Make Your Thanksgiving Dinner Rolls Today and Other Interesting Tidbits

Thanksgiving is nearly upon us! I thought it might be fun to spend a last few days before the holiday to talk about bread. For some reason, homemade bread really impresses the masses. Making yeast bread isn't hard and if you have a few tricks up your sleeve it doesn't take much time either.

Let's start today off with a simple, tasty, no-fuss dinner roll, shall we?

Basic Dinner Rolls

3 Cups warm water
1 Tablespoon yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar or honey
7 cups flour

Mix water, sugar (I usually use honey), yeast and salt in a bowl. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, or until the yeast is bubbly.

Beat in 3 cups of the flour and then add flour, 1 cup at a time, until the dough is manageable. You want it to be soft and liable, but not goopy and sticking to your hands. Turn it out onto a floured counter and knead for 10 minutes. You can also let your mixer do this for you. When it the dough ball will make a nice, smooth ball of dough, you're done. It should look something like this:

lace your dough in a greased bowl and cover with a clean towel. Place it in a draft-free spot and let it rise until double, about an hour. I usually put my dough in the oven (with it turned off) with a pan of really hot water underneath. Setting it near a fireplace will also work.

When the dough is doubled in bulk, gently punch it down and turn it out onto the counter.

Now you can just shape your dinner rolls, put them into a greased pan and let them rise until double again (about an hour). Bake the rolls at 350 degrees for bout 25 minutes, or until golden brown and sound hollow when tapped with your finger.

Now you have a couple options:

• You can shape, raise and bake your rolls right now.
• You can shape, cover and refrigerate your rolls and bake them in 8 hours. (Handy for making the night before and baking the next day)
• You can shape and freeze your rolls to be baked later. When you're ready to bake, bring your dough out of the freezer and let it defrost in the fridge. When it has defrosted, let it sit on the counter and double in bulk. This is the homemade version of Rhodes Dough that you can buy in the freezer section of the grocery store.
• You can shape, rise, bake and freeze your rolls. Bake them until they are done, but not browned yet. These are the homemade version of brown-and-serve rolls you would buy in the grocery store.

Instead of adding dinner roll making to your Thanksgiving day hustle and bustle, make them in the next couple days and freeze them so they are ready and waiting for you.

This recipe makes about 2 dozen good sized dinner rolls. You could make some today for your Thanksgiving meal and still have some leftover for later in the month. Or for leftover sandwiches the next day, whatever floats your boat ;)