YouTube Video Tutorial:
Although store bought rolls are convenient and easy, when it comes to special occasions, such as the Holidays, I always like to pull out my Bosch and delight my family and friends with freshly baked rolls. It is a bit of a chore, but I think we can all agree that there is nothing quite like freshly baked goods, especially those that are homemade. The best part about making these is that last year I discovered the miracle of flash freezing the rolled out rolls. Now I can serve hot rolls, fresh out of the oven on Thanksgiving day without spending my entire day in the kitchen. This was a serious life changer, or maybe I should say Holiday changer for me.
Now, I typically have a rule about cooking and baking with my kids while entertaining guests, and that would be that they are not allowed to help. However, since I made the rolls four days before Thanksgiving day I was feeling a bit more relaxed and able to handle the assistance from my three year old daughter. She did surprisingly well. I have found over the years from making these rolls that the nature of how they are rolled up and assembled yields them to handle some of the imperfections little fingers bring. It is probably why I prefer the crescent look over the more traditional round roll. It is very forgiving.
I was also surprised this year on Thanksgiving day to find that my older two children have developed enough skills in the kitchen to actually be a tremendous asset to me and so for the first time they were allowed to help. They peeled all of the potatoes beautifully, helped assemble the stuffing, my oldest daughter helped me make a pie, and as expected they made the best dish dryers.
Since there are lots of different ways to make rolls and since not everyone will have a Bosch I will list my tips for making these with your kids at the top and the recipe down below at the bottom.
Tips:
Have them wash their hands and if they are young and plan to sit on the counter wash their feet as well.
Cutting butter is one of the best jobs. Make sure they have a napkin and an apron if you value what they are wearing (we also do a lot of shirt-less cooking at our house I just do not video tape it that way). Make sure the butter is cold, but not frozen, or else it will be too messy. Butter straight out of the fridge is usually best.
Pouring liquids is tricky with young children. If they are new to cooking or under the age of 5 help them while pouring or just have them put their hand on yours.
Measuring foods like flour, salt and sugar is a bit easier. You can help them scoop or place the measuring utensil over the bowl and pour into it for them. Just be careful if your machine is running that they do not get their utensil or their fingers caught in the kneading hooks. You cannot hear it on the video, but I was constantly reminding Olive to keep everything high when she was measuring and pouring on her own.
When rolling out the dough it is best if you can start the roll for them. With younger children you will need to do this for every roll. For older children just a few times until they get the hang of it. Try not to fix their roll in front of them if it needs fixing. Sometimes I will wait until the cookie sheet is filled and they are not looking/in the kitchen to tweak anything, however, these are very forgiving in their shape and you usually cannot tell once they are all baked together.
I usually plan to give each child a small amount of dough to do whatever they want with to buy myself some extra time. So calculate that into the equation when making these.
Recipe:
3/4 C Warm Water (about 115 degrees)
1 TBSP Yeast
1/2 C Butter (sliced into 6-8 small sections)
2 C Scalded Whole Milk
1/2 C Sugar
1 Tsp Salt
2 Eggs
2 C Whole Wheat Flour
6-7 C Unbleached White Flour
In a small bowl combine warm water and yeast. Gently stir and set aside. In a medium glass bowl combine milk and butter and microwave for about 2 minutes until the milk mixture is hot. Meanwhile add sugar and salt to the bowl of your Bosch. Then pour in the hot milk and butter mixture and start your Bosch on the lowest setting. Add in the whole wheat flour and one cup of white flour. Let it combine and then add in your eggs and yeast mixture (which should be done rising by now). Let that combine and then gradually add in the rest of your white flour. It may be necessary to stop the Bosch and scrape the sides of your bowl as you go.
You are looking for dough that starts to pull from the sides of the bowl, but that is not dry enough to clean the sides of the bowl. Once your dough is done you can either transfer it to a greased bowl and cover with a dish towel or plastic wrap while it rises on your counter or if you are not planning to make another batch you can save yourself the dish and just keep the dough in the Bosch (make sure you still cover the top). After about one hour you will see that your dough has doubled in size and is ready to be rolled out into the actual rolls.
If your dough is in a separate bowl you can punch down the dough with your firsts. If your dough is still in the Bosch you can simple turn the machine on for about 15 seconds or so and that should do the trick. On a well floured surface dump out your dough and knead a few times just to make sure there are no remaining air bubbles in your dough.
Once you have done this you can either divide the dough into three or four equal sections (depending on how large you want the rolls to be). I personally prefer the size of the roll when the dough has been divided into four equal parts. However, my husband loves the bigger rolls so I usually end up doing some of each (just do not bake them on the same cookie sheet or at the same time).
Now that your dough is divided you can make a ball and roll it out to be about a 1/2 inch thick and then slice it like a pizza into eight equal parts. I like to roll it up by first tucking in my corners (see video) because I think it looks prettier and bakes better (I do not like the crunchy tips you get when you leave the corners out). Make sure to place your roll on the baking sheet with the tip/end down or on the underside to keep it from unrolling.
If you plan to bake these right away, spray your baking sheet, place your rolls, and let them rise again for another 30 minutes or so before baking. If you want to flash freeze the rolls then spray your baking sheet, place your rolls, and freeze immediately before they have time to rise again. On the day of your event simply remove from the freezer about three and a half to four hours before you plan to bake them to ensure they thaw completely and rise.
If you space your rolls so they do not touch (12 on a baking sheet) bake at 400 degrees for about 7-9 minutes. If you plan to place all 18-24 rolls on your baking sheet, reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for 12-15 minutes until they are golden brown.
Enjoy!
