This rosemary orange bread roll wreath, made with soft yeast rolls infused with a hint of orange zest and fresh rosemary, makes a lovely edible centerpiece for your Holiday table. When your family makes a fuss over how special this wreath looks, no need to tell them how easy it was to put together.

You’ll love the simplicity of this method

This bread roll wreath was created especially for beginner bread bakers, but no matter what your comfort level is when working with yeast, you can’t beat the simplicity of this method. The dough can be mixed in a bread machine or by hand.

I have a huge rosemary bush in my herb garden so I’m always looking for opportunities to feature it in breads and other dishes. I also enjoy adding citrus to baked goods. So for this recipe, I decided to combine the citrus with the rosemary.

The roll recipe I chose for this bread wreath is my family’s all-time favorite yeast roll. I usually make the rolls plain, but I was curious to see how the orange zest and rosemary would play out.

I was pleased with the results. When you take a bite, the orange flavor hits you first, then the rosemary chimes in.

I’ve made bread roll wreaths on several occasions, and it always amazes me how such a delightful presentation is so easy to put together.

Once the dough for the rolls is made, the wreath goes together fairly quickly. You can use a round pizza pan, a baking sheet, or other round pan to form and bake the wreath.

I find it easier to shape the wreath in a round pan. I like to use a 16″ round pizza pan because it’s big enough for the wreath, can serve as the platter after the rolls are baked and slightly cooled, and there’s plenty of room to add garnish around the edges. However, if you don’t have a 16” round pan, a 14″ pan works as well, or a large sheet pan.

I line the pan with a sheet of folded parchment paper, but you can also use rolled parchment and cut it to fit the size of the pan if desired.

Sometimes, I’ll add an egg wash before baking to give rolls a lovely brown color on top; however, these dinner rolls don’t need an egg wash because the orange zest provides the color.

Instead of the egg wash, I brush the tops with melted butter after removing the rolls from the oven and before serving. This serves two purposes. It gives the rolls a lovely shine, and because the rolls have butter in the dough and melted butter on top, no extra butter is needed, unless you just want to have some handy.

Prepare the dough in the bread machine or mix by hand

The dough for these rosemary orange bread rolls can be made in the bread machine while you focus on other activities, then just shape the rolls, form the wreath, and bake it. If you don’t have a bread machine, the dough can easily be mixed by hand.

Make ahead tip

To reduce prep time on bake day, prepare the dough balls, and form the wreath the day before. Then place it in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, take the wreath out of the refrigerator and let the rolls warm up while the oven is preheating. Then bake as usual.

Tips for making a uniformly shaped bread roll wreath

Weigh the dough, if possible, to ensure the dough balls are the same size/weight.

Don’t place the rolls too close together so they have room to expand. The first time I made this wreath, I didn’t leave enough room between the rolls so the rolls in the center didn’t expand completely.

To keep the rolls from over-proofing and deflating while resting in the refrigerator, you can decrease the amount of yeast used in the dough or give it a shorter rise on the counter before placing the wreath in the refrigerator overnight.

Use a 2 ½ – 3” biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or a canning ring in the center of the wreath to form the shape and keep it from closing up during proofing and baking. I’ve made this wreath using a 2 3/4” biscuit cutter and a 2 5/8” canning ring. They both worked fine during the proofing and baking. Just be sure to grease the outside of the ring or cutter so the rolls don’t stick to it.

Tips for using rosemary

Although I love the aroma and flavor of rosemary, it can be overpowering. So a little goes a long way. For these rolls, it’s best to chop the rosemary very finely.

If you’re not a fan of rosemary, feel free to reduce the amount of rosemary, use a different herb, or omit the herbs altogether.

You might enjoy these other Bread Roll Wreaths

Rosemary Orange Bread Roll Wreath

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Author: Bread Experience
Yield: 20 rolls 1x

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Description

This citrusy bread roll wreath, made with soft yeast rolls infused with a hint of orange zest and fresh rosemary, makes a lovely centerpiece for your Holiday table.

Instructions

Preparing dough in bread machine:

Place all ingredients, except the melted butter, orange zest and chopped rosemary in the bread machine pan in the order suggested by your manufacturer. (For my bread machine, the liquid ingredients are added first, then the flour, salt, sugar. Then make a well in the center of the flour, add the yeast, and cover with flour.)
Select the Dough/Manual cycle. After the machine beeps or stops the initial mixing, add the orange zest and rosemary. Let the machine finish the mixing and proofing cycles.
Once the dough cycle is finished and the machine beeps, remove the dough to a lightly floured work surface and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
Line your pan or baking sheet with parchment. I used a 16” pizza pan. Place a 2-3” biscuit/cookie cutter or canning ring in the center of the pan.
Divide the dough into 20 equal pieces. (My dough weighed 853 grams so each piece was about 42-43 grams) Shape each piece into a ball. Place 7 balls around the ring/cutter leaving space for the rolls to rise. Form the outer ring of the wreath using the remaining 13 balls. Depending on the size of your ring/cutter, you may only need 6 balls around the center or 8. Just space them as evenly as you can.

Preparing the dough by hand

In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together, flour, sugar, salt, yeast, orange zest and chopped rosemary.
In a separate bowl or container, beat the egg. Add the water to the egg and mix to combine. Pour the water/egg mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well.
Cover and let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes to develop the gluten before adding the butter.
Work in the softened butter until it forms a soft dough.
Cover and let the dough proof for about 2 hours. After one hour, stretch and fold the dough over itself. Cover and let the dough rest an additional hour, or until doubled.
Line your pan or baking sheet with parchment. Place a 2-3” biscuit/cookie cutter or canning ring in the center of the pan.
Divide the dough into 20 equal pieces. (My dough weighed 853 grams so each piece was about 42-43 grams) Shape each piece into a ball. Place 7 balls around the ring/cutter leaving space for the rolls to rise. Form the outer ring of the wreath using the remaining 13 balls. Depending on the size of your ring/cutter, you may only need 6 balls around the center or 8. Just space them as evenly as you can.

Baking the wreath the same day

Cover and let the rolls rise until double in size, approximately 40 minutes to 1 hour. (Dough will be ready when indentation remains when lightly touched.)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. While the rolls are rising. Uncover the wreath, bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Rotate the pan partway through the bake cycle for even baking.
Brush tops of rolls with melted butter, if desired. Serve warm or slightly cooled.

Making the wreath ahead, and baking the next day

Cover and let the rolls rise for about 30 minutes, then wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator overnight.
The next day, remove the wreath from the refrigerator and let it warm up while the oven is preheating to 375 degrees F.
Uncover the wreath, bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Rotate the pan partway through the bake cycle for even baking.
Brush tops of rolls with melted butter, if desired. Serve warm or slightly cooled.

Notes

*Sugar acts as a tenderizer. The additional sugar isn’t necessary for flavor; however, the rolls will be a little softer when using ¼ cup of sugar.

**I used 2 teaspoons of instant yeast for the dough made in the bread machine and 1 teaspoon for the dough made by hand. When making the dough by hand, even if you bake the rolls the same day, you probably only need 1 teaspoon, or if you use more, reduce the proofing time so the rolls don’t over proof.

***Reduce prep time by chopping the rosemary and zesting the orange the day before you make the dough. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Category: Yeast Rolls

This post is featured on Amex Essentials

Bread Experience is delighted to be one of the featured bakers in the article Better Your Bread: 8 Bakers Share Their Tips and Recipes by Irene de Velte of Amex Essentials.

Happy Baking!
Cathy

This Rosemary Orange Bread Roll Wreath Makes a Lovely Centerpiece

You’ll love the simplicity of this method