One of my favorite food blogs to read is The Cast Iron Darling.   So when one her recent posts linked to a recipe for one of my utmost weaknesses, dinner rolls, I was intrigued.  I *love* good dinner rolls.  In fact, my very first post here at Knead To Be Loaved was a dinner roll recipe that simply cannot be beat.

One of the major complaints that people have about making bread from scratch is that they think it takes a lot of time.  And in some cases, it does.  But what they forget is that “so much time” does not immediately translate to “so much effort.”  Much of the time spent in making homemade bread is waiting for the bread to rise.

Today, however, people do not want to wait for anything.  As a staunch supporter of always going the speed limit, people pass by me all of the time (only to end up stopped at a light when I catch up).  So I can see the allure of a 60-minute dinner roll.

I am posting the adapted recipe here with hesitation.  I like to post recipe successes, and while this one was a success, it isn’t a recipe that I would make again, except in truly extenuating circumstances.

See, one of the reasons good bread has to rise multiple times is to develop flavor.   As the yeast multiplies, and dies off, there is a whole world of amazing flavor being developed.  To cut that process short is to me, a die-hard fan of naturally flavored bread, almost criminal.  Instead of allowing the flavor to develop on its own, this recipe uses a ridiculous amount of yeast.  This forces the bread to rise fast, but in the end, the flavor falls flat.  It just doesn’t have that tender, yeasty, complex flavor that a dinner roll should.  It didn’t melt in my mouth, or elicit any sort of comfort from eating for me.

Now don’t get me wrong, this recipe is not so bad that it is inedible.  But after making and experiencing the feedback from the Amish dinner rolls I usually make, any dinner roll recipe I try has a pretty high mark to meet. In the end, this recipe for 60-minute dinner rolls is easy and will make dinner rolls in an hour or less.  But if the time is the priority over flavor, save yourself the headache and just buy a roll of Pillsbury rolls in the refrigerator section of your store.

As for me, I plan to use these to accompany soup or warm them and have them with jam in the morning. The below recipe was used exactly as adapted at Erin Cooks.  I tried out my jumbo muffin pan and made four-leaf clover rolls out of half, just for kicks.  The others, I rolled up and baked in a 9×13 pan.

Check out my video to learn how to easily shape and roll dozens of dinner rolls in under 5 minutes!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons butter
6 and 3/4 tsp. instant yeast (told you, it’s ridiculous!)
1 1/2 cups warm water
5 – 6 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

In a small saucepan, stir milk, sugar, salt and butter together. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool until lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups flour to yeast mixture, and using a dough hook, mix on low speed for about 1 minute. With the mixer still going, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix about 1 1/2 minutes, or until dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl. Knead on low speed for about 2 more minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic – the dough will still be slightly sticky to the touch.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning it to grease the top. Cover the dough with a clean, dry dish towel, and let it rise in a warm place, free from draft, for about 15 minutes.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 24 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball, and place in a greased muffin pan. Using kitchen shears or a pizza cutter (a knife will also work), cut each ball in half, then in quarters, and replace in the muffin pan. (Cover the muffin pan with the dish towel, and let the dough rise for about 15 minutes.

Bake at 425ºF for 12 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown. Remove from pans immediately, and cool on wire racks.