One of my favorite parts of mothering has always been working together in the kitchen. In the growing-up years sometimes my kids were grumpy when I pulled them into the kitchen. Their eyebrows furrowed with their mother beckoning them to one more task. But without fail as we worked together to whip up delicious things, a form of magic seeped into the kitchen.
Sometimes it was not so magical though. Ha!
I just found this video I’m dying over from long ago. It shows one of the “cooking shows” the kids loved to make while baking together, complete with a little argument management at the beginning. Excuse my annoying voice (sorry you had to deal with that, kids!).
I’m not sure what in heaven’s name Max is doing in this thing, maybe tenderizing chicken? And that Lucy? Killing me that she was so little!
But yeah, it wasn’t always a calm and peaceful experience. See if you can feel the love in there though, because I can still almost feel it tangibly as I watch that video from way back when.
Anyway, I’m so excited almost all those kids will be home with me cooking for Thanksgiving with me this year…minus the “commercial break” girl in that video who will be grappling with her first few days in Sydney, Australia when Thanksgiving comes around.
Ok, back to the rolls!
Baking with Yeast can be intimidating
There was a time when I was scared to death of making anything that involves yeast. I don’t know why…I guess it just seemed so complicated and temperamental.
But then my cousin gave me this bread recipe, which is completely fool-proof. That gave us the confidence to go for it on the yeast bread recipes around here.
We got confident enough that we decided to have a little bread-making contest to find our favorite.
And guess who’s recipe won? My friend Wendy’s.
Yep, it is pretty delicious!
So here we go. Let’s get to the recipe:
Wendy’s delicious home-made rolls
Wendy's Home-Made Rolls
Ingredients
- 1/2 c. warm water
- pinch sugar
- 4 1/2 tsp. yeast (or two packets)
- 1 c. butter
- 2 tsp. salt
- 3/4 c. sugar
- 1 c. boiling water
- 4 eggs (beaten)
- 1 c. warm milk
- 8 1/2 c. flour
Instructions
- Mix water, yeast and a pinch of sugar in a bowl. Set aside until foamy.
- Cream butter, salt and sugar. Add boiling water (I just boil mine in the measuring cup in the microwave). Mix until dissolved.
- Cool to 105 to 115 degrees (if you don’t have a thermometer I think you could just wait a few minutes while it cools off and go on…the butter cools the boiling water pretty fast).
- Beat in yeast mixture and eggs. Beat in flour gradually along with the warm milk.
- Knead for five minutes or until silky (dough will still be pretty sticky).
- Form into a ball and let rise until doubled in size (approximately 1 1/2-2 hours).
- Punch dough down and divide into four balls.
- Roll out each ball into a circle. Paint surface with melted butter. Cut with a pizza cutter into 12 chapd pieces.
- Roll up from large end to small end, making a croissant shape. Place on cookie sheet with the point tucked under.
- Let rise, covered with a cloth, until double in size (approx. 1-2 hours).
- Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes (I prefer them to be barely browned).
I miss these baby helpers.
I thank my lucky stars that Lucy has become a pretty big roll/baking connoisseur.
I love that she still remains, my helper in the kitchen.
Happy roll-making!
I love homemade bread. It leaves the most heavenly smell in the kitchen.
I remembered you posting you found a new roll recipe. So as I was making my rolls on Sunday, I thought, "wish Shawni would post her new roll recipe."
And you did. Man you are good.
Can't wait to try it! Thanks.
I just started a batch of these. Thank you! My kids are going to be happy tonight 🙂
bet these beat the rhodes i pulled out of the freezer on Sunday! someday i will be a mean bread/roll maker when I don't have a screaming baby 18 hours of the day 🙂
I had to came back to tell you that my kids LOVED the rolls, begged for seconds at dinner and then ate them for breakfast this morning. Thanks again for the recipe, I think it may be our new family go to 🙂
Sweet, just as awesome as you promised!
I've always wanted to make good homemade rolls (instead of frozen Rhodes rolls), so thank you for this recipe! I recently discovered it and have made these 3 times! Gosh, they're delicious! The dough is a little hard to work with, but the last time I made it I added an extra cup of flour and that helped.
We are still a small family. Is it possible to freeze the dough at a certain stage and then bake it later?
Yes, I’ve done this before. Just follow the instructions up until you roll up the crescent rolls. I put them on a tray and “quick freeze” them. Meaning I put them, uncovered, into the freezer just until they are frozen through. Then I put them in a Ziplock bag and keep them in the freezer until I’m ready to bake. Let them thaw and rise until doubled covered with a light cloth, then stick them in the oven.
Hope that helps!
xoxo