Written by Cassandra Folsom, Goathead Homestead (@goatheadhomestead)
Hello! its Cassandra from the Goathead Homestead. Today I would like to share one of my family’s favorite recipes. It’s practically fool-proof and a great way to dive into the world of bread making if you’ve never done it before. These delicious dinner rolls tear apart easily and are great for stuffing honey butter into – you’re bound to love them too!
A note before you begin: I prefer to use a fresh yeast cake for this recipe. At my local grocery store the little foil wrapped yeast cakes can be found tucked near the eggs. The flavor is less yeasty than packet yeast and they have a lovely rise. When preparing your ingredients, be sure to use the correct temperature of water and milk as too hot of liquids can kill off your yeast. If you are new to bread baking, use an instant read thermometer to check.This recipe calls for hand kneading- I have never used my kitchen aid to knead the dough for me. If you try it that way let me know how it works out for you!
Yield- 12-20 dinner rolls depending on size
1 tsp + 1/4 c granulated sugar, divided
1 cake of fresh yeast
1/4 c tepid water (105-110 degrees)
1 c warm milk (110 degrees)
1/4 c melted butter
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp salt
3-4 c all purpose flour
Combine 1 tsp sugar and yeast cake into the tepid water. I like to break up the yeast cake and give it a small stir with a fork. Let sit for 5-10 minutes until the yeast begins to foam.
While waiting for the yeast mixture, thoroughly mix the warm mix, melted butter, sugar, beaten egg, and salt in a large bowl. (#2 in photo) Once the yeast is foamy (see #3 in photo), stir into milk mixture. Tip in 3 cups of flour, add more as needed to make a soft pliable dough. For me, this happens around 3 1/2 c. You are not kneading it yet, just bringing the ingredients together. Turn dough out on to the floured counter and let rest. (see #4)
While the dough rests, wash your bowl. Once washed, fill with hot water and let the bowl warm up for a minute or two. Dump out the water, thoroughly dry, and butter the interior of the bowl.
Return to dough and knead gently, 4-5 minutes, adding flour as needed until smooth and silky. Place ball of dough into the buttered bowl (#5) and cover with plastic wrap or a clean linen towel (#6). Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 60-90 minutes. We keep a cool house in winter, so i use this as an excuse to bake brownies or start my dinner roast and let the bowl sit on the warm cooktop while the oven is on.
While you wait, spray or butter two standard cupcake pans.
Once the dough has risen (#6), pinch off small pieces and form. The pieces I pinch off are smaller than a golf ball but larger than a big
marble. To form the ball, stretch and pinch the dough into a teardrop shape (#7). Depending on the size of balls you make, pla
ce 2-4 b
alls per cupcake hollow making sure the pinched end is pointed down. Repeat until dough is gone. Let rise, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for another 60-90 minutes until double in size and delightfully puffy (#8). After second rise, remove plastic wrap and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Photo #9 shows them about halfway through the baking process. Serve warm with honey butter for maximum happy family dinner feelings. Enjoy!