Golden Dinner Rolls

What Thanksgiving meal would be complete without the tender, soft, yeast dinner roll? Not mine! So here is the roll for you. It is tasty, simple and oh-so-satisfying.

As always I have to give credit where it is due, and I got this recipe off of Chickens in the Road. This is my standard recipe for bread now. I make loaves for lunches, rolls for dinner, sweet breads, savory cheese breads all with this same very versatile recipe. And, to make it even better, it only takes water, yeast, sugar and salt. 4 ingredients, how nice is that??

Grandmother Bread

3 cups warm water

1 Tablespoon yeast (or 1 packet)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

7 cups flour

Yeast breads have a basic standard process. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the sugar and let it sit until it's bubbly (about 5 minutes). Add the salt and some of the flour, beat. Add the rest of the flour, 1 cup at a time until it makes a ball that shouldn't be sticky to the touch anymore. Turn it out, knead it for 10 minutes (or let your KitchenAid do it!). Place in a greased bowl, cover with a towel and let it sit until it doubles, about an hour. Once it has doubled, take it out of the bowl, shape it into loaves or rolls and cover those for about another hour. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes. This recipe makes 2 loaves of bread, 24 rolls or 1 loaf and 1 dozen rolls.

A couple notes about bread making-

1) the amount of flour is always approximate. In the summer it may take less, in the winter it may take more. You shouldn't worry too much about it. You just need your dough to be able to be handled without it sticking to your hands.

2) As long as you know your yeast is fresh, and it bubbled up when you dissolved it in the water, you shouldn't worry about how long it takes to raise either. Sometimes, in the winter, when our old house is pretty cool in the kitchen it can take 1 1/2 hours to get the job done. You mostly need to worry about it doubling in size (or close to double)

3) If you have never made yeast dough: It is easy. Once you make it you will see how easy it is and wonder why you haven't done it before! 

Suzanne has a whole Grandmother Bread Recipe Page with a TON of great bread recipes. If you have some time, you should go check it out! :)