Roll Out!

I.love.rolls. Actually, I love any kind of bread. I have a recording of my mother trying to get me to say "itty bitty peas" when I was a wee toddler and over and over--despite her perseverance--I would say, "Bread!" These thighs don't lie, y'all! Thus, when i found the Pioneer Woman's recipe for yeast rolls, I drooled and decided to give it a whirl. I've honestly never baked anything involving yeast because it seems a little...well...more time-consuming than I care spend on bread--especially when Sister Schubert does such an excellent job for me! But, hey, I'll try almost anything once! Who knows...it might become my "go to" bread recipe!

Wow. There are a lot of ingredients in this recipe, but most I already had from the days of my quest to make the perfect biscuit--except for yeast. And whole milk. The yeast I acquired from the sis (Thanks, Anna.). And I don't think I've ever in my whole life purchased whole milk (1% is my milk of choice), but that's no biggie. So, the original recipe makes like a million rolls, I think, so I decided to half the recipe. A million is just too much for my mill house kitchen to handle, but half a million I can handle. Ok so I exaggerate. Maybe it's just 24.

Here's the recipe halved:

2 c. whole milk
1 stick butter
½ c. sugar
2 ¼ t. active dry yeast
4 c. all-purpose flour
½ t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
1 ½ t. salt
½ c. (additional) all-purpose flour
1 stick (additional) melted butter

Combine milk, 1 stick butter, and sugar in a large pot. Let it simmer until it’s almost boiling. Turn off the heat and let it cool for 30-45 mins, until mixture is slightly warmer than lukewarm.

Sprinkle in yeast and 4 c. flour. Stir to combine.

Cover and allow to rise for one hour.

After one hour, add baking powder, baking soda, salt, and additional ½ cup flour. Stir to combine.

Turn onto floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes. Get ready for a workout.

I made my dough at night, and at this point covered it and put it in the fridge. During my lunch hour the next day, I rolled out the dough to ¼-½ inch thick (I discovered it works better if it’s thinner), and cut my dough with biscuit cutter (actually I just used a drinking glass) into circles.

Melt a stick of butter in the microwave. Dip rolls into butter, fold in half, and place on a greased cookie sheet. Press them down lightly to get them to seal.



They look like they're smiling at you!

Because I had to go back to work, I covered these in plastic wrap and popped them back in the fridge until I got home that evening. However, if you are ready to bake at this point, let them rise for about 30 minutes and put them in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

I kind of whined a lot while I was making the dough for these rolls because it seemed like a lot of trouble to make something when I didn't know if it was going to turn out tasting like heaven or...poop. Luckily for me...these were wonderfully marvelous! I really was impressed with how well they turned out. And knowing that they are SO good, I think I will make these again. You can go so far as to make the dough, form the rolls, freeze them raw, pull out the number you want when you want them, let them thaw and rise on the pan, pop them in the oven, and EAT. That will save lots of time and energy. I will go out on a limb and say these are better than any rolls I've ever had. EVER. But I'm not bragging...it's just a great recipe. Try them. I ate 3 at dinner :)

In case you missed it the first time, here's the Pioneer Woman's full recipe if you'd like to see it: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/11/parker-house-rolls/

As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to email us at everydayrecreations@gmail.com or post a comment on this blog.  We love hearing from you!

Andie