A Year In Pictures: February 2014

I remade these rolls today with a purpose. I made my favorite chicken salad with grapes, celery and pecans. I wanted to try these rolls again, hoping they would be better this time.

They were.

They really do take one hour. I always think about making bread too late in the day but if you have an hour for rising and baking and maybe 15 minutes of assembling, try these.

1 1/2 cups non fat milk (I had 2% and it worked fine)

3 tablespoons butter cut into chunks

3 tablespoons sugar

4 to 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour, divided

1 tablespoon rapid or quick rise yeast (if you only have 1 packet that's fine)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 egg at room temp (place in a bowl of warm water for 5 mins)

Turn your oven to 200*. When it beeps, turn it off. Boil the kettle and place a pan on the rack below the middle where the rolls will rest and ultimately bake.

Place the butter, milk and sugar in the microwave for about 2 minutes. It should be between 120-130 degrees. I use a yeast thermometer but 2 mins 17 seconds gets it perfect in my microwave.
While the mixture is heating, combine 3 1/2 cups of the flour, yeast and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the milk mixture to the flour and start to beat. Add the egg and continue to beat until it is all combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time. I use 4 1/4 c. total. The dough is sticky and very soft. Place some flour on a cutting board or silicone mat and turn out the dough. Dust the top with flour and lightly pat out a rectangle. Roll each section of dough into a ball. I tried making them small (slider bun size) and I didn't care for them. I would say about the size of between a tennis ball and a lacrosse ball. Place in a 9x13 pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray and put the rolls on the middle rack of the oven. Fill an empty pan with the boiling water and place on the rack beneath the rolls. Quickly close the oven door to create steam. Let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes in the warm oven or until almost doubled in size.
After the dough has doubled, take them out, preheat the oven to 350*. Bake 15-20 minutes until the tops of the rolls are golden brown. Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter (or rub a stick of butter across the tops)