GRANDMAS DINNER ROLLS RECIPES

Steps:

• Place warm water into bowl; stir in yeast and 1/4 teaspoon sugar until dissolved. Let stand 5-10 minutes or until mixture starts to foam around edges.
• Place milk and butter into 1-quart saucepan; cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is almost melted.
• Combine 1/4 cup sugar and salt in bowl. Add warm milk mixture; mix well. Add egg; beat at medium speed until well mixed. Check temperature in bowl. It should be less then 115°F. If it is warmer, let mixture cool slightly. Add yeast mixture; continue beating until well mixed. Add 2 cups flour; beat until mixture is smooth.
• Stir in enough remaining flour with wooden spoon, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough is easy to handle. Let dough rest 5 minutes.
• Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead about 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if dough is sticky. Place into greased bowl; turn greased-side up.
• Cover; let rise in warm place 45-60 minutes or until double in size. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.
• Punch down dough. Divide dough in half. Cut each half into 9 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. Place balls onto large greased baking sheets. Cover with plastic food wrap; let rise 30-45 minutes or until almost double in size.
• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Bake 10-13 minutes or until light golden brown. Brush warm rolls with melted butter, if desired.

Steps:

• In an electric mixer, cream together the butte and sugar until fluffy and combined. About 4 to 5 minutes.
• Add the cup of boiling water to the butter + sugar + salt mixture and watch your fluffy butter mixture melt down. Don’t panic, that’s supposed to happen. Let it sit for about 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, stir yeast into lukewarm water until slightly incorporated. The yeast won’t disappear completely, but will look wet and slightly bubbly. If your yeast doesn't bubble, you either added water that was too hot or your yeast is old. Try it again, because you really do need fresh yeast for this.
• tip! Measure your flour into a separate bowl, using the “scoop and spoon” method. Meaning, scoop your four and “spoon” it into your measuring cup, don’t use your actual measuring cup as vehicle for scooping up your flour. Does that make sense? Really, if you want the most accurate measurements weigh your flour (and all of your ingredients)!
• Add lukewarm water + yeast mixture into slightly cooled butter + water mixture.
• Mix slightly and slowly.
• Add lightly beaten eggs.
• NOTE: You can change your electric mixer fixture to the “dough hook at this point, but the regular “spatula” mixer fixture works great, and is usually the route I take.
• Add salt.
• Add flour, and cold water slowly, a cup at a time, alternating the flour and the cold water. Add the water and flour while the mixture is slowly mixing - about ¼ to ½ a cup at a time.
• Mix until a large dough ball forms - don't over mix it. The dough should just come together. NOTE: If this is too much dough for a little mixer to handle, take the dough out and knead in the rest of the flour in by hand.
• Dough will be slightly sticky. If your mixer can handle this much dough, take the dough ball out and knead it a couple times through (no more than 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until dough comes together and is no longer wet, but just slightly sticky) folding and pressing down on a floured surface.
• FIRST PROOF:Put dough ball into a very large, buttered bowl. If you’re making the rolls for the day-of, cover with a clean cloth or dishtowel and set in a cozy place free from a draft until dough doubles in size (anywhere from 2 to 4 hours). OR if you’d like to make rolls for the next day, this dough works beautifully covered in a buttered, very large, air-tight container left in the refrigerator overnight OR for as long as 2 days.
• SECOND PROOF:Once dough has risen, knead it a few more times (no more than 30 seconds to 1 minute) on a clean floured surface. Dough should appear smooth.
• Preheat oven to 350° F / 180° C. Line 4 to 5 baking sheets with parchment paper or grease your baking sheets directly with softened butter. See note at the beginning of the recipe about soft vs. crispy bottoms.
• Butter your hands with softened butter and form dough balls. You form the balls by almost folding the dough over itself. It’s kind of like kneading each individual little dough ball to form a smooth roll. You turn the dough inside out and inside out about 2-3 times until you get a perfect little ball.
• NOTE: If this ball forming method is too stressful, roll the dough out on a floured surface with a rolling pin, until the dough reaches ¼” in thickness. Brush dough with melted butter and cut with a round cookie cutter and fold in half. Place the rolls on the parchment lined cookie sheets, spacing them 1 to 2 inches apart, keeping in mind that they almost double in size when rising for a second time.
• Allow to rise for at least 2 hours. (3-4 hours seems to be the sweet spot for me).
• Brush risen dough balls with melted butter right before placing them in the oven. This will help them brown.
• Bake at 350° F / 180° C for 10 to 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Brush more melted butter on top with a tiny sprinkle of fine fine sea salt.