Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Coveted "Brenda's Rolls" Recipe

A yummy roll recipe that has yet to be topped (in my personal tasting experiences... and a few others, or so they say) and it comes from my fabulous Mother-in-Law, Brenda. It takes about 3 hours of time, but 2 of those hours are rising periods. Not as much work as it sounds. :) And this comes from someone who is NOT a baker!

Ingredients:
4 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)

1 cup powdered milk (dry milk works too)

1 cup of sugar
10-12 cups flour

2 tablespoons of instant yeast

1/2 cup of oil

5 teaspoons of salt

4 eggs, well beaten
1 stick of butter (for greasing counter and spreading on dough)

Directions: (I use my kitchen aid and it works great!)
Beat water, milk, sugar, and eggs. Mix yeast in 5 cups of flour in a separate bowl. Add both mixtures together and mix for 5-10 minutes. Turn off mixer and let rise for 15 minutes (in the mixing bowl, beater still attached is fine). Add oil and salt and slowly add more flour and beat for 5-10 minutes. Turn dough out on a floured counter and knead until the right consistency (for me, this is when the dough is still really soft, but not sticking to the counter or my hands anymore). Put into a big buttered bowl with a cloth over it. Let rise to double the size, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down and take a stick of melted butter and butter the counter. Divide dough into quarters so there are 4 equal sections. Roll each section into a circle, put melted butter on the dough just to cover the surface and then cut into 12 triangluar pieces like a pizza. (I use a pizza cutter and it works great!) Roll each section from the fat part to the skinny part. Put on pan so that the rolls are almost touching (shouldn't need more than 2 large cookie sheet type pans - about 24 rolls on each). Let rise for 1 hour.

Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. (For some reason, my oven takes more like 16 minutes, but just watch for golden brown on the tops.) Take out and butter the tops.


Voila! The best rolls ever.
These freeze great... just set out to thaw at room temp. They stay super soft and never get dry even days after making them.