese, optional
sprinkle of fresh basil, chopped
Method
Proof the yeast. Mix the warmed plant based milk with the yeast and a pinch of the sugar. Whisk it together and set aside for 10 minutes to proof. Make sure the milk is no hotter than around 115F or the yeast won’t activate as well. After 10 minutes, the yeast should look very fluffy and have many bubbles.
Make the dough. In a large bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, or in a large bowl with your hands, add the yeast mixture as well as the sugar, mashed potatoes, and oil. Begin mixing on a low-medium speed. Begin adding the flours, adding the salt with the second cup of all purpose flour. Mix on medium speed for up to 10 minutes or until a soft dough ball forms. If at the 8 minute mark the dough is still sticking heavily to the sides of the bowl, add an extra tablespoon of flour until the dough ball forms.
First proof of the dough. Place the dough ball into a lightly oiled bowl (preferably glass for the best rise) and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place for either one hour or until the dough has doubled in size. For this step, it is more important that you go by SIZE and not time. If the dough has not risen after one hour, that’s okay. If it has risen some, you can keep going onto the next step. If it has not risen at all, you’ll need to start over as the yeast was not alive to rise the dough.
Make the filling. While the dough is rising, in a small mixing bowl, mix together the room temperature and softened vegan butter with the garlic and a pinch of salt.
Shape the garlic rolls. On a lightly floured surface, place the dough and begin to roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin. Roll the dough into a roughly rectangle shape that is about 8x14-inches (20x35-cm). Spread the garlic butter all over the dough with a knife or spoon. If you are adding the optional vegan cheese, sprinkle it over the garlic butter now. Taking a knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into even strips now, before rolling. This will ensure you non-squished garlic rolls! Cut into 8 even slices. Tightly roll them up and tuck the ends of each roll under before placing the rolls into the greased baking dish.
Second rise. Place the rolls back into a warm spot and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let the rolls rise for a second time, about 15 to 30 minutes. Again, you want to go more with SIZE than time for this. When the rolls have almost doubled again, they are ready to be baked.
Preheat the oven to 375F/190C. Make sure that the oven rack is in the middle of the oven for the best air circulation and heat distribution.
Bake the garlic rolls. After the second rise, sprinkle the tops of the garlic rolls with the flaky salt and any additional vegan cheese, if desired. Bake uncovered for 22 to 26 minutes. The rolls will be golden brown and have reached an internal temperature of 190-195F (80C-90C). Sprinkle with the freshly chopped basil and enjoy!
Click above for a PDF copy of this recipe!
AP Flour + Bread Flour: Yes, I recommend using a combination of both for this recipe. The little bit of bread flour has the extra protein and gluten to really help these rolls stretch out. If you don’t have bread flour, I have made them before without it, they just won’t be as soft and will be a little more delicate when rolling out.
Mashed Potato: This is my secret ingredient for vegan bread making! I use it in a lot of my breads like cinnamon rolls and Hawaiian rolls because it provides that bit of soft texture to the finished breads. This is thanks to the high starch content of potatoes.
Normally it is the gluten that gives bread the soft texture and chew. The starch of the potato is like all starches - it holds onto liquids. So by adding the highly starchy potato to the bread, you are increasing the bread’s ability to retain liquid, aka, moisture. This helps with the soft texture and longer shelf life.
All in, this recipe can take as little as an hour and half and up to two and a half hours to make. And you might be thinking, “are these rolls really worth it?” The simple answer is YES!
The nice thing about this recipe is that there is a lot of down time while the dough rises both times. That gives me time to clean up, make some dinner, and generally putz around as I watch the dough ball rise.
While the dough is rising, I also make the garlic butter filling. Honestly, on its own that would be amazing, using it on top of sandwiches or as a base for some creamy pasta sauce.
Like I mentioned, you can add some vegan cheese to these rolls for an incredible cheesy garlic roll! And if you were to dip them in some marinara sauce? Amazing. However, you don’t need to add that on top for these rolls to be fantastic.
Speaking of marinara sauce, if you drizzled some pizza sauce over each strip, added some cheese, and then rolled them up, you have homemade vegan pizza swirls!
Use a good food thermometer. Getting the temperature of the plant based milk to warm but not hot is how you ensure the success of the yeast.
Bread is one of those funny things that the weather really does affect how it rises and bakes. If you are making this on a hot and humid day, the bread will proof more quickly. Conversely, if you make this on a cold, dry day the bread will rise more slowly. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to the bread itself and not just rely on time to know when the dough is ready for the next step.
Make sure that your mashed potatoes are as lump free as possible! You don’t want any lumpy potatoes in the dough so either use instant mashed potatoes (which is what I typically do) or use potatoes that you have run through a ricer to make sure they are silky smooth.
Recipes that Go with Garlic Rolls
How to Store
Keep any leftover rolls in an airtight container. Store in the fridge if you used vegan cheese, otherwise you can keep them on the countertop. They will last about 1-2 days at room temperature, 3-5 days in the fridge, and you can freeze them after baking and cooling for about 3 months.
Before you go!
I hope that you love these garlic swirl rolls as much as my family does!
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That’s all for now!
Happy homemade vegan garlic swirl roll baking!!
Love and Sprinkles,
Laura