Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Tutorial Tuesday: Easy Dinner Rolls

Tutorial Tuesday

Tutorial Tuesday's design is to visually share money saving food preparation techniques along with easy and inexpensive recipes. This week I am happy to share how I make Easy (super yummy) Dinner Rolls!

I recently found this recipe and couldn't wait to try it out! I have really been enjoying making yummy foods from scratch! The taste of a little bit of time mixed with effort has been delicious!

To begin making the dinner rolls, first add 1/2 C. milk to 1/4 C. of water, and add 2T. of butter. Warm these ingredients on the stove top (Do not boil! I just watched the butter chunks melt to know when the liquids were warm enough!)

While the milk, butter and water are warming, mix 3/4 C. flour, 1/2t. salt, 2T. sugar and an envelope of rapid rise yeast.
Add wet mix to the flour mix and beat for 2 minutes in your mixer.
Add 1/4 C. flour and beat on high for 2 more minutes.
Slowly, add 1C. of flour... I did this step 1/4 C. at a time!

Next, the dough needs to be kneaded! Generously flour your work surface, and knead for 8-10 minutes. *If you have never kneaded dough before, it is very simple! Smush the dough with the heels of your hands, pressing the dough away from your body. Then spin the dough 45 degrees and knead again!
Knead the dough for about 8-10 minutes.

After kneading, the dough needs to rest for 10 minutes. I made my dough into a ball, and then I laid a damp paper towel over the dough while it rested.
Then I cut the dough into 12 even pieces.

I should have taken more time to shape the dough into balls... next time!
The 12 dinner rolls need to be placed into a well greased round baking pan.
(I placed 9 rolls around the edges and three in the center!)
The dinner rolls now need to rise.
I covered my pan with aluminum foil and set the pan on our stove top with the burner on the lowest setting. The rolls need to rise for 30 minutes.
After the rolls have had half an hour to rise (the warmth from the burner really helps!), brush the tops with a little bit of melted butter and gently sprinkle with salt!

Bake the rolls for 20 minutes at 375*. Mmm, these rolls were delicious- even a little bit sweet!
I think that the next time that I make these rolls, that I will multiply the quantity. I am thinking that I will not allow the dough to rise, I will just roll into balls, after the dough has rested, and then freeze the dough for individual rolls for a later date. I'll keep you posted!
Recipe Recap:
2-2 1/4 C. all purpose flour
1 envelope yeast
2T. sugar
1/2t. salt
1/2 C. milk
1/4 C. water
2T. butter

14 comments:

  1. I've been considering making my own rolls for Thanksgiving dinner...this recipe sounds delish! I'll make it over the weekend with anther dinner to see if I have any problems, before tackling them on Thanksgiving morning! Thanks, Laura.
    PAM

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  2. Those look so good! Please keep us posted on how freezing the dough balls works out.

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  3. Hi Pam and Ashley, I wish you ladies could have tasted these... delish! I'll keep you posted on freezability!

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  4. Sounds like little warm balls of heaven! We love warm rolls!
    Jessica

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  5. Looking forward to trying these! I like how easy they seem. I enjoy making homemade breads but so often they take a while to make till you let them rise etc.

    I too am trying to make more of my own things. Somehow I feel healthier that way!

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  6. Ditto Lydia! I actually skipped the great $.49 Ragu deal this week at Meijer because I LOVED making my own spaghetti sauce (find it Tutorial Tuesday on my right sidebar!)

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  7. Laura,

    I enjoy your blog. I wanted to mention that yeast is *much* cheaper in bulk (from Costco or Sam's Club) than in little packets. One packet of yeast costs about $1.20, but I can buy a whole pound of yeast for about $5. One packet of yeast contains approximately 2.5 teaspoons.

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  8. To Anonymous above; How long does a pound of yeast stay good?

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  9. To Anonymous,
    I actually purchased my little yeast packets for FREE after the sale, coupon and catalina... and FREE is always less expensive than bulk! (Wink!)

    Have I ever mentioned that I heart FREE?

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  10. Excited to try these! I did the chicken chili earlier this week and LOVED it! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  11. I'm getting ready to make these rolls for dinner this evening. I read the other comments and wanted to add my opinion. I bake a lot and I use frozen dough balls all the time for a wonderful Sticky Buns recipe. My guess would be to mimic the product I purchase, you would prepare as stated, but when you get to the point in the recipe that has you cover the dough balls and let them rise in a warm place you would put them on a cookie sheet instead and place in freezer until firm, and then at that point you can transfer to what ever type of storage container you choose. When you go to prepare the rolls you pull them out and as they are thawing they should rise. That is what happens when I purchase frozen dough balls. I am also basing this on Homemade from scratch Cinnabon type rolls I make. If you make them a day ahead of time and want to bake the next day you would just at the point where you want the dough to rise place it in the frige overnight and pull it out 1/2 hour before you plan on baking to let them warm and rise.

    I will have to let you know how this works for me, I am excited to try!

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  12. That's EXACTLY what I was planning on! I usuallu purchase Rhodes frozen dinner rolls, so I'm looking forward to expirimenting on my own!

    PS: are you willing to share your sticky buns recipe? my husband LOVES them!!! If yes, please drop me an email!

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