Honey Yeast Rolls

I doubt myself every time I bake. I prefer stove top cooking. I can keep an eye on the goods whereas our oven doesn't have a convenient little window to let me check on the baked goods to ensure they aren't burning. Not only does the actual baking process worry me it's the questioning of, "Is this how my dough is supposed to look?"

Mr. Sideline Chef loves rolls with dinner. They don't appear on our dinner table enough for his liking. I normally resort to packaged rolls (leaving it to the professionals) since my first attempt at rolls didn't quite turn out songs of praise. I loved the Herb Cloverleaf Rolls and their shape made me giddy. Wanting to continue on the search for a good roll I searched my favorite recipe site, MyRecipes, and found this recipe for Honey Yeast Rolls.

I had a handful of moments that had me sweating. Not having enough honey and forgetting to bring the eggs to room temperature before starting. (Luckily, Google knew what to do.) I also have never used my stand mixer to make the dough. I was used to turning dough out on a floured surface and kneading. The mixer did all of it and in the process somehow the dough made it's way to the top of the mixer and the cleanup was a mess. The amount of dough was so much that dividing it into 28 equal portions was a nightmare. I decided to take my experience from the Herb Cloverleaf Rolls and use my muffin pan to bake these rolls in. I just pulled a handful of the dough apart and threw it into each muffin cup. I ended up with 24 rolls and not 28. Close enough.

When they came out of the oven after 12 minutes they were beautiful and smelled delicious. Since I didn't have enough honey I ended up just brushing the baked tops with melted butter. I can only imagine how much better these would have been with the honey butter topping. These are sweet rolls but not too sweet and have a light and airy texture. These are hands down the best rolls I have ever made. So what if this was only my second attempt. A winner is a winner.

Itty bitty and I loved these rolls. Mr. Sideline Chef thought they were "good", this is a compliment, food doesn't make this man giddy except for a handful of things, and said that he's wanting something more like what they serve at "Red Lobster, you know, those Cheddar Bay Biscuits." There's no competing with those biscuits. My only retort was, "Those are biscuits and these are rolls." I don't even know the difference myself but it sounded logical.

Honey Yeast Rolls

MyRecipes.com and Southern Living, May 2007

Makes 28 Rolls



Stars of the Show:

• 1/4 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
• 1 (1/4 oz) envelope active dry yeast
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2 large eggs, room temperature - I forgot to set the eggs out an hour before starting this recipe so I ended up placing the eggs in a bowl with warm tap water to cover them and let them sit for 5 minutes.
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 tsp salt
• 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup honey

And Action:

Combine first three ingredients in a small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes or until mixture bubbles.

Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes or until 100° to 110°.

Stir together warm milk, eggs, and next three ingredients in the bowl of a heavy-duty electric stand mixer, blending well. Add yeast mixture, stirring to combine. Gradually add 5 cups of flour, beating at medium speed. Beat 3 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 1 hour.

Uncover dough and add remaining 1 1/2 cups of the flour beating at medium speed for 5 minutes. The dough will be sticky. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (85°) and free from drafts for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

Punch the dough down. Turn dough out onto a well floured surface and roll into 28 balls. About 1/4 cup dough per ball. Place balls in 4 lightly greased 9 inch pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°) and free from drafts for 1 more hour or until doubled in bulk.

Stir together 1/2 cup softened butter and 1/4 cup honey.

Bake the rolls at 400° for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Brush the tops with the honey butter. Serve with more honey butter if desired.

Note: To freeze, place baked rolls in a Ziploc freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Let the rolls thaw at room temperature and reheat if desired.