About once a year, I make homemade rolls from scratch. I don't have the time or patience to make them more often (plus, I think the store bought frozen balls of roll dough are really good). But we were having our friends the Malies over for dinner on New Years Day because I'd never gotten around to making our Christmas ham, rolls, potatoes and peach cobbler. The time had come!
This is a recipe from a cooking class that I took back in my Dixie College days over 10 years ago, before I decided to be a Nutrition and Food Science major. You don't need any fancy equipment to make it--in fact for years I just made it with my big metal mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. When I made a few dozen rolls for Thanksgiving that way one year when we were living in New Mexico (6 years or so ago), my aunt Susan was SIMPLY HORRIFIED that I had to stir and knead it all by hand. That Christmas, my mom surprised me with a Kitchen Aid mixer. But I don't have room to have it on my counter all the time, so this is one of the few recipes I haul it out for.
--Btw, it is much, much easier to make these if you do have a Kitchen Aid, but it is also easier to overmix the dough when a machine is doing all the work. I think I overmixed it this time so the rolls weren't as tender as they might have been. (The more you knead dough, the more gluten develops, which gives bread its structure and strength.) Too much flour also makes them dry and tough.
Anyway, on to the recipe.
Bonus: If it is Christmas break, then your kids will be home and want to "help" and then when you get exasperated at them dumping flour all over the kitchen and themselves, a photo op like this will occur!
Old Fashioned Buttery Crescent Rolls
adapted from Illustrated Guide to Food Preparation
Total Time: approximately 2 1/2 to 3 hours
(makes 24 rolls)
3/4 cup milk, scalded*
2 packages active dry yeast**
1/2 cup lukewarm water
3 Tbl. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbl. butter
1 egg
4 cups unsifted all purpose flour
1. Scald milk until it clings to the sides of the pan.
2. Soften the yeast in the lukewarm water.
3. Meanwhile, put the sugar, salt and butter in a mixing bowl, and add the scalded milk.
4. Stir with a wooden spoon to mix the ingredients and melt the butter.
5. Beat the egg well, and add to the milk mixture.
6. Stir in approximately 1/2 cup flour.
7. Check to be sure the mixture is no warmer than 105°F. Add the softened yeast/water mixture.
8. Add the flour gradually. When about half has been added, beat the dough vigorously for 3 minutes.
9. Continue adding flour to make a soft dough, yet one that can be handled without too much difficulty. Better to have dough a little on the sticky side than too dry.
10. Put the dough out onto a floured bread board. Knead about 5 minutes until blisters can be seen just under the surface when the dough is stretched.
11. Put dough in a big clean bowl, and oil the surface. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil and put in a warm place. Allow the dough to rise until doubled in volume (about one hour).
12. Punch down dough and divide. Shape into desired form, place on a greased baking sheet and cover. Let rise a second time before baking. (about 30-40 minutes)
13. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
*To scald milk: place in small saucepan over med/high heat. Watch and stir carefully until milk begins to steam and cling to sides of the pan with tiny bubbles at the edges. Do not allow it to come to a full boil.
**1 package of yeast = 2 1/4 tsp.
To make crescent shaped rolls, divide the ball of dough in two after first rising. Roll into a flat circle about 12" around. Brush the surface with melted butter. Cut dough into 12 wedges (like a pizza--I even use a pizza cutter). Starting at wide end, roll each piece of dough up and place on greased baking sheet. Cover for second rising and when finished baking, brush with more melted butter.
You can pop these into the freezer for later, so make an extra big batch! I always reheat mine in the microwave (tastes better than room temp.) and slather them with --yes-- EVEN MORE BUTTER. Yum, yum, yum.
3 comments:
These are my most favorite rolls ever! So glad you gave me the recipe forever ago! Yummm
Yum, those look delicious. I will have to try these. I make bread and rolls about once a week, so they are easy for me now. I will have to put mine aside for a week to test these out. I actually prefer to make my rolls and bread by hand sometimes. It's much easier to "feel" the consistency instead of letting the machine do it.
I love my Bosch mixer for bread making of any kind. The crescent rolls have been one of my kids favorites forever and I may have been known to make a whole meal out of them and cheese or jam.
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