Homemade Rolls

 

Happy Thanksgiving week everyone! We had a “friendsgiving” this Sunday with some wonderful friends here in Charleston. I made rolls, pie, and devoured everyone else’s delicious sweet potatoes (My personal fave). It was such a fun thing to do- I definitely want it to be a tradition! Especially since we all have family so far away.

I usually make my family’s Cornmeal Rolls – which are freaking delicious. You need to try them if you haven’t- but I didn’t have any cornmeal! The cornmeal ones have a lot of flavor and are more dense than the typical roll so if that sounds more up your alley feel free to click on the link above. This recipe is a more traditional, light, soft, and fluffy roll with delicious flavor as well. Whichever floats your boat and in my case- they both do!! (You can’t really go wrong with homemade bread, in general.) So I went to my next go-to roll recipe that I also have loved for years. I found this one on Pinterest awhile ago when I was trying many different roll recipes and fell in love with it but I’ve altered it to where it has a quicker cook time.

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Homemade Rolls

Yields 2 dozen rolls

• 2 packages of yeast
• 1 cup of warm water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 1/2 cups of flour
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Proof yeast by putting the warm water in the mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Mix in the sugar and let it sit for 10 minutes until foamy.
2. Add the melted butter, eggs, salt, and mix. Slowly add in the flour a cup at a time and knead with the mixer until it is fully incorporated- if it starts to stick the sides again, sprinkle in more flour.
3. Put a thin towel over the bowl and put it in a, preferably, warm environment until doubled (around an hour) (See notes)
4. Preheat oven to 350. Once your dough is doubled, knead a couple times and portion into rolls on a greased sheet pan.  Drape a thin towel over it again and let it rise for 20 minutes while the oven preheats.
5. Bake for 14 minutes until it is just a light brown. To keep the rolls soft, immediately take a stick of butter and rub (can’t think of a better word!) it over the tops of the rolls.

Notes:

I always preheat my oven to 170 degrees before I start my rolls and turn it off when it is done preheating so my rolls have a warm environment to rise in. This makes it go a whole lot faster.

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This is great for beginners or for experienced bakers. For you beginners- bread is a whole lot easier than you realize. Once you know how bread dough behaves you can make any recipe. It only takes a few tries to get it. Give it a go with this on- just promise you keep any leftovers in a ziploc bag to keep them soft. You can and will try to eat them all but it’s a little tough to down two dozen so just pace yourself, friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Marinn