I've been making these rolls for about 10 years now - my family loves them.

Becky

* Exported from MasterCook *

Cindy's Dinner Rolls - ABM

Recipe By :
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Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup shortening or butter -- melted
1 egg
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons butter -- melted

Put all ingredients except 2 tablespoons butter into bread machine and set for dough cycle. Check dough after a few minutes; you may need to add a little more liquid (milk or water) to make a smooth (slightly sticky) dough.
When finished with dough cycle, punch dough down and let stand 10 minutes. Lightly grease 9x13 glass baking pan. Pull off 12-18 "plops" or balls of dough, and place in pan. The dough is sticky, so don't try to roll smooth balls. The rolls will smooth out when they rise and bake. Let rise in warm place, about 30-40 minutes or until doubled in size.
Drizzle melted butter over top of rolls. You may use more butter if you like (up to 4 tablespoons). Bake in 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, until golden.

Source:
"Fannie Flagg, Nancy & Cindy"

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Teresa, my favorite is San's Honey Rolls, and here's the recipe. Even if it doesn't say it needs to be kneaded, I put it all in the bread machine. Liquids first, then solids, yeast on top.

Sol's Honey Rolls

1 Cup milk
1/2 Cup honey
1/2 Cup butter [1 stick]
2 Tsp salt
1 -2 tablespoons granulated sugar*
2 pkges. dry yeast
1/2 Cup warm water [110º-115ºF]
2 large eggs lightly beaten
6- 6 1/2 cups All Purpose flour

Heat the milk, add butter and salt. Set aside while butter melts. Stir in the honey.

In another bowl, combine the warm water, yeast and sugar. Let it sit until yeast is completely dissolved, about 6-7 minutes.

Combine milk mixture with yeast mixture. And stir in the beaten eggs.

Beat in 4 cups flour. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft, but not sticky dough.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning to coat both sides. Cover and allow dough to rise 1 hour. Punch dough down, and allow to rise another hour.

Punch down again, and shape dough into rolls. Let it rise again 45 minutes to an hour or until doubled in volume. Preheat your oven to 375F and bake rolls for 25 minutes or until a deep golden brown. For a very soft crust, brush rolls with melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven.

Note: You could omit the sugar from this recipe altogether. I sometimes use about a teaspoon of the honey called for in the recipe to feed the yeast instead of the sugar.

As an alternative, I like these and I do them in the bread machine too:

Butternut Squash Rolls

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1 cup warm milk (110° to 115°)
1/4 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
3 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup mashed cooked butternut squash
5 to 5-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in milk and water. Add the butter, salt, sugar, squash and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Form into rolls; place in two greased 10-in.cast-iron skillets or 9-in. round baking pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield: 2 dozen.

If you'd rather have whole wheat rolls, I like this recipe with lots of honey:

-HONEY WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

· 3-1/2 to 4 cups all purpose flour
· 2-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
· 2 pkg. active dry yeast
· 2 tsp. salt
· 1 cup milk
· 1 cup water
· 1/2 cup honey
· 3 Tbsp. oil
· 1 egg
In large bowl, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, the yeast, and salt and mix well.
In saucepan, heat milk, water, honey, and oil until a thermometer reads 120-130 degrees F (warm)
Add liquid mixture to flour mixture and stir to combine. Beat this batter for 3 minutes. Then, gradually stir in rest of whole wheat flour and enough remaining all-purpose four to form a firm dough.

Sprinkle work surface with flour and knead dough, adding more flour if necessary, for 5-8 minutes until smooth and satiny. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning the dough in the bowl to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, until double in bulk.
Punch down dough and divide into 2 pieces. On lightly floured surface, roll or press each piece of dough to a 14x7" rectangle. Starting with shorter side, roll up tightly, pressing dough into roll with each turn. Pinch edges and ends to seal and place dough, seam-side down, into greased 9x5" bread pans, making sure short ends of bread are snugly fitted against the sides of the pans. Cover and let rise in warm place until the dough fills the corners of the pans and is double in bulk, 30-40 minutes.
Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes, until bread is golden brown. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks. I like to brush the bread with butter when it's still hot from the oven for a softer crust.

Annie

Annie - did you make all of the varieties for the wedding? Or just the honey ones.

Teresa, I made white and I made wheat. 25 dozen total. They all freeze well, though.

Annie

Wow - 25 dozen........ just an afternoon's work for "Woman with 100 Irons in the Fire." :-)

Here is a real easy recipe that I have been making since the '70's. If you make it a day ahead; no kneading is required and it makes a bunch!

Overnight Refrigerator Rolls (from noon cooking show)

2 pkgs yeast
2-1/2 cups warm water (105-115°)
3/4 cup soft shortening ( I use butter)
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs beaten
8-8-1/2 cups flour (I often use bread flour)
2-1/2 teaspoons salt (can cut back some if you use butter)

Add yeast to water;mix; add rest of ingredients (down to flour) and 4 cups flour. Beat one minute with mixer or spoon until smooth. Add rest of flour. Mix flour into batter (you can even use your hands, just get it all incorporated.) cover large bowl with greased wax paper and then seal it well with plastic wrap. (I have a 32 cup Rubbermaid bowl with a snap lid that I use).
You can keep it up to 5 days in the fridge.

Next day let it warm up some. Then pinch off the dough to make rolls. Place them in a buttered pan and let raise until doubled as usual and bake.

This can be used for sweet rolls or doughnuts.

Bake rolls at 400° for about 20 minutes until nicely browned.

I've been practicing making rolls from recipes here so that we can serve homemade ones this Thanksgiving.

Can someone tell me if it's okay to put my ingredients through the "dough" process in my breadmaker and then put the dough in the fridge for a couple hours before taking it out to rise & bake off?

gldn01's recipe above seems made for that. But can you do it with other recipes, like Sol's Honey Rolls?

I can get up & get the dough going in the morning, but I'm not around through early afternoons and want the rolls to be fresh out of the oven at dinnertime.

Any hints/tips on timing will help, especially for Thanksgiving!

amck -

I make home-baked dinner rolls all the time and could make them in my sleep, if necessary, but my personal preference is to make dinner rolls ahead of time and wrap them in heavy-duty foil (I often freeze them) and reheat them for large dinners like Thanksgiving or Christmas. It's just one more thing I don't need to worry about on an already busy day, and there's not much difference in the taste or texture of the rolls. They can be reheated at almost any moderate temperature if you have something else in the oven at the time.

Here are a couple personal experiences why I pre-make rolls...

One year we were invited to hubby's sisters home for Christmas at noon, and another sisters (same family) that evening, and they lived about an hour apart and 3-1/2 hours from us. After a 3-1/2 hour drive, we arrived at 11:30 and the first sister hadn't started her dinner rolls yet and INSISTED on having fresh-baked dinner rolls and the whole meal was delayed. While I got busy making the rolls for her, she did other things.

We had to leave before the meal was ready to eat in order to make it to the other sisters home. We stopped at a convenience store for something to eat.

The rest of the sorry story is when we got to the other sisters home she was coming down with "something", so we dropped off their gifts and headed the 3-1/2 hours back home even though we were supposed to stay the night, and another stop at a convenience store for Christmas Dinner!

Another Christmas another SIL (same family as above) put commercial frozen dough balls to rise for dinner rolls before going to Midnight Mass. The next MORNING she baked the completely over-proofed rolls. When hubby and I delivered fresh homemade English Muffins we made that morning to their home for their Christmas breakfast, along with homemade jam and other goodies, she showed me the sorry rolls and asked what was wrong with them.

Hubby took one look at them and laughed (men can get away with that with their sisters). He told her they were over-proofed and would taste horrible, which they did, she said. We went back home and I made dinner rolls for her before we had to go to our friends for lunch.

So save yourself by making them ahead of time, or have some Poppin' Fresh Crescent Rolls as an emergency back-up should something go wrong....

-Grainlady

Grainlady - Your cautionary tale makes a good argument for baking the rolls ahead for Thanksgiving.

But (for regular dinner days) I am still curious to know if I can take the dough from my bread machine at, say 11am, put it in the fridge till 4:30pm(ish) then take it out to let it rise to bake off for dinner around 6:00pm.

I know that's the concept behind the 5 min. Artisan Bread that you keep in a holding bin in the fridge. I'm wondering if it can work for other bread doughs.

amck -

Because dough doesn't rise to a clock, rather according to the ambient temperature, moisture and the strength of the yeast, you could find the whole process a bit tricky when it comes to exact timing. However, some options you may want to try:

1. Refrigerating Dough -
Most bread machine recipes will work, or use a refrigerator-specific dough like Betty Crocker's Potato Refrigerator Dough, which is similar to the recipe gldno1 posted above, but both have more flour in them than what you should use in most bread machines. Or try the "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" recipes (check your local library for the book). These recipes are designed to keep VERY well in the refrigerator.

A. Use the DOUGH cycle on your machine. After the dough has completed the kneading, stop your machine (hold the Stop/Clear button down to clear the program - never just unplug the bread machine in order to stop the cycle -- this will keep your computer chip in good working order). You do NOT want the machine to complete the cycle (the rise), just finish the kneading.

Remove the dough and place it in a container that has enough space for the dough to expand and can also be tightly covered. I'd suggest a really large zip-lock bag (press out as much air as possible), or dough rising bucket (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/dough-rising-bucket), instead of a bowl (spray the inside of the bag with Pam if you'd like to help keep it from sticking).

Oil your hands to handle the dough and pat it into a "disk" about 1-inch thick. In the disk shape the dough chills at an even rate. A ball of dough takes longer to chill completely to the inside. It's VERY important for the dough to be tightly covered so it doesn't dry out during retarding (refrigerating).

The dough will continue to rise even in the refrigerator. Check it after an hour or so. You'll have to punch it down to remove all the gas bubbles. Punch it down again a couple hours later. Once the dough is completely cooled, it only needs to be punched down every 24-hours.

You can keep most enriched dough recipes in the refrigerator for 3-days. They keep best if they have mashed potato in the recipe. According to Lloyd M. Moxon (a microbiologist who specializes in yeast biochemistry and author of "The Baking Book"), mashed potatoes - or any pureed vegetable - is vital for refrigerator doughs because it preserves moisture in the dry climate of a refrigerator.

If you don't punch down the dough in the first few hours it may develop a sour taste and unpleasant odor.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and shape it when it's cold, right out of the refrigerator.

REMEMBER, it takes longer for cold dough to rise, so don't time the rise, check it for "double".

B. You can also refrigerate dough after it's been shaped.

To use the shape-then-refrigerate method, remove the dough from the bread machine and shape it into whatever you're planning to make. Place the bread in or on the appropriate baking pan. Coat some plastic wrap with cooking spray and use it to cover the unbaked item. Place the dough in the freezer for approximately 10-15 minutes, for a QUICK chill. This hinders the yeast development so that you don't need to punch the dough down. Then move the dough to the refrigerator. You can keep the shaped dough refrigerated for up to 24 hours. To bake the dough, remove it from the refrigerator and loosen the plastic wrap, but keep it on loosely while it rises. Allow to double in bulk then bake as usual.

2. Par-Bake (homemade brown-and-serve rolls)- You can also partially bake your dinner rolls and freeze them. Remove them from the freezer and finish baking them. If you need more information, I'll have to do more research through my books. I think I have some specific recipes for these someplace.....

-Grainlady

Grainlady, thanks so much for taking the time to answer my question. I'm a relative novice bread baker. More often than not I do a version of the NY Times No Knead Bread. I was leaving my comfort zone with my quest to make homemade rolls for Thanksgiving. You've offered useful information in a way that I can understand.

I'm hoping this helps others who are trying rolls for Thanksgiving - Didn't intend to hijack the thread.

amck - I do not mind you hijacking the thread. It's still on topic. I'm a bit of a novice myself when it comes to bread making. I have enjoyed the discussion and bits of info from Grainlady!

Teresa

Grainlady is such a wealth of information on so many topics... I really enjoy her contributions and her style.

Here's another dinner roll question -

I tried a recipe yesterday that instructed to stretch the dough into a rope, cut into 12 pieces, roll them into a ball and place in a muffin tin to rise (last rise)& bake.

They came out well, but I preferred the outside texture of ones I baked earlier in the week (from another recipe) that were formed into balls and baked on a straight baking sheet.

Do you think most dinner roll recipes can be baked (& turn out well) on a baking sheet, instead of in a muffin pan?

amck, I think most rolls will turn out well on a baking sheet, especially if you want all all-around crust. The muffin pan is nice if you want them to be that shape. I have a cast iron muffin pan that I use a lot which I like very much, but I don't think it really matters.

Grainlady, I would love more detailed information on home-made Brown and Serve rolls, and what to do to accomplish this. I've had too many dinners delayed waiting on the rolls, and would love to try to end that cycle once and for all!

claire_de_luna -

Brown-and-Serve Dinner Rolls

Make rolls per usual. Bake at 375-degree F for 10-12 minutes, the rolls will be "done" (set), but NOT brown. Allow to cool completely. Place on a baking sheet and quick-freeze for about 2-hours. Place frozen rolls in a plastic container in a single layer. Use within 4-weeks.

To bake: Place on a baking sheet and bake in a pre-heated 375-degree F oven for 20-minutes, or until golden brown.
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The link below is for Brown-and-Serve Rolls via a bread machine I found doing a search. The rolls are baked for 5-minutes at 400-degrees F and reheated in a 400-degrees F for 6-7 minutes.

Either method should work equally well.

ENJOY!

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Brown-and-Serve Rolls - ABM

Thank You Grainlady! I'm definitely going to try this method, and will let you know how it turned out.

CdL, There you go again--asking questions for me, thanks!

And thanks for the tip Grainlady!

I confess that yeast breads are a bit of a challenge for me.....so, for Thanksgiving I make and bring pumpkin & raisin muffins...they're slightly sweet because you sprinkle a tiny bit of sugar over the top before you bake the muffins, and they're full of pumpkin spices. They're delicious either hot out of the oven, or served at room temp if you have to use your oven for other last minute cooking. And they're quite moist. They can be happily consumed with, or without, butter.

If anyone would like the recipe, I'll be glad to dig it out and type it up. The recipe book is on a different floor from the computer, so I can't do that right now. I'll be digging it out the next few days anyway because I'm bringing them to Thanksgiving dinner. Just let me know.

I don't make rolls very often, usually preferring to make my bread in loaves, or make biscuits or corn bread. But, when I do want rolls for some reason, I often make Challah rolls, just using any Challah recipe and forming the dough into rolls (reducing baking time, of course.)

Another recipe I do have on hand, and enjoy very much is originally from, "The Fannie Farmer Baking Book," but which I have altered...sigh, as usual...never met a recipe I didn't want to mess with...These rolls are tender, light, and have a very light sweetness that makes them very agreeable with any meal, complimenting but not competing with the other dishes. Another plus is that there is no kneading!

Original recipe:

Sweet Potato Rolls

1 1/2 c warm water
1 pkg dry yeast
2 T instant nonfat dry milk
2 T sugar
1 1/2 t salt
1 egg
1/2 c mashed, cooked, sweet potato
5 T vegetable shortening
3 c all-purpose flour

Stir the water and yeast together in a large mixing bowl and let dissolve for a couple of minutes. Add the dry milk, sugar, salt, and egg, and beat well. Add the sweet potato, shortening, and 1/1/2 c of the flour and beat vigorously until well mixed. Stir in the remaining flour and beat until the dough collects around the spoon and comes away from the sides of the bowl. Cover and let the dough rise until double in bulk.

Grease some baking sheets. Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide it into four equal parts, then cut each part into six equal pieces. In your slightly cupped, floured hands, shape each piece of dough into a smooth, plump ball by rolling it between your palms and gently easing the edges under. Place about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet, cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from the sheet and cool on racks.

MY notes:

I prefer using yam to sweet potato. Not only is the flavor richer, but the light touch of orange it gives the rolls is appealing. I roast the yam, which gives it a more intense flavor than boiling. I use buttermilk powder instead of nonfat dry milk powder, for a bit of a tang. Though the recipe calls for only 3 cups of flour, I have always had to use more as the dough has always turned out to be seriously sticky rather than "soft"...this may be caused by the substitution of yam for sweet potato, sweet potatoes being a bit drier than yams. What you want is quite a soft dough, but one that does gather round the spoon and pull away from the bowl. If needed, add another half a cup or more of flour, a little at a time until you get the dough to behave like dough instead of cake batter.

When forming the rolls, rather than rolling the piece of dough around in my hand, I find that I get a nicer, more uniform surface by finding the uncut side of the dough lump and sort of easing it through a ring made with my thumb and forefinger, stretching the "skin" of the dough gently to cover the cut sides and pinch-twisting it together at what will be the bottom of the roll. If you need to, dust your hands with flour periodically. Dusting the plastic wrap with flour before covering the rolls helps preserve the attractive, smooth shape.

Beth, I would love your recipe as I am a fiend for muffins. I'm sure my husband would appreciate it too. ;)

All I can say is that having had Annies white and wheat rolls at her dughters wedding is that they were fantastic. If I baked, I would make those again.

(Don't tell Annie, but I flitch a couple to take back to the hotel. Amazing what falls in our oversized purses)

So good they were worth stealing?

I have much practice work to do this weekend. Someone else sent me a recipe for butterflake rolls that sound delish.

This having a full time job again is really cutting into my fun time:-(

Yeah...it's that old dilemma, Teresa... either have the time for fun or the money for fun, why can't we have both???? :D

LOL, Peppi, you know I've given you permission to take any darned thing I own, even dinner rolls. I thought you might have appropriated one for Dylan, then I remembered he wasn't supposed to have wheat.

BTW, Elery says your Dad is a delight, and you can both stay at his place any time you come to Michigan!

Annie

Here's my recipe for Stouffer's Pumpkin Muffins, which decades ago were favorites from the Stouffer Restaurant chain (which I don't think exists any more). This recipe is from the American Family Cookbook, published in the early 1970s.

Stouffer's Pumpkin Muffins - 1 doz muffins

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup raisins (I always use the dark raisins)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 Tbs. sugar

Sift the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking ppowder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Cut in butter until particles are the size of rice kernels. Mix in raisins and set aside.

Blend egg, milk, and pumpkin. Add to dry ingredients and lightly stir until dry ingredients are barely moistened (batter will be lumpy).

Spoon into greased muffin pan, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp sugar over each.

Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

Has anyone ever made pretzel rolls? We have them at a club we belong to and they are the most asked for roll in the bread basket!

Epicurious has a recipe, but I wonder if I could just take Alton Browns pretzel recipe and make rolls instead of pretzels with it???

Stir fryi, my favorite dive bar, Schuberg's, has a layered beef sandwich on a pretzel roll, it's very good.

The roll tastes kind of like a pretzel, but it's soft. I may have to experiment after the holidays.

Annie

Stir fryi, I have made pretzel rolls with Alton's recipe and they turned out very well. My rolls turned out soft and made delicious sandwich buns.

These are my favorite! Posted by margiene about 2 1/2 years ago. Makes a bunch and they're just as good with half whole wheat flour.

Deanna

I make about 75 Amish Dinner Rolls every year to take to a huge Thanksgiving dinner. Photos can been seen and a repeat of this recipe here: http://community.livejournal.com/bakebakebake/1573919.html

I use 2tsps. of regular table salt in this recipe instead of the 1-1/2 tsp. that recipe calls for. I'm thinking this recipe uses salted butter, and if that's the case don't add more. I use unsalted. I've tried it both ways and 1/2 more salt is better. (rule of thumb is 1/2 tsp. per cup of flour for bread)
I start out in the Kitchenaid and finish on counter...it get's too sticky in Kitchenaid and easier to finish by hand adding more flour It will still be sticky dough though.
I make double batches.
I weigh the dough and divide by 15 then weigh each roll. (They touch and pull apart when done)
I let the dough rise for about an hour, covered with buttered or Pam sprayed Saran wrap and refrigerate overnight to rise the rest of the way. (butter the bowl first, flip the dough butter side up, etc. to keep from drying)
After about 4 hours in fridge or when the dough has finished doubling, I gently secure the wrap to sit on the dough to prevent drying out.

Note: If I were using a bread machine I would remove the dough as soon as it's done kneading and place in buttered bowl to rise ( for an hour if going into fridge to rise the rest of the way)

Refrigerating the dough adds flavor and also makes them easier to shape because they are sticky.
Next day I shape them. Dip your hand in flour and shake off excess to form rolls.
Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment, and let them freeze solid, (covered with sprayed Saran Wrap), then put them in a gallon freezer bag.
Thanksgiving day I take them out of the freezer about 5 or 6 hours before dinner. Depending on room temp, they will take 4 to 5 hours to thaw and do a second rise. Place frozen rolls in appropriate pan, brush with melted butter, cover with Saran wrap to rise. (No need to spray the wrap with buttered rolls)
Make sure and remove them from pan after baking or they will get soggy on bottom. I try to take the whole connected batch out and let them cool whole on a rack. They won't dry out that way....

I'm always stuck bringing the rolls now. They inhale them!

Oh, I cook the potatoes in the microwave covered with a cup of water, then I use the potato water for the recipe. I run them through a ricer. I just use Idaho.
I use a 9 by 13 inch baking pan (buttered) because I like the sides to stick together and not form a crust.

They are like Grandma used to make looking just like the photo on the link above.
I hope someone enjoys! :)
Here's the recipe:

Theme Post: Amish Dinner Rolls
These dinner rolls literally melt in your mouth. The secret is the mashed potatoes, which add starch, but don't make them the least bit dry.

2 eggs
1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter
1 cup (7 1/4 ounces) unseasoned mashed potatoes, lightly packed*
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
3/4 cup water (potato water, if possible)
4 1/4 cups (18 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

*1 medium-to-large baking potato will yield 8 ounces of mashed potato.

Manual/Mixer Method: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients, and mix until the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased or floured surface, and knead it for 6 to 8 minutes, or until it's smooth and shiny. Or knead it in a mixer, using the dough hook. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl or rising bucket, turn to coat, cover the container with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise till it's doubled in bulk, about 90 minutes.

Bread Machine Method: Place all the ingredients into the pan of your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer (usually, liquids first, yeast last). Program the machine for dough or manual, and press Start. Check the dough about 10 minutes before the end of the final kneading cycle and adjust its consistency as necessary by adding additional water or flour to form a soft, smooth ball. Allow the machine to complete its cycle, then allow the dough to remain in the machine till it's doubled in bulk, perhaps an additional 30 minutes or so.

Shaping: To make stand-alone rolls, divide the dough into 16 equal pieces. If you want to make soft-sided, pull-apart rolls, divide the dough into 15 pieces. This isn't as challenging as it sounds: first, divide the dough into three equal pieces (about 375g, 14 ounces, each). Pinch off one piece, about the size of a racquetball or handball (75g, 2 3/4 ounces), off each of the three pieces, setting the pinched-off pieces aside; then simply divide what's left of the three pieces into four pieces each. Presto! Fifteen balls of dough. Gently roll the dough balls under your cupped fingers till they're nice and round.

Place the 16 dough balls onto a parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheet or sheets, leaving about 2 inches between them. Or place the 15 dough balls into a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch pan, spacing them evenly in five rolls of three balls each. Cover the pan(s) with a proof cover or lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the rolls to rise for about 2 hours, till they're quite puffy; the rolls in the 9 x 13-inch pan should be touching (or almost touching) one another.

Baking: Bake the rolls in a preheated 350 deg F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, till they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven, carefully turn them out of the pan -- the pull-apart rolls will come out all in one piece -- and brush them with melted butter, if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I have a question about the Cindy's Dinner Rolls. Do you let the dough do a rise after it's mixed or just get it out of the machine, shape and let rise?

Thanks for the help.

Pam

Hi Pam. Quite a few roll recipe call for just shaping and rising, then baking. That recipe has enough yeast in it and the directions do say to just take it from the machine, make the balls as best you can with the soft, sticky dough, let rise and bake. Sounds fine to me.

Thank you coconut. I thought that is what was meant, but with the "punch down the dough" part wanted to make sure.

Darn, I made a double batch of Buttery Dinner Rolls, tested one and it is...tasteless. I selected this recipe because of the long list of ingredients.

I'm thinking of sprinkling a little salt on the dough before forming and baking them.

Well I made the pretzel rolls that are on epicurious.com. They were a lot of work but a huge hit -- no one wanted the "normal" dinner rolls!

becky, thank you for posting Cindy's dinner rolls, they were so easy and good. They were such a hit I had to do another batch today to go with the leftovers.

Now I'm looking for a good whole wheat roll recipe. Does anyone have one?

Pam