Big Soft and Fluffy One-Hour Dinner Rolls

I am enjoying my first snow day of the school year today!  It's my first snow day with just me and my dogs and we are loving it.  We may or may not still be in pajamas at 1:30 PM.  And yes Pop wears pajamas.  Don't judge me for any of this paragraph.  On to the food!

Jesse claims that soup by itself is not a meal.  I strongly disagree, but I can throw the guy a bone on pea soup night, I suppose.  He agreed that adding bread to the dinner counts as "not serving soup by itself," so I decided to make some dinner rolls.  I think soup and bread may be one of the most amazing combinations in history, so this was a win-win.

To add to the winning: I made these rolls so much quicker than you'd expect (although, with the words one hour in the name, maybe you did expect it).  The secret is a rising period in a slightly warmed oven after brushing them with a little water to keep them moist.  Normally I agree with the "good things take time" mantra, but these rolls are an exception.  Although they are so much quicker than many breads, they are so fluffy, soft and buttery, and just a tiny bit sweet.  They make a perfect addition to any soup (or dinner of any kind!)  I will definitely whip up another batch of these babies soon.  If you're a yeast amateur, these rolls are a good place to begin and build up your confidence; they are very easy.  Imagine - you could be eating (and smelling!!!) hot homemade rolls an hour from now.  Of course, that would require getting off the couch on your snow day, and I know that's real tough.  My goals include a shower and putting on real clothes... but baking bread is in there somewhere :)

Recipe:

big soft and fluffy one-hour dinner rolls

from Cooking Classy

yields 16 rolls

Ingredients:

3 3/4 - 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon rapid rise yeast

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup cool water

2/3 cup milk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced into 1 tablespoon pieces, plus more for brushing over tops

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together 4 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt.

2) To a medium microwave-safe bowl, add water, milk and butter and heat microwave on high power until it reaches 115 degrees on a thermometer, about 1 minutes 15 seconds.  Stir to partially melt butter; you want it softened but not totally melted.  For me it took a bit less than a minute and I had to wait for it to cool a little!

3) Pour milk into dry mixture in bowl of mixer, along with lemon juice.  Set mixer with a hook attachment and then set mixture on low speed.  Gradually increase to medium-low, kneading until smooth and elastic while adding additional flour as necessary.  Dough should be lightly sticky but manageable.  

4) Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and rest 5 minutes.  Meanwhile butter a 13x9-inch baking dish.

5) Drop dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Shape into an evenly level square, about 9x9 inches.  Cut into 16 equal portions.  Shape dough into 16 balls and place shaped dough balls into prepared baking dish.

6) Dampen hands with water and brush tops of dough with the water so they don't dry in the oven.  Transfer to oven, close, and turn oven off.  Allow rolls to rise for 20 minutes without opening the oven door.  Remove from oven after 20 minutes and preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Allow rolls to rest on counter while you wait.

7) Bake for 14 - 16 minutes until tops are golden brown.  Remove from oven and run the top of a stick of butter along tops of rolls just to coat.  Serve warm.  Store in an airtight container.