I have never made rolls that work. EVER! I don't know what I do wrong but they are always heavy and super dense. I swear I let them rise! It's the same with bread as well, I just mess it up. However, I do have one bread recipe for Amish bread that works out perfect every time. So I made a roast for Sunday dinner and really wanted homemade rolls and I got the great idea to look for an Amish recipe since the bread one I had worked so well. The results were what you see, DELICIOUSLY YUM! They weren't totally light and fluffy, but they were better than I have ever made. The Amish know what they are doing!! I got this recipe from
this website, but here it is for you now just in time for those Christmas dinners!
1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter
1 cup (7 1/4 ounces) unseasoned mashed potatoes, lightly packed*
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
3/4 cup water (potato water, if possible)
4 1/4 cups (18 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
*1 medium-to-large
baking potato will yield 8 ounces of mashed potato.
Manual/Mixer Method: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine all
of the ingredients, and mix until the dough starts to leave the sides of the
bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased or floured surface, and knead it
for 6 to 8 minutes, or until it's smooth and shiny. Or knead it in a mixer,
using the dough hook. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl or rising bucket,
turn to coat, cover the container with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise
till it's doubled in bulk, about 90 minutes.
Bread Machine Method: Place all the ingredients into the pan of
your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer (usually,
liquids first, yeast last). Program the machine for dough or manual, and press
Start. Check the dough about 10 minutes before the end of the final kneading
cycle and adjust its consistency as necessary by adding additional water or
flour to form a soft, smooth ball. Allow the machine to complete its cycle,
then allow the dough to remain in the machine till it's doubled in bulk,
perhaps an additional 30 minutes or so.
Shaping: To make stand-alone rolls, divide the dough into 16
equal pieces. If you want to make soft-sided, pull-apart rolls, divide the
dough into 15 pieces. This isn't as challenging as it sounds: first, divide the
dough into three equal pieces (about 375g, 14 ounces, each). Pinch off one
piece, about the size of a racquetball or handball (75g, 2 3/4 ounces), off
each of the three pieces, setting the pinched-off pieces aside; then simply
divide what's left of the three pieces into four pieces each. Presto! Fifteen
balls of dough. Gently roll the dough balls under your cupped fingers till
they're nice and round.
Place the 16 dough balls onto a parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheet
or sheets, leaving about 2 inches between them. Or place the 15 dough balls
into a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch pan, spacing them evenly in five rolls of
three balls each. Cover the pan(s) with a proof cover or lightly greased
plastic wrap, and allow the rolls to rise for about 2 hours, till they're quite
puffy; the rolls in the 9 x 13-inch pan should be touching (or almost touching)
one another.
Baking: Bake the rolls in a preheated 350°F oven for 20 to 25
minutes, till they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven, carefully turn
them out of the pan -- the pull-apart rolls will come out all in one piece --
and brush them with melted butter, if desired. Serve warm or at room
temperature. Yield: 15 or 16 rolls.
Nutrition information per serving (1 pull-apart roll,
74g): 200 cal, 6g fat, 5g protein, 28g complex carbohydrates, 4g sugar, 1g
dietary fiber, 41mg cholesterol, 223mg sodium, 117mg potassium, 58RE vitamin A,
2mg vitamin C, 2mg iron, 6mg calcium, 58mg phosphorus
