Dinner Rolls

Things are just crazy around here these days.  I am feeling a little better about life in general, but I still have my moments. My house is looking and feeling great after some hard work by my mom, Rachael and Sam.  It's nice to relax here.  I feel really busy lately, but maybe that's just a combination of being back at work, trying to see lots of friends, and hauling two dogs around who move at vastly different speeds.

No matter how busy I feel, I had to find the time to talk to you about these dinner rolls.  I believe that they are the best rolls I have ever made.  Italicized to show emphasis.  But for real, these are the softest, tastiest, most amazing little crescents of bread.  I ate so many the night I made them, it was embarrassing.  Then I continued to eat them for the next few days; they kept surprisingly well in an airtight container (homemade bread doesn't usually stay soft very long).

I am sincerely wishing that I had some right now, actually.  The good news is that I could make that happen if I wanted; these are not difficult to make.  Yes, they're yeast rolls so there are 2 periods of letting the dough rise.  They might not be quick, but they aren't hard.  The hardest part is rolling the crescents to make them pretty, as opposed to how mots of mine looked.... not so pretty.  But still tasted amazing, so who cares?  Make these the next time you want to really impress people at dinner.

One note - the recipe suggests running a stick of butter over the rolls when they come out of the oven.  I felt like they tasted buttery enough without that extra step and calories, but hey, if you want to go big or go home, go for it!

Recipe:
dinner rolls
from How Does She
makes 48 rolls

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons yeast
2 cups warm water
9 - 10 cups all purpose flour
at least 1 cup butter, softened

Instructions:

1) Scald 1 1/2 cups milk, 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup butter (cut into small pieces) in a microwave safe bowl for about 2 minutes.  It's okay if there are still some cubes of butter floating around.

2) Stir in 1 - 2 cups flour into the hot mixture to cool it down.  Add 1 egg and 1 tablespoon salt. Let cool 2 more minutes.  Meanwhile, in a measuring cup, dissolve 2 tablespoons of yeast in 2 cups of warm water and 1 tablespoon sugar.  Let sit for a couple minutes until bubbly.  Add the yeast mixture to the milk mixture.

3) Using a fork or wooden spoon, gradually stir in 7 - 9 cups of flour.  Add 2 cups at a time and stir in between.  The dough will be dense and sticky and may be hard to stir; you will have to change to stirring with your hands at the end.  Don't add too much flour.  Smooth the dough out and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.  Leave in a warm place and let it rise until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

4) When your dough is close to raising completely, butter 2 cookie sheets and set them aside.  Cover your work space with flour.  When dough is ready, dump it out and divide it into 4 balls.  Try to make them even but they don't have to be perfect.  Using one ball of dough at a time, roll the dough into a circle.  Once it is rolled out, spread the top with butter from edge to edge. You will use about 2 tablespoons per circle of dough.

5) Cut the dough into quarters using a pizza cutter.  Then cut each quarter into 3 pieces.  You should end up with 12 triangles from each circle of dough.  Roll each triangle of dough starting with the wide end of the triangle.  Tuck the tail of the triangle under the roll and place it on the buttered cookie sheet.  You should be able to fit 24 rolls per pan, 3 rows of 8.

6) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Place the pans of rolls in a warm place to let them rise.  Once they are touching and full in size, cook one pan at a time in the oven until they are golden brown, 10 - 15 minutes.  When they are done, you may choose to run a stick of butter over the tops of the rolls for a buttery glaze.