Sweet Rolls

Yummy, yummy completed (buttered) sweet rolls!

As a small child, the winters that carried my family and I to New Hampshire for the holidays were the best.  Probably the highlight for a little kid from the hot, humid south.  Not only was there SNOW to play in, cape cod style homes tucked away in the beautiful mountains, and all out gorgeous, breathtaking scenery to admire- the meals were to die for!

Thanksgiving always brought a turkey of sorts and the fixings to the table.  Stuffing, cranberries, homemade mashed potatoes, homemade macaroni and cheese, homemade applesauce, sweet corn, greens of some sort (I never ate them, so I don't remember what ones specifically) and Russian Braid Bread.

Christmas and New Years were the ones I really got excited for.  There was the traditional ham or roast with veggies and sides... and "Grammy's Rolls"!!  Which were really my "Great Grammy's Rolls".

The women in my family have been making this recipe for 4 generations now (including me) and it makes an absolutely wonderful final product.  The bread is juuuust sweet enough to not be sickening and it goes well with most any meal.  (But since it's more labor intensive than the modern day person would probably prefer to spend time on making, the rolls are a real treat to have when you can make them.)  They even keep well enough to have for leftovers, what more could you ask for??  Oh... the recipe perhaps?

I've been using my Mom's copy of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook (to shop online for a copy, click here) since I don't have my own as of yet.  (Maybe that will change one birthday?  Ha!)  Hers is a 1979 edition she got for Christmas (same print year) as a gift from her mom, wishing her "many hours of culinary delight".  Let me just say that book has been certainly put to good use!  The binding is worn and dry-rotted and its pages are yellowed and splattered with random recipe ingredients, but it still holds all necessary answers from the Kitchen Gods.  

Momma's copy of 1979 edition

Sweet Rolls

yields 18 rolls; though this particular batch gave me 26 lovely little buggers

3/4 cup warm milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt *my family omits this ingredient*
4 Tablespoons soft butter (half of a stick, I melt it in the microwave for roughly 20 seconds)
2 eggs
1 package dry yeast (I used Fleischmann's Rapid Rise, Highly Active Yeast)
1/4 c warm water (used separately to dissolve the yeast)
2 1/2 cups white flour (you'll actually use much more than that though, so keep your bag or canister handy)

gathered ingredients 

1.  Mix milk, sugar, butter and eggs in a large bowl and let cool until lukewarm.  (This will be your firet mixture.)

firet mixture

2.  Stir the yeast into 1/4 cup warm water (in separate bowl) and let stand for 5 minutes to dissolve.  (shown in previous ingredient photo)

*this is the part where my family has made adjustments to the original recipes' directions, so the remainder is a condensed variation of Fannie Farmer's*

family editors contributions

3.  Add the dissolved yeast to the firet mixture, beat thoroughly; add flour, beating well.  Dust lightly with flour and cover bowl with a clean dish cloth, let rise in a warm place for about an hour.  (Since my kitchen hasn't been too warm lately and I wanted to save on the electricity bill by not preheating the oven yet, I opted for the top of the dryer in the much warmer laundry room- it's been running quite a bit today.)

lightly dusted dough with flour

covered with a clean dish cloth and put to "rest" and rise in a warm location... AKA- the laundry room! ;-)  

Now would be the time when I wash up the dishes I have used so far.  I'm all about being productive and practical.  I'll hand wash any used mixing bowls, measuring cups and utensils.  There's not THAT many, but it sure does save a lot of time later.
I'll also clean the counter top again so that it's ready for part two of this recipe.  Oh hell, I usually go ahead and yank out the cookie sheets and prep them for the rolls too.  (Read ahead a few steps for details.)

Once your dough has risen, at least half in size you are ready to continue.  Bear in mind that there are many different factors that could affect this process.  You could have used fussy yeast, the temperature of the water you dissolved your yeast in wasn't quite accurate, the weather could screw it up, or even if you fart the wrong way- it may not rise.  Don't trip out, it happens.  Just persevere and keep going, you can always try again for perfection another time.

4.  Now, punch down the risen dough while in the bowl, then remove dough from bowl.  It will be messy and a little sticky, but start by removing rings and jewelry and flouring your hands well.  Sprinkle a little flour onto the top of your dough, tilt your bowl of dough to the side and sprinkle flour around the walls of the bowl.  Do this all the way around by spinning the bowl while on its side.  Once coated to your liking, dump out the dough onto your floured surface.  Using your fingers, scrape out the excess dough from the bowl.  (This may take a few minutes and a little patience.)  After I scraped the remaining dough, I tucked the little extra pieces that fell out, inside my ball of dough and before I began kneading.

risen, punch, sprinkle

removing from bowl

 5.  Knead in more flour.  (Ummm, I didn't really measure.  I measured with my eyes and my fingers, basing it's completion on the dough's texture.  But start out with tiny little handfuls until you get the gist of it.  And trust me, you will.)  Blend well, until the dough is firm enough to handle and feels smooth and elastic-y.  (Not too much though, you'll end up with ugly, tough rolls if you do.  And while most bikers are cool, we want to shelter these little ones we are making from that sort.)  

knead it!

6.  Roll dough out on a clean, floured surface to about 1/2 an inch thickness.  (Don't forget to flour your rolling pin!)  

roll out the dough

7.  Here's the fun part... shape the dough into rolls using a floured doughnut cutter or a small drinking glass that is, you guessed it- floured!  (I make a little pile with the excess flour and dip my cutter into the pile between each cut into the dough I make.  Surprisingly enough it's easier to clean up flour than sticky dough on rings, counters, pins, cutters, bowls, etc.)  After the first round of cutting, you'll have excess dough.  Ball it up, knead it once or twice, then roll it out again.  Repeat until you have cut out all of your dough.  (I patted one roll together by hand with the very last tidbits of dough.)

C-c-cut them out!

8.  Cover rolls and let rise on buttered and floured cookie sheets for about an hour.  (When there is about 15 minutes left for them to rise, preheat your oven to 400*F.)

buttered & lightly floured sheets, again- the clean up is magnificent!

lay those bad boys out on your cookie sheets!  (before they rose) 

twice risen rolls, ready for the oven 

9.  Once they have risen once again, to double their size, bake your twice risen rolls for 15-20 minutes, or until golden in your nicely preheated oven.  Butter the tops of them... for aesthetics and taste!  (You can use the other half of the stick of butter you needed from the ingredients list.  Just peel back the paper and paint the tops.  :) )

fresh out of the oven, buttering the tops, and completed rolls

To preserve your leftover rolls, place in a Ziploc bag or other seal-able airtight container.  When you're ready to sink your teeth in them again, simply wrap them in a napkin and pop them in the microwave for about 10 seconds.  I hope your journey making these is as fun and successful as mine is.  Feel free to share your experience, I'd be interested in hearing how it went. 

Extra, extra!

I don't know if it's well known or not, but this is a trick I have acquired and adopted to prevent multiple trips to the trashcan while I'm cooking and thought I'd share.
I can't stand having to stop and clean up spills (from carrying eggs shells for example) across the room to the trashcan.  I could move the can I suppose, but I like attaching a plastic grocery bag to the drawers because it makes for an even easier, cleaner clean-up.  :)  

Until next time,
-FAV