Dinner Rolls

One of the first breads that I mastered is the dinner rolls. Dinner rolls are my favourite. They are sweet, buttery and can go with almost every other dish and in case of emergency they can make nice sandwiches too. And since recently I have become a fan of everything homemade, I guess breads could no longer stay behind in my to do list. I do not own a stand mixer so I have to do the stretching by hand only, but that could never stop me making these rolls, over and over again, until I can say that I have mastered the recipe. And also there is something so very precious and magical in the smell of a freshly baked bread that makes my hand itch to stretch the dough almost every other week. Besides I don't have to rely on the store bought breads with all the preservatives any more, which is a bonus.

Dinner Rolls

Makes 16 dinner rolls

 Ingredients:

• warm milk 1 cup
• warm water 1/2 cup
• butter 1/4 cup
• sugar 1/4 cup
• active dry yeast 2 and 1/4 tsp
• all purpose flour 4 cups
• kosher salt 1 and 1/2 tsp
• 2 large eggs
• melted butter to grease
• sesame seeds to sprinkle

Method:

In a saucepan put together the milk, sugar, butter and water.

Heat the milk on low flame until it just becomes warm and the butter is all melted.

Switch off the flame and then add the yeast to it. Stir to mix and dissolve.

Cover and leave the mix for 15 minutes for the yeast to bloom.

When the yeast is bloomed, add the flour to it.

Add salt and mix to incorporate everything.

Transfer the flour to your work surface and start to knead.

Knead the dough for 10-12 minutes or until the dough is smooth and stretchy and passes the window pane test.

Transfer the smooth dough to a greased big bowl, cover it with a cling film and let it rest for one hour.

After one hour or when you see the dough has risen double in size, punch it down and transfer it to the work surface again.

Knead the dough for another 5 minutes again, without adding any additional flour.

Make 16 balls from the dough, and place them (make sure there is space between the balls because they will grow bigger in size after the second proof) in the baking tray or pan, lined with a baking paper.

Cover the dough balls loosely with a clean kitchen towel and proof for 30 minutes or until the dough balls become double in size.

Brush the balls with a beaten egg and sprinkle the sesame seeds.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 25-30 minutes or until the dinner rolls become nicely brown.

Let the cool down in the kitchen counter for an hour before touching.

These rolls are best served fresh and taste the best on the day they are made, but they also freeze well and can be frozen for a month.