Buttermilk Fantails
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (from a 1/4-oz package)
- 1/4 cup warm water (105-115°F, 40-46 °C)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for kneading)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 3/4 cup (180 g) buttermilk
- 1 stick (115 g) unsalted butter, melted and divided
Makes 12 rolls
Butter 12 muffin cups with 1 tablespoon melted butter, set aside.
Stir together yeast, warm water, and honey in a large bowl and let stand for 5 minutes. The mixture should turn foamy, if it doesn’t foam, it might be because your yeast is old and you’ll have to start over with new yeast.
Add flour, salt, buttermilk, and 6 tablespoons melted butter into yeast mixture until a soft dough forms.
Turn out dough onto a well-floured surface and knead, dusting surface and your hands with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until dough is elastic and smooth, 6 to 8 minutes. Form dough into a ball.
Transfer the dough to a large bowl coated in olive oil and turn to coat all the dough with a thin layer of oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let dough rise at warm room temperature until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
When the dough has double in size, punch it down gently (do not knead), then cut in half. Roll out half of the dough on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 12-inch square (about 1/8 inch thick; keep remaining half covered with plastic wrap). Brush dough square with 1/2 tablespoon butter and cut into 6 equal strips. Stack strips, buttered sides up, and cut crosswise into 6 equal pieces. Turn each piece on a side and put into a muffin cup. Make more rolls with remaining dough in same manner. Separate outer layers of each roll to fan outward. Cover rolls with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled and dough fills cups, about another 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375°F (190 °C) with rack in middle. Bake rolls until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Brush tops with remaining 2 tablespoons butter, then transfer rolls to a rack and cool at least 20 minutes.
