French Bread Rolls

Recipe via http://www.melskitchencafe.com/ adapted from allrecipes.com


Trade Secrets: The original recipe calls for bread flour. Since I usually don’t have that on hand, I’ve always used all-purpose flour and it works brilliantly. However, if you are a bread flour user, I bet the rolls will come out even more tender. I also cut the baking time down from the original 18 minutes to about 12 minutes. And finally, these rolls rise QUICKLY (probably due to the 1 tablespoon of yeast) so don’t forget about them or you may have a big mess on your hands.

French Bread Rolls Original Recipe from Mels Kitchen Cafe
*Makes about one dozen rolls or 24 depending how you portion the dough

1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups flour.
Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat.
Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Deflate the dough, and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
Divide the dough into 12-14 equal pieces, and form into round balls.
Place on lightly greased baking sheets at least 2 inches apart.
Cover the rolls with a damp cloth (or greased saran wrap), and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Bake for 12-13 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

*Can freeze the rolls after baking – microwave on high for 2 minutes before serving.

If you want to make them crusty instead of soft, spray some water into the oven three times in the first five to six minutes of baking and brush them with an egg white/water mixture prior to baking. I’m kind of partial to the soft exterior, so I bake them unadulterated and then rub them down with butter hot out of the oven
 
– for the sub rolls, I do shape them differently than the “golf ball sized” rolls for normal dinner rolls. I pinch off probably about double the amount of dough I would use for a dinner roll and I shape it/roll it into a log shape. Before it rises, it is probably about 1 1/2″ to 2″ wide and 2 1/2″ to 3″ long. They puff up and rise quite a bit so don’t be worried about how small they look when you originally roll them out.

1 Bowl - 1 Hour Perfect Dinner Rolls

While I posted a link to the original recipe I got from My Kitchen Cafe quite a while ago, I didn't realize until recently when I was looking at the recipe on Melanie's blog again that other than the ingredients list, I really don't make these rolls the same way. I thought, that being the case, and since I have so many friends and family that ask for this recipe so often, that I should share what I'm actually doing.


The original way to make these rolls works just fine, don't get me wrong, but I have added in a few shortcuts that work really well for me - including changing the type of yeast I use - which makes these really pretty quick to make. I can start and finish the recipe and have hot rolls to eat in about 1 hour. It may take some time to get that fast due to shaping all the rolls, but once you get the hang of it, you'll get faster and faster too. Even then, it will probably only take you about an 1 1/2 hours at the very most. This recipe makes perfect, soft, light dinner rolls every time. What I really love about the recipe is that the ingredients list is short and lean, with stellar results.


If you are looking for an easy, fairly quick soft dinner roll recipe that delivers wonderful results - look no further!

Perfect Dinner Rolls Adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into measuring cup, then levelled off

 In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes.

 To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups of the flour - on low speed with the paddle attachment incorporate the flour to create a wet, sticky mixture.

 Still on low speed, add 1 cup of the remaining flour and incorporate.

 Switch to the dough hook and add the remaining 1 cup flour.

 On low speed, mix the dough to incorporate the final addition of flour until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn the speed to medium and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes

 Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl - turn to coat.

 Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 20 -30 minutes.

 Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently deflate into a rectangle.

 Cut it in half vertically, then each half vertically again into thirds so you have 6 equal strips of dough.

 Cut each strip of dough into fourths by cutting horizontally to make 24 little squares of dough. Take each piece of dough and cup it lightly under the palm of your hand on a clean surface. Press lightly and start rotating and rolling the dough ball quickly so that it forms a nice little ball of dough. Once you get some practice, you can do this with both hands at the same time and really speed up the process.

 Place each rolled piece of dough into a lightly greased 9x13 baking pan in rows of 4 about 1/2-inch apart.

 Cover the rolls in the pan with a lightly greased piece of plastic wrap and let rise to double while your oven is preheating to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) - about 20 minutes.

 If you want an even more golden color to the rolls, brush them with a little melted butter before baking.

 Bake for 13-15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Serve warm and enjoy!