I have a weakness for croissants. When I make them I will fill some with a little jam or nut filling (almond is wonderful) and I bake some plain. Chicken salad makes a great filling and if there is still any plain croissants left, I make them into breakfast sandwiches. Croissants Food Network Please Note: The final rise after shaping can take awhile in a cool kitchen. If you put them into a warm oven, be careful! If the oven is too warm it will melt the butter, which will then run out when baking. Ask me how I know... 1 ounce fresh yeast or 1/2 pkg instant yeast 3 1/2 cups unbleached flour 1/4 cup white or packed brown sugar 2 teaspoons salt 1 cup milk, or more 1 pound unsalted butter 2 tablespoons flour, for dusting 1 egg 1 tablespoon milk In a mixer with a dough hook, place the yeast, flour, sugar, salt and the milk and mix for 2 minutes until a soft moist dough forms on the hook. If most of the flour isn't moistened with this quantity of milk, add more, a tablespoon at a time until it is moistened and smooth, using up to 4 tablespoons. Turn mixer on high and mix for another 4 minutes until very smooth and elastic. Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured board, cover with a damp tea towel and allow it to rest for 15 minutes to relax the gluten. Remove the towel and, using a French rolling pin, roll the dough into a 10 by 9-inch rectangle 5/8-inch thick. Wrap in plastic then chill for 1 hour and up to overnight. Ten minutes before the dough is done resting in the refrigerator, prepare the butter. Beat it with your rolling pin on a floured surface to soften it and form a rectangle 6 by 8 1/2 inches. Place it between parchment paper or plastic wrap and set aside. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it on a floured work surface into a 10 by 15-inch and 1/4-inch thick rectangle. Brush any excess flour off the dough. Place the shorter side of the dough parallel to the front of your body on the work surface. Place the butter in the middle, long-ways. Fold the bottom up over the butter and brush off any excess flour and then fold the top down over the butter to overlap and encase the butter. Press down lightly with the rolling pin to push all the layers together and make sure they have contact. Continue rolling the laminated (layered) dough to form a new 10 by 15-inch rectangle, patching any holes with a dusting of flour where butter may have popped through. Fold into thirds, like a letter, brush off any excess flour and mark it with an indentation made by poking your finger once at the corner of the dough meaning you have completed the first "turn". Wrap well in plastic and chill 1 hour and up to overnight. Do this again three more times (some people only do 3 turns total, some do 6, some do 3 plus what's called a "wallet" turn for the last one which is a 4 fold turn that's folded into itself like a book jacket) marking it accordingly each time and chilling in between each turn. After the fourth turn, you can let the dough chill overnight, or, for 1 hour, or, roll it out to a 13 by 24-inch square that is a little less than 1/4-inch thick and cut out your croissants and shape them. I roll out my dough and cut it with a sharp large knife into 6-inch strips then cut them into triangles, 4 inches wide at the base of the triangle (or for a more curved croissant cut the triangles 6 inches wide). Stretch these triangles again 9 inches long, then place on the work surface and put a piece of scrap dough in the center of the wide end to enclose, which will plump up the center. Roll the triangles up toward you starting at the wide end and place them 2 inches apart on a parchment lined sheet pan with the tip tucked under and the ends slightly curved in to make a crescent shape. You may freeze the croissants at this point, or, in a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk and brush the croissants with this egg wash. To proof the croissants, place them in an oven that is warm but not turned on, with a pan of hot water in the bottom to create a moist environment like a proof box. Set aside to proof for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours until puffed up and spongy to the touch. Remove from the oven. Spritz a preheated 425 degree F oven with water, close the door, and get the croissants. Place the croissants in the oven and spritz again, close the door and turn the oven down to 400 degrees F. After 10 minutes, rotate your pan if they are cooking unevenly and turn the oven down to 375 degrees F. Bake another 5 to 8 minutes until golden brown. Traditional Hot Cross Buns (source unknown) serves 12 3 cups flour Note: I hold out about 1/2 C of this flour and add if dough seems too soft) 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. all spice 1/2 tsp. nutmeg cinnamon 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 egg, beaten 3/4 cup raisins 1/3 cup candied citron fruit Yeast Mixture: 1 Tbs. dry yeast 1 Tbs. sugar 2/3 cup warm milk 1/2 cup warm water 1 cup flour Glaze: 2 Tbs. milk 2 Tbs. water 3 Tbs. sugar Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Mix all yeast ingredients in a bowl. Set aside and let it foam. Sift flour, salt, spice, and sugar in a second bowl. Add fruits and mix well. Mix butter, eggs and add to yeast mixture. Add yeast mixture to flour mixture. Knead dough on floured surface, 8\-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Divide into 12 equal pieces, shape into round buns. Place rolls close together in a baking pan. Cover and let rise at warm room temperature for 45 minutes. Use a sharp knife to cut an X\-shape on the dough surface. Bake in oven at 425 degrees F for 15\-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on rack. Make glaze by bringing ingredients to boil in a saucepan for 2 minutes. Brush glaze over buns thickly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hot Cross Buns with Dried Sour Cherries www ( ?? ) Yield: 16 buns For Buns: 6 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 cup milk 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves Grated zest of one lemon 1/4 cup warm water 2 packages (1/2 ounce or 4 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast 1 whole egg plus 2 egg yolks 3 1/3 cups all\-purpose unbleached flour, plus more for kneading 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup dried sour cherries 1/2 cup chopped pistachios (I omit) Melted unsalted butter for pan and brushing 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon milk (glaze) For Icing: 1 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar 1 to 2 teaspoons milk, heated Buns: Combine 5 tablespoons of the sugar, the milk, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and lemon zest in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the milk is hot and the butter is melted. Remove from the heat and pour into a large bowl. Let cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, combine the warm water with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes. Whisk the whole egg, the egg yolks, and the yeast into the cooled milk. In another bowl, stir together the 3 1/3 cups flour and the salt. Add the yeast mixture, stirring until a sticky dough forms. Stir in the sour cherries and pistachios. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board or countertop and knead until smooth and elastic, 10 to 15 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, sprinkle with a little more flour. Transfer to a lightly buttered bowl and brush the surface with a little melted butter. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft\-free place until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. Punch down and knead briefly. Re\-cover and let rise a second time, about 30 minutes. Punch the dough down again and knead briefly. Divide into quarters and divide each quarter into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball and place in a lightly buttered 9\-by\-13\-inch pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise a final time until doubled, about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush the buns with the egg glaze. Bake until golden brown and the buns sound hollow when rapped on the bottom, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon warm milk in a bowl. Stir until smooth, adding another 1 teaspoon milk if needed to achieve a smooth consistency. Spoon into a pastry bag or a lock\-top sandwich bag, seal, and snip off the tip of one corner. Squeeze the icing from the bag, piping a cross over each cooled bun. Serve the buns at room temperature. Nancy

I agree with Linda C - bake the rolls and then reheat them before serving. The horror stories I could tell.... You can also find recipes for par-baked (partially baked) rolls (similar to brown and serve rolls) you can make at home. Here's a recipe from the Kansas Wheat Commission - 2000 booklet - a special recipe developed by Cindy and Christy in the KWC test kitchen. Even if you use your own recipe, you can follow the freezer/thawing/baking instructions. -Grainlady FREEZER ROLLS 6-1/2 to 6-3/4 c. bread flour, divided* 1/2 c. granulated sugar 1/4 c. nonfat dry milk powder 1-3/4 c. cold water 1/2 c. shortening 2 large eggs, beaten 1 t. grated lemon peel 1 t. lemon juice 2 T. active dry yeast 2 t. salt *Variation: Substitute 2-1/2 c. whole wheat flour in the first step. In large mixing bowl, combine 2-1/2 c. flour, sugar and nonfat dry milk. Add cold water, shortening, eggs, lemon peel and lemon juice. Beat 3 minutes. Stir in undissolved yeast and 1 cup flour; beat 2 minutes. Add salt and 1 cup flour; mix 2 minutes. Add enough remaining flour to make a firm dough. Knead 15 minutes by hand or with dough hook. Divide and shape into 24 rolls. Place on greased sheet. Cover with plastic bag or wrap; seal well. Freeze until solid. Remove rolls from sheet; transfer to sealable bag. Use within 2 weeks. When needed, remove rolls from freezer and place on greased baking sheet; cover with plastic bag or wrap. Place in the refrigerator overnight to thaw. Place shallow pan of boiling water on bottom oven rack. Place covered rolls on top oven rack. DO NOT turn oven on. Let rolls rise until double, about 1-1/2 hours. Change boiling water half way through rising. Remove rolls from oven. Preheat oven to 400°F. Uncover rolls; bake 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove from sheets; cool on racks.

Claire, it's so easy it's embarrassing, the first time I made one I was astounded, I was just sure it would stick to the towel and not unroll, or break apart or SOMETHING. Of course it didn't. I will point out, though, that you should roll it up in a smooth linen towel, not a terry cloth one, or you'll have a fuzzy pumpkin roll. Ask me how I know.....sigh. Mindy, I'll post the banana doughnut recipe on a new thread, so it doesn't get "lost". It was actually stepmom's favorite of the two. Annie

Do you freeze them before or after they rise? I sometimes freeze already baked rolls, but they don't taste as good as fresh baked. I want to serve marigene's dinner rolls on July 4th. My family loves them. I'll be working all that week so I'd like to mix, knead and put them in pans a few days early, and just bake them off on the day of the barbeque. Has anyone tried this? At what point during the process should I freeze them? If I let them rise first, will I need to let them thaw before baking? I'm organized enough to make them the same day when I'm doing the dinner. When DH does a BBQ - I try to stay out of his way! Marigene posted this recipe quite a while ago (I usually skip the second rise). They are easy to make and always a big hit! The Spicery Rolls 1 1/2 cups boiling water 1/2 cup margarine (I use butter) 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 cup sugar 1 1/2 cups water (hot but not boiling) 6 ounces evaporated milk 1/4 cup yeast (yes, that is correct...I use Instant yeast) 9 1/8 cups flour In a large bowl, pour boiling water over butter. Add salt and sugar and stir well. When butter is melted, mix in additional water. Stir in evaporated milk. Slowly add flour and yeast. Turn out onto floured board and knead for about 10 minutes. Next grease a large bowl thoroughly, put the dough in it and turn it over so the surface will be greased. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, punching down twice, about an hour. form into dinner-size rolls. Let rise until doubled. Bake 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 36 large rolls.