Holiday Dinner Roll Wreath
This wreath made of homemade herb dinner rolls would make a stunning (and edible!) centerpiece for your holiday table.
Our little family unit is young, and we’re still figuring out our holiday traditions— mixing some from my family and some from my husband’s family, and creating new ones of our own.
Not surprisingly, a lot of our traditions revolve around food. We make divinity candy with Steve’s folks, have frango mint fudge with my family, sip homemade eggnog while watching Love Actually, and munch on cheese balls on Christmas eve.
I think I’ve created a new tradition with this fun dinner roll wreath. No matter the main dish, this will definitely be on our table come Christmas day.
Several years ago I made a dinner roll wreath following Sandra Lee’s semi-homemade recipe. It turned out so well and was such a fun addition to our table. This year I decided to make a completely homemade version using my basic white roll recipe, with herbs sprinkled on top, and garnishing it with cranberries and some herb sprigs to finish the look.
And I think it turned out pretty awesome.
How to Make a Roll Wreath
For the complete recipe and instructions, see below. Here are a few additional tips to assembling a beautiful wreath of dinner rolls everyone will go gaga for.
>> For rolls that are uniform in size, use a digital scale. Weigh all of the dough together, divide that number by how many rolls you need, and then use the scale to make all of the rolls that size.
>> To get a perfect circle, trace around an 8-inch cake pan onto a sheet of parchment paper. Then flip the parchment over so the pencil marks are underneath but the circle still shows through. Use the circle as a guide when placing the rolls on the sheet pan.
>> Brushing on an egg wash (1 large egg + 1 teaspoon water whisked together) before baking will result in a shiny and more golden crust. I didn’t use one this time, but probably will next time.
>> I used rosemary, thyme and sage, but feel free to use other fresh herbs of your choice like oregano, parsley and basil.
>> Transferring the rolls to a serving plate is easy. Just lift the whole thing up with the parchment paper, place it on your plate, and slide the parchment out.
>> The center of the wreath is just begging for a little bowl of butter, cheese or a spread, if that’s your jam.
Holiday Roll Wreath
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (56 grams)
- ¼ cup honey (85 grams)
- ⅔ cup whole milk (160 ml)
- 3 - 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour (360-420 grams)
- 1 packet active-dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg + 1 teaspoon water , for egg wash (optional)
To garnish the wreath:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter , melted (56 grams)
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped rosemary, thyme and sage
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- Fresh cranberries
- Fresh sprigs of rosemary, thyme and sage
Instructions
- In a small saucepan set over medium low heat, warm the butter, honey and milk until butter is melted and mixture begins to steam. Do not boil. Remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes, or until the temperature is between 120-130° F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine 1 ½ cups of the flour with the yeast and salt. Add the milk mixture and mix until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. With the mixer on low, add the remaining flour ¼ cup at a time until dough clears the side of the bowl but is still slightly sticky to the touch. You may not need all 3 ½ cups of flour.
- Continue to knead the dough in the mixer until it is smooth and elastic, about 5-8 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Trace an 8-inch circle onto a sheet of parchment paper and place on a 11x17-inch sheet pan.
- Gently punch down dough and knead a few times. Pinch off one third of the dough and set aside, covered in plastic wrap. Divide the rest of the dough into 12 equal pieces, shape into balls, and place on the prepared sheet pan on the traced circle. Divide the reserved dough into 9 smaller pieces, shape into balls, and place on the sheet pan inside the larger balls.
- Cover rolls with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 30-45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350° F.
- Brush with egg wash, if desired, and bake the rolls until golden, about 20-25 minutes. Immediately brush with melted butter and sprinkle with fresh herbs and coarse salt. Let cool at least 15 minutes.
- Gently transfer roll wreath to a 10-inch or larger serving platter. Garnish with sprigs of fresh herbs and fresh cranberries.
- Rolls are best the day they are baked but will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
MUST make! Almost too pretty to eat!!
What a great idea.
This looks amazing and would make for a truly special centerpiece on my Christmas table. I was looking for something new and different to use as centerpiece but I hadn’t thought about something edible! Great idea.
xo, Elisa
This is such an awesome edible wreath. It would be perfect for the Christmas table.
This, I HAVE to make. Thank you 🙂
This is just gorgeous! Thanks for sharing such a great idea.
This bread wreath is so adorable! But not too adorable to eat, because carbs. 😉
This just might be genius. Even though Sandra Lee gives me hives, I’m happy to give your version a high five.
This is the cutest idea ever!! Pinned!
This is unbelievably gorgeous, and I am all about the edible decor! Sounds like a keeper of a tradition to me 🙂
This is so pretty! We don’t have too many holiday traditions, but my dad and I always bake his homemade whole wheat rolls for our Christmas dinner. Maybe I’ll see if we can shape them like a wreath this year too! Pinned!
I made these for my brother’s Christmas party. Not only were all of the guests floored by how beautiful this wreath was, they also gave so many compliments on how they tasted. Absolutely perfect! Thank you!
Regular or Rapid Rise Yeast?
You can use either active-dry yeast or instant yeast, though rising times will be shorter with instant.