This is an investment of time and energy, so be prepared when you begin to spend all morning/afternoon/evening making these. (Also, remember to heat the milk before you start baking.) I started at 10 in morning and it took me until 3:30 in the afternoon, with all the rising time.
This recipe is from one of my favorite blogs, 365 Days of Baking, and here's the link to her post. Like all good bakers, she's adapted it from somewhere else and so on and so forth.
It's easy to just start a recipe without reading it all the way through, I know I've done that my fair share of times, but let me caution you: this is not one of those recipes. There is 2 1/2 - 3 hours of allowing the dough to fluff, puff, and rise plus mixing time and oven time. They don't take long to cook, thank heavens, but if you go for smaller sized ones, as I have, it could take half an hour.
With that said, I had a lot of fun. I don't make bread often, but when I do, I always enjoy it. There's hardly anything better than coating your hands with flour and kneading dough. Remember, wash your hands thoroughly before you begin and frequently as you cook. When I'm not sure about bread dough, I lightly flour my hands and stick them right in the bowl. You can tell if it's ready or not. I don't know how many other bakers advocate this hands-on approach, but I think it's the most effective.
Ingredients:
4 tsp active dry yeast (my supermarket sells individual 1/4 oz packages and I bought two of those)
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups milk heated to scalding and cooled to room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 tsp sugar (separated)
3 Tbsp melted butter (plus more for brushing)
7-8 cups flour (I used 8)
2 eggs
2 tsp salt
Mix the yeast, warm water, and tsp of sugar until the yeast and sugar are dissolved. Add 2 and 1/2 cups flour and let stand for 10 minutes until light and foamy. (It looks like, if you poked it, it would be like trampoline material.)
Add rest of sugar, melted butter, and eggs to the mix and beat well.
Add remaining flour, one cup at a time, until it thickens and turns to soft dough. This is where my magic "making do" comes into place. After two cups, I had to switch from my hand-held mixer to a rubber scraper. It took double the time and my arm hurt pretty good.
I ended up adding 5 1/2 cups of flour to the original mixture.
If you're uncertain if you've added enough flour, dust your fingers and then dig your hands in to the bowl. You'll feel if it's still to soft. Once you've got it the right consistency, place it on a lightly-floured surface. I used my counter. Let sit on surface for 10 minutes. While it's being dough, prepare a medium-sized bowl by spraying it with cooking spray.
Knead dough until it's soft and smooth. I use an odd combination of the heels of my hand and my knuckles. It helps to eliminate air bubbles.
Take the ball of dough and put it in the bowl of cooking spray. Turn it over until it's fully coated. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure it's tight. Allow to rise in a moderately warm area until it's double in size. This takes about 1 1/2 hours and I let it sit until the hood light of my stove.
Punch the dough down in the bowl and then flour your counter again. With a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rectangle. It took up half my counter. Also, if you've never done it before, be warned: rolling out dough is difficult and takes patience. It will keep scrunching back up to its original form as you roll it out. Constant vigilance! Then fold it in half and roll the edges slightly to close it. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
Cut up the dough into as many pieces as you want. I got about 54 small rolls out of the rectangle above, but if you want bigger ones, cut them that way. Grease cooking sheets (I used three) and put the dough on them. Cover with a slightly damp towel and allow to rise for 1 hour. When they're double in size, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Allow to cool for 2 minutes on pans, then move to wire racks. When they're cool, serve and enjoy or put them away.
I recommend serving them with cinnamon butter, recipe below.
According to my brother, these turned out exactly like Texas Roadhouse's, which is good to hear.
Cinnamon Butter
4 sticks butter
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
Beat the butter, adding one stick at a time, on medium for at least 30 seconds or until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and beat again. Add powdered sugar, honey, and cinnamon and beat until thoroughly mixed. Put away; this can be kept at room temperature or refrigerated.
It filled up three small tupperware containers, as you can see here. Perfect for the three places I'm taking these lovely rolls.
Keep stirring, loves!
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