These made from scratch Bertucci's inspired dinner rolls are light, fluffy, flaky, and irresistibly delish. With just a handful of basic pantry ingredients, they turn out perfect every time!!
If you live in the tri-state area or Massachusetts on the east coast, check out Bertucci's Italian restaurant. It's one of my favorite places for Italian cuisine. Their iconic dinner rolls which they serve with equally awesome olive oil dip are simply the best. After moving to the west coast, one thing my kids missed big time was their dinner rolls. This recipe is my humble attempt at replicating the same flavor, texture, and experience and as it turned out to my delight, it's very close to the real thing.
The same recipe can be used to make pizza dough. As Friday nights are pizza nights for us, I just make a big batch of dough for both pizza and dinner rolls. Double the fun, isn't it??
Pair these dinner rolls with Restaurant-style Olive Oil Bread Dip and pizza/soup/salad to make a scrumptious meal out of it. Happy kids and a very happy mum :)))
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (10 dinner rolls)
- ⅔ cup warm water (approx. temperature 105°-110° F)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ packet active dry yeast (or 1 ⅛ teaspoon active dry yeast)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Pour warm water into a small bowl, add yeast, and keep it aside for about 5 minutes.
- In the meantime, combine together the rest of the ingredients, flour, salt, sugar, and oil in a stand mixer fitted with a dough attachment.
- Start the stand mixer at medium speed gradually adding warm water with yeast in it. Continue till it forms into a smooth and elastic ball, about 5-7 minutes. Add little flour if it's too sticky.
- Grease the steel insert of the Instant Pot.
- Lightly oil the dough and place it in the Inner Pot. Close the lid.
- Turn on the Yogurt Mode at Medium/Normal and set the timer for 1:00 hr.
- Once the time is up, the dough would have more than doubled in size and it's ready to be used right away.
- If not using Instant Pot, just let the dough rest covered in a greased bowl at a warm spot like an oven with the lights turned on for about two hours or till it doubles in size.
- On a lightly floured surface, gently punch the dough down and divide it into 10 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, by taking the edges and tucking any seams on the underside of the dough.
- Arrange these dough balls in a lightly greased 9"x13" baking dish, spaced evenly apart.
- Cover the dish again with a damp towel and let them rise for another 20-30 minutes.
- In the meantime, preheat your oven to 450° F.
- Bake the rolls for about 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove the rolls from the oven and serve immediately!!
Recipe Notes
- If using active dry yeast, don't forget to activate the yeast first by adding it to warm water.
- Don't skip the second rise after the dough has been divided into rolls. Make sure to cover it with a damp cloth.
