Buttermilk Fantails

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons yeast dry (from a)
• 1 stick butter unsalted divided melted
• 0.8 cup buttermilk well-shaken
• 3 cups flour all-purpose plus more for kneading and dusting
• 1 tablespoon honey 
• 1.5 teaspoons salt 
• 0.3 cup water (105-115°F)

Equipment

• bowl
• baking sheet
• oven
• plastic wrap
• wooden spoon
• kitchen towels
• spatula
• muffin liners
• rolling pin

Directions

1. Butter muffin cups with 1 tablespoon melted butter.
2. Stir together yeast, warm water, and honey in a large bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, start over with new yeast.)
3. Mix flour, salt, buttermilk, and 6 tablespoons melted butter into yeast mixture with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula 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.
4. Put dough in an oiled large bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
5. Punch down dough (do not knead), then halve.
6. Roll out half of 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).
7. Brush dough 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, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
8. Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.
9. Bake rolls until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
10. Brush tops with remaining 2 tablespoons butter, then transfer rolls to a rack and cool at least 20 minutes.
11. Rolls are best the day they're made but can be frozen (cool completely, then wrap well) 1 month. Thaw, then reheat on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven until warmed through, 5 to 10 minutes.