Rolls Can Come In So Many Shapes!

Since we talked about making your dinner rolls in advance last time, I wanted to share some of the very easy shapes you can make your dough into. These are 4 of my most favorite ways to take an ordinary dinner roll and turn it into something different and special.

#1~ The Cloverleaf Roll

Take the amount of dough that you would use for 1 dinner roll and roll it into 3 evenly-sized balls:

Place them together so that they make a clover shape:

And pop them into a muffin tin:

Let it rise normally and bake like usual.

#2~ Easy Cloverleaf Rolls

Roll your dough into roll shaped balls, put it into a muffin tin and cut across one side to make a slice in the top:

Then cut the other way so that you end up with 4 pieces sticking up. Flatten them down slightly and you should have something that looks like this:

Let rise and bake as usual.

#3~ Bowknot Rolls

Pull off as much dough as you would for 1 roll, and roll into a long (6-8 inch) snake. Think play dough snakes lol. Simply tie it into a knot and place it on a greased cookie sheet:

(Sorry for the blurry picture, I had dough and flour all over my hands and didn't want to get my camera filthy)

Let rise and bake!

#4~ Mock Croissants

Roll out your bread dough into a circle and cut into an even amount of pieces:

Roll them up, starting from the largest side and rolling towards the point:

And then....well, you know. Same drill. Rise and bake.

A couple things about these rolls~ they aren't any special recipe. They can be made with homemade dough or store-bought dough. I just think that it kind be fin and kind of special to have your roll take on a different shape from the standard dome top.

Also, this is a great time to get your kids in the kitchen with you. Clean little hands can roll the balls out for traditional cloverleaf rolls, older kids can make bowknots and mock croissants with ease. Since you'll be making them in advance (because you ARE making them in advance right?), you can take a little more time and let the littles have a hand in the meal too. Fun will be had by all!

Tomorrow: How to perk up your rolls with flavorful additions and toppings :)