Grandma’s Holiday Rolls

My paternal grandma, Lucille was famous for her holiday rolls. They only appeared at Thanksgiving & Christmas dinners and the holiday was incomplete without them! Since my grandma’s passing it’s been a lot of trial and error to get them to be ‘just like hers.’ In our family, we rarely had any leftovers, but if you think you might - simply sprinkle with a few droplets of water before reheating in the microwave or oven (use foil to wrap if you want soft & squishy vs. dry and toasted).

Notes: If you don’t have dry active yeast, you can use instant/rapid rise yeast and toss in with the dry ingredients - this will make the recipe a tad faster since you avoid proofing the yeast. I like to proof my yeast just to confirm it’s strong and active. If you use instant/rapid rise yeast, it’s still best to slightly warm the milk to remove the chill from the fridge.

Makes: 16 large rolls

454ml warm milk (105F/40C)

5 teaspoons dry active yeast

86g salted butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

820g white bread flour

78g sugar

16g fine sea salt

milk to brush on top

Method:

1. Warm the milk to 105F/40C. Remove from heat and whisk in the yeast to proof; this can take 10-15 minutes before you see much activity. The yeast will consume the milk sugar, lactose. (*If you wish, you can add a sprinkle of the 78g of sugar & put the remaining in with the dry ingredients.)

2. After the yeast is active whisk in the melted butter and eggs.

3. In a stand mixer, food processor or a large bowl combine the bread flour, sugar and salt.

4. On low speed, slowly pour in the liquids (milk, eggs, butter). Knead (Mixer: 7minutes, Food Processor: 3 min, By hand: 10 minutes).

5. Oil a very large bowl and place the dough in a warm place to rise for 1.5 hours. Cover with a cloth or parchment.

6. Punch down the dough. Divide the dough into 15-16 dough balls. I weighed mine and got 15 dough balls, weighing 90g each.

7. You will need a 9”x13” baking pan (12 rolls) and a smaller 8”x8” (5-6 rolls). You will need to butter the pan generously. I like to line my pans in parchment paper and then butter.

8. Arrange the rolls into the baking pans. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for 45-60minutes, or until doubled in size. Before baking, brush the rolls with milk.

9. Preheat oven 350F/180C and bake each pan for 20-25minutes. I found the rolls were best when baked to 205F/96C when tested with a thermometer. Test several rolls in different spots if using this method.

10. Cool the rolls completely in their pans. Best eaten on the day they’re baked.