Can I Use An Overnight Proving Method For The Soft White Dinner Rolls?

Our answer

Nigella's {Soft White Dinner Rolls](https://www.nigella.com/recipes/soft-white-dinner-rolls) (from FEAST) are made with a slightly enriched dough that contains milk and butter. The dough itself should be fine if you do a first proving overnight as this type of proving still allows the yeast to produce carbon dioxide (albeit at a slower rate than at a warm temperature) and also gives a longer time for gluten development. We wonder whether the rolls were just not given enough time to prove properly for a second time. The dough will have chilled overnight and needs to come back to room temperature before the rolls can even start to rise. If the second proofing was only 30 minutes with a chilled dough, then this is unlikely to have been enough time. The rolls are probably going to need 1 to 2 hours to prove properly in a warm place. The rolls are ready to bake once they have doubled in size, look slightly puffy and if you press the edge of one of the rolls with your finger, there is a small indent and the dough does not spring back.

It is also possible that there are other reasons for the rolls being dense, particularly if the dough was not kneaded enough. The rolls are made with plain (all-purpose) flour. This gives the rolls their soft, fine crumb, but as plain flour has less gluten than strong white (bread) flour, it may mean that you have to knead the for slightly longer than usual. If the dough has not been kneaded enough then the rolls can be on the heavy side. The dough needs to be kneaded until smooth and it can also help to check by pressing the dough with your finger. If the dough bounces back then it should have been kneaded enough.