Buttermilk Cloverleaf Rolls

A sprinkle of herbes de Provence on top of the cloverleaf rolls

This is an everyday bread that doesn’t take a whole day to make. It can be easily baked from start to finish in a bread machine, a recipe contributed by Lora Brody in Baking with Julia. I watched the PBS video clip where Brody and Julia Child demonstrated several shaping techniques: bread sticks, the cloverleaf and knot rolls. Looked like a fun project to shape the bread dough differently than the conventional ways. This post will join other bakers, along with their breads, at Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) this week.

Making bread can be so simple since very few ingredients are required. This recipe uses a few extra general pantry items. The bread rolls were made tender with powdered buttermilk and sweetened with maple syrup. The only change I’ve made to the recipe is swapping out half a cup or 17% of all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour to make these rolls slightly more wholesome. Whole wheat flour also adds flavor and texture in spades.

Since I don’t have a bread machine, I adapted the recipe for the Kitchen Aid stand mixer using the dough attachment. I put in some extra kneading, with a few stretch-and-folds by hand to strengthen the dough, during the first 30 minutes into the first rise.

First and second rise took less than two hours in total. I garnished the cloverleaf rolls with herbes de Provence and others with black and white sesame seeds. After 15 minutes in the oven, I had these buttermilk rolls ready for the table.

I made the whole recipe, but saved half of the shaped rolls to be frozen for later use, as Brody has recommended. Like the idea of serving fresh dinner rolls on demand. Nothing can be more satisfying than having warm bread fresh from the oven.

Added some wholesome whole wheat flour to the dough

4-leaf clover for good luck?