Dinner Rolls

Source: my mom, Peggy Elwood

Ingredients:
½ Tablespoon yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2½ cups scalded milk
3 Tablespoon oil
3 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon salt

about 7 cups flour (you can use part wheat if you'd like; don't overdo it on the flour, though - too much makes 'em kinda tough)

Directions:

In a small bowl or mug, soften yeast in warm water.  Place scalded milk (straight from the stove so it's still warm), oil, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Let cool.  Add 4 cups flour (if I'm making wheat rolls, I usually add a couple cups of wheat flour first, then finish it off with white).  Mix well.  Then add softened yeast.  Add enough more flour to make a soft dough.  Mix until the dough forms in an elastic ball in the bowl.  Cover and let rest for 10-15 minutes.  Knead dough for 10-15 minutes.  When the dough is smooth and satiny, and small blisters develop under the skin, you have kneaded it sufficiently.  Place in bowl, cover and let rise for 2 hours.  Punch dough down and pinch off portions to form into balls.  Place in greased muffin tins.  Cover and let rise for 1 hour.  Bake in a 400° oven for 10-12 minutes.

Notes:

These are a Sunday and holiday tradition in the Elwood house, and my mom has been known to make a batch or two the day after Thanksgiving for the sole purpose of leftover turkey sandwiches.  They're really the best for sandwiches.  Crescents are yummy they day they are cooked, and I made a batch of these cornmeal crescent rolls for Thanksgiving with the Blanchards in addition to this recipe, but these babies make an awesome leftover sandwich, I tell you what.

Unfortunately, for the Blanchard meal, I'm afraid these rolls just weren't as grand as they could be.  I think I added too much wheat flour in the beginning.  And I also think my idea of making the dough on Friday, letting it rise the first time, forming them into rolls, and then immediately placing them in the freezer till Sunday afternoon before dinner was a good idea in theory, but may need some tweaking to be totally effective and delicious.  Don't get me wrong, they were still good, but just not what they could be if they were made fresh.  Oh well.  Live and learn, right?