Watson House Wednesday, #9: Mom’s Hot Rolls

Watson House Wednesday, #9: Mom’s Hot Rolls

What is your favorite dish at Thanksgiving? While stuffing, cranberry relish, and pumpkin pies are always popular, a favorite at any family gathering at the Watson household are the hot rolls! Slightly sweet, but savory enough to go with most dishes, they make an excellent edition to a special meal. These do take a little planning and effort, but are actually not too difficult to make, and totally worth it. This is my mother-in-law’s recipe for fluffy goodness!

Mom’s Hot Rolls
1 package (or 1 tablespoon) dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup milk
1/4 cup, plus 1 tsp, sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg

In a small bowl, mix the yeast with the warm water and 1 tsp sugar. Let it set for at least 5 minutes, or until foamy.

Meanwhile, in a larger mixing bowl, combine milk, remaining sugar, oil, and salt. Warm in the microwave (or carefully in a small saucepan), until warm, but not hot. Add the egg to the milk mixture and mix well. Make sure that this milk mixture is warm to lukewarm, then add the yeast mixture to this and stir a few times. 

Add 3 cups of the flour, and stir. Gradually add remaining flour to form soft dough, kneading in flour until the dough is soft, but not sticky. (A small amount of additional flour may be needed for this.) Cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise until double, usually 1 ½ to 2 hours. 

On a lightly floured surface, punch down and knead dough for a minute or two, then form into rolls. Place rolls into baking pan that is lightly greased (a baking spray works fine for this), then cover and allow the rolls to rise again until double, about 30 minutes. 

Bake at 400 degrees, for 12 to 15 minutes. Make about 2 dozen rolls.

Jenn’s note: I like to substitute 1 cup of the flour with whole wheat flour, and it works very well!