You know that one thing your mom makes that makes you think of your childhood, and gives you the warm and fuzzies? For me, it was her rolls. We only had them at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I couldn’t wait. They were so yeasty and sweet. A few years ago, my son mentioned how much he liked them over a holiday and after that, we had rolls at every visit. Every now and then, my mom would even make and ship them to us (gotta love the grandma’s). I decided to try to make them myself, since I haven’t made anything with yeast in a while.
I called my folks and asked if they could send the recipe. I was told that it was my grandmothers, so I was expecting a scan of an index card with a handwritten recipe. Instead I received a scan of a page from a Better Homes and Garden cookbook from the 50’s with notes written all over it. I still thought it was cool.
These rolls were magnificent! If you like yeasty, sweet, chewy rolls, you’ll love these. I really like to call these church rolls. Growing up there were a few churches in the neighborhood that would sell rolls every Sunday after service. I wasn’t a member at any of them, but I would go with my mom and buy the rolls. They were almost like dessert.
Mine came out a little high, but that’s because my mom told me to roll them out to about 1 inch thick. That was a little too much. Each roll could feed 2 (I of course, always ate the entire roll), and they screamed for ham or turkey. The holiday’s may have to come a little early this year.
Rolls
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant dry yeast
- ¼ cup warm water ((110°F))
- 1 cup milk (, scalded (heated to 180°F))
- 1/3 cup sugar
- ¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 ½ cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- Combine yeast and warm water in a small bowl and let sit until the yeast has become frothy. Combine milk, sugar, butter, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let cool to room temperature.
- Using a dough hook, add 1 ½ cup of flour to milk mixture, and combine on medium speed until well combined. Add yeast and egg, beating well. Slowly add remaining flour forming a soft dough and beat well. Dough will be tacky. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double (about 1 ½ hours).
- Grease a 9×9 inch baking pan. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll about to about ¾ inch thick.
- Cut dough with floured 2 ½ inch rounds and place in greased baking pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double (about 35-40 minutes). Preheat oven to 400°. Bake rolls for 12-15 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool in pan for 15 minutes then remove.
Can I make this recipe if I don’t have a stand mixer? Thinking of making these for Easter dinner.
Yes. Ideally it would be nice if you had a hand mixer with kneaders. If you don’t have that, you can use the regular attachments for maybe the first one or two additions of flour. After that, I would mix by hand.
These are educated guesses :). Good luck!
Thanks – I’ll let you know how they turn out!
These look fabulous! Thanks for sharing the recipe. Bread is my weakness, and I love the “ease” of making rolls. I get my bread fix a little faster.
I love your pictures. Thanks!
@davegon my iPhone thanks you 🙂
I am pinning this now! 🙂