Sausage, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Rolls


Roll out the dough
Add eggs
Add sausage
Add cheese

November has been an interesting month. We had a few brisk days that threatened an early fall but then early fall gave way to fake fall. One weekend was nearly 80 degrees! In my younger days, I'd have been a little sad about fake fall but the older I get, the more comfortable I am allowing God's will to happen. If fall is to be cold, fine. If it's to be warm, fine too. 

These rolls began by inspiration from a dear Instagram friend. After posting the cinnamon apple rolls, she mentioned she made a savory breakfast roll containing sausage for Christmas last year. My mouth was immediately watering. I had to make a savory breakfast roll. The wheels of my imagination began churning and turning. I decided to add all my diner favorites into a breakfast roll. 

For me that's eggs, maple breakfast sausage and cheese. I concocted my rolls and filling, then popped them into the oven. The result? Memory evoking jewels that have an essence of a McGriddle or the meaty scented morning at a diner booth in Jersey. 

I was supremely sorry when the last of the rolls were gone. That filling of eggs, maple and sage sausage coupled with the fact that the dough that takes on the flavor of pancakes is hard to resist. And the piece de resistance is the drizzle of pancake syrup that happens after they come out of the oven. I was so excited I ate mine with my hands. You're welcome to give a fork and knife a go if that's more your speed. 

The recipe includes make ahead instructions, shortcut options, a dairy free dough.

MACRO-FRIENDLY
These rolls are only 227 calories each and have 17g of protein in them. That's because we're using my macro-friendly enriched dough for the base. The eggs are protein enriched by adding cottage cheese and to lighten things up egg whites replace some the eggs. To keep the sausage heart-healthy, lean ground turkey is used. 
FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS 
Fully prepared rolls can be individually wrapped in plastic, placed in a freezer safe container and frozen. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and gently warm each rolls for 10-20 seconds in the microwave or use the reheat cycle in your air fryer. In my air fryer, I heat these at 300 degrees F for 10 minutes.

MAKEAHEAD INSTRUCTIONS
Dough: The night before, follow steps 1-5. Once dough is risen, cover but allow just a crack of air to escape from the side of the bowl so that the dough doesn't over expand and possibly break your vessel. Next morning proceed with step 6. Yeast dough is actually easier to work with if it's refrigerated so I highly recommend this step if rolling out dough makes you jittery. I didn't find I had to proof longer but it may take up to an hour longer to proof depending on your room's temperature. Dough is proofed when it's soft and pillowy to touch. 

Eggs and Sausage: The eggs and sausage can be made the day before. Allow to come to room temperature so it's not too cold when baking. Alternatively microwave for 20-30 seconds just to take the chill off. You don't want it hot, just tepid or at room temperature. A too hot mixture will make the yeast dough a bit runny.


Eggs: I often scramble eggs in the microwave. To do this, add your eggs to a greased large, microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir and keep repeating until they're done. You can also just cook them without stirring and break them into smaller pieces. You won't notice the difference in the breakfast rolls. 


BREAD MACHINE INSTRUCTIONS
While the machine kneads, watch to see if the dough is too sticky and add flour 1 tablespoon at a time, allowing the machine to work it in before adding more. I've only made the recipe once in the bread machine and they came out quite well. I found I needed to add 1 additional tablespoon of flour because after some kneading, it was quite sticky. Instead of proofing in the bread machine, I took them out on the rise cycle, gave it a quick 30 second knead on the counter and allowed them to rise (step 5). 

SUBSTITUTIONS
  • Use Greek yogurt and not plain yogurt. Greek yogurt has less water and using it will ensure you have the right consistency of dough.
  • Full fat butter can be used. It should be at room temperature.
  • Any milk can be used.
  • Regular sugar, brown sugar and confectioners sugar can be used in place of the sugar free alternatives.
  • Regular sugar is used in the dough and should NOT be substituted with something sugar free. It's needed so the yeast dough rises.
DAIRY-FREE INSTRUCTIONS
Dough Use:
3 tbs dairy free yogurt [I used Silk Vanilla flavor]
1 tbs [14g] vegan butter [I used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, Light]
1 - 1 1/2 tbs unsweetened almond milk

Use "Just Eggs" (omit cottage cheese), vegan sausage and vegan cheese in the filling

OTHER RECIPES

RECIPE

Makes: 5 breakfast rolls
1 serving: 227 cals/7.3g total fat/23.2g carbs/17.3g protein/1.8g sugar


DOUGH:

1 cup all-purpose flour (120 g)

1/4 tsp Kosher salt

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp instant yeast

3 tbs Greek yogurt (51g) at room temperature

1 tbs (14g) I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Light, melted and cooled 

1/4 cup almond milk


FILLING:

1 recipe BREAKFAST SAUSAGE, cooked {recipe below} (or use 1/4 lb your favorite sausage, casings removed, cooked/crumbled)

1 recipe PROTEIN EGGS cooked {recipe below}

3/4 cup reduced fat cheddar

5 tablespoons sugar-free pancake syrup

  1. Using the paddle attachment, combine flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a stand mixer. 
  2. Add yogurt and butter to the mix. Combine.
  3. Add half the amount of milk, mix. Add more until a tacky dough forms.
  4. Replace paddle attachment with dough hook. Knead for 6 minutes. (If kneading by hand, knead for 10 minutes on a lightly floured board or until dough is smooth and elastic.)
  5. Shape dough into ball, spray the bowl of stand mixer with cooking spray, coat the dough ball in the oil. Cover and let rise in a warm place until the dough doesn't spring back, approximately 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours.
  6. Punch dough down. Lightly flour surface and roll dough to 8 1/2 x 7 3/4 inch square. If you aren't into measuring, as I'm not, just roll into a slightly less than 1/4 inch rectangle. 
  7. Add the protein eggs, scatter over the dough, leaving a 1/4 inch edge on all sides, then scatter the sausage and the cheese. Roll and pinch seams shut. Using floss, cut into 5 rolls. Cover and let rise in a warm place for approx. 30 minutes or until proofed. 
  8. Once proofed, bake in center of preheated 350 F oven for 22-27 minutes or dough is cooked. These rolls don't get very brown so cook until they're firm. 
  9. Allow to cool 5 mins in pan and then cool on wire rack for 10-15 minutes or until warm to touch. Drizzle with syrup and serve. 
BREAKFAST SAUSAGE:
1/4 pound 93% ground turkey
1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp ground dried sage
dash freshly grated nutmeg
dash allspice [I used a microplane to shave a bit off a whole allspice]
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper [use less if you don't want a peppery sausage]
1/8 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp brown sugar
dash cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp Diamond Kosher salt
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 tsp sugar free pancake syrup

Using a fork combine all the ingredients in a bowl. A fork helps keep the meat tender and avoids over mixing. Pinch off a piece of the meat, shape into a patty with a small indent in center to avoid buckling and pan fry it in a pan pre-heated over medium heat. Spray with Avocado cooking spray first. Cook your small patty and taste for seasoning. Then cook up the rest. Cook 4-5 minutes, crumbling up the meat. 

PROTEIN EGGS:
1/2 cup liquid egg whites
1 large egg
24g low-fat cottage cheese
salt + pepper to taste

Add all the ingredients to a blender and blitz until the eggs and cottage cheese get cohesive, about 1 minute. Warm a medium sized skillet over medium-low heat. Spray with cooking spray. Add egg mixture and scramble eggs until they're slightly wet, not dry but not super loose. You want a little "undoness" because the eggs further cook in the rolls. 


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