Dinner Rolls

With Thanksgiving only a few days away I thought it appropriate to share my all time favorite dinner roll recipe. I have always been known to just buy my rolls because I am just not a good baker, but I finally came across an amazing recipe that even I haven't been able to mess up! These rolls are pure heaven and I can say that with a lot of confidence because even my husband who doesn't care for much bready stuff LOVES these rolls.
This recipe makes 24 rolls, so keep that in mind when making them. The nice thing is, if you make a full batch for one meal, you can stick the leftover rolls in the freezer for another time. Rolls freeze so amazingly well!


2 c. whole milk (this is absolutely necessary)
½ cup + 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
1/3 cup  butter
2 tsp kosher salt
2 packages active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp.),
2/3 cup warm (105-115-degree) water
8–9 cups all-purpose flour
3 beaten eggs

1. Start by combining the milk, 1/2 cup sugar, butter and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat mixture over medium heat until the butter has fully melted, then remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. (I place mine in a sink with cold ice water in it to help bring the temperature down faster).

2. Meanwhile, combine the warm water, 1 TBSP sugar, and yeast and allow to stand for 10 minutes. This step is very important. Make sure after the 10 minutes that the yeast has bubbled up. If it has not, you will need to repeat this step. Some things that may have gone wrong are that the water was to warm and killed the yeast, or the yeast is old and not suitable for using.

3. Using a stand mixer with a large bowl, combine 3 cups of flour and the milk mixture. Beat these together on low speed for 30 seconds making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. Then, add the yeast mixture and beat on high speed for 3 minutes.

4. At this point you will add in your BEATEN eggs.

5. When eggs have been fully incorporated stir in as much of the remaining flour as needed to make the dough nice and soft. (Depending on your location and the weather and any other fickle reason, there is not an exact measurement for the flour because everyone will need different amounts. The dough will be very soft and coming away from the sides of the bowl, but if you were to stick your finger into the dough, it will stick to your finger. This is your perfect consistency. I hope that makes sense. If the dough does not stick to your finger, then you have added to much flour and your rolls will turn out much more dense. It is very important to add the flour in small amounts and keep checking it!

6. When dough has reached the right consistency, cover the bowl with a clean towel and place somewhere warm for 1 hour. I like to turn my oven light on and place it in the oven with the door closed. This always seems to let off the perfect amount of heat to proof the dough wonderfully.

7. Lightly grease 2 9x13 glass baking dishes and lightly flour your work surface.

8. When the dough has doubled, punch it down and take the dough and divide it equally in half. Take one of your halves and cut into 12 equal pieces. The dough should feel almost like playdough and be very easy to work with. It should not be sticky. Shape each piece into a ball and place into greased baking dish. Repeat this process with the other half of the dough
*There are many techniques out there that help you make beautiful smooth ball shapes, so use your favorite method.

9. Cover dough balls with a clean cloth and again allow to rise in a warm place for another 30 minutes.

10. Bake rolls in oven set to 375°F for 15-18 minutes or until nice and golden-brown. My father in law likes them a little bit more crispy so I like to leave one pan in more around 20 minutes so that they get a little more well done on the bottom.

11. When rolls have been removed from the oven take a stick of butter and rub it all over the tops of the rolls. ENJOY!

**Randi's Side Notes**
~ For the milk, you really do need to use whole milk because the fat in this milk is what helps make these rolls lighter, which makes no sense at all BUT I promise it does make a big difference in the way your rolls will turn out.
~ Something I like to do with this dough is instead of using the whole batch to just make rolls, is I like to use the second half to make cinnamon rolls! This way you have rolls for dinner and you already have breakfast ready for the next day! WIN!

This recipe is from Our Best Bites. I highly encourage you to stop on over to their site because they have step by step pictures for parts that may seem a bit confusing.