Parm & Thyme Rolls, No Need to Knead!

Well, its no secret that I love to cook and bake, but honestly, bread is something that I have yet to master, so when I saw this recipe in Cooking Light magazine, the whole "NO KNEADING" really excited me! If you don't know or haven't tried to make bread from scratch, it has about 129,298,876 steps- including mixing the ingredients, waiting, kneading the dough, waiting, letting the dough rise (more waiting), "punching" the dough down, letting it rise again (waiting some more), sometimes more kneading and then finally baking! I just don't have the patience or the technique (evidenced by a rough past experience) for all the waiting and kneading, but there is something really pure & authentic about the smell of fresh yeast & hot bread in your kitchen.

Like I said, I copied this recipe from Cooking Light magazine, but like I often enjoy doing, I switched up the herbs a little to my likings. And even though I didn't have to "knead" the dough, there was just enough work involved to give me some appreciation about homemade bread!

If you're on a low-carb diet, I highly recommend you cheat (just a little) for one of these rolls, especially if you're putting in some elbow grease!

Ingredients & Recipe:

Printable Recipe

• 1/2 tsp. dry yeast (like Fleischmann's brand, comes in a little packet in the baking aisle)
• 2 Tbls. warm water (not hot, not cool)
• 2 Tbls. olive oil (divided, meaning you will use 1 Tbls. at one time and 1 Tbls. at another time in the recipe)
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 Tbls. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

The Day Before:

Take out all your refrigerated ingredients (milk, cheese, egg) and let them get to room temperature). Spray the inside of a medium-large glass bowl with cooking spray.

Begin by placing the 2 Tbls. warm water in a large bowl. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water; let it stand about 5 minutes until it is bubbly. Right away you should be able to smell the distinctive "yeasty" smell- the beginning of bread!

Heat 1 Tbls. oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the thyme to the skillet and cook for about 1 minute until fragrant and percolating. Take the skillet off the heat and let it rest for a few minutes.

Add the thyme mixture and the milk to the yeast mix and stir with a whisk, followed by adding 1/4 cup of the cheese, the sugar, the salt, and the egg. Whisk until well combined.

Now, bust out a wooden spoon (ditch the whisk), and begin to stir in the whole-wheat flour into the mixture. Next, slowly start to mix in only 1 cup of the all-purpose flour. You will start to see a very sticky, gloppy dough forming. Finish this first part of the recipe by stirring in the rest of the all-purpose flour (1/4 cup), but stir in a few tablespoons at a time. The dough will still remain quite sticky but it will be smooth.

Place the dough in the glass bowl (the one you already coated with cooking spray) and spray the top of the dough very lightly with cooking spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate overnight.

The Day Of:

Prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a floured work surface (you do not need to "punch" the dough down), and sprinkle it with a little flour. Roll the dough out to a rectangle, about 12 X 7-inch size. Brush the dough with 1 Tbls. of oil and sprinkle the rest of the Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup) over the dough, followed by the garlic powder and pepper.

Now, start to roll up the dough in "jelly-roll fashion", starting at the long side, and when you get to the other end, pinch the seam shut. Cut the roll into 8 equal slices and place each piece, cut side up onto the prepared baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel, and set the baking sheet aside in a warm place away from drafts and/or cool air for about 1-2 hours or until you see that the rolls have risen a bit.

When you are ready to back and your oven is preheated to 375 degrees, place the baking sheet in the oven for 12 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown.

Place the hot rolls in a basket wrapped in a kitchen towel so they can stay warm, or serve right away!

You Could Also Try...

• Use the same roll-baking method adding or subtracting whatever herbs you like. You could try rosemary, oregano or a mixture of herbs!

*P.S. Thanks to my hubster for taking pictures of these rolls! Not only did he eat them, he waited to take their photo:)