Sweet Dinner Rolls - Memo: We wear parsley to parties

Sweet Dinner Rolls

(updated 12/1/09) 

These dinner rolls are sweet, chewy and fluffy and are a classic addition to any home style meal. They delivered great reviews, as promised.

 

 

More on how to get the elegant parsley look below - These are my rolls!

Okay, so I know there has been a stream of posts recently but all are well worth it...Imagine yourself back at the same Thanksgiving dinner I've been talking about in my previous two posts (you know, the one my friend Will hosted - the same place you ate the delicious Crackling Cranberry Chutney and the Puffy Pumpkin Pie). Or you might find yourself back at Grandma's table, and for some people, apparently at O'Charley's. This has to be the O'Charley's dinner roll copy cat recipe - or so I've been told. (I've never actually had one from that restaurant so I can't confirm that statement - but if you have, let me know how the two compare)

 

The only bread I've ever made is a soft pretzel dough - if that counts. But this dinner roll dough required a small amount of kneading and I was nervous about possibly over working it.  Well, I know I've said this about my other recipes but I wouldn't lie -they turned out pretty darn good for my first attempt at bread- people liked them- a lot! :)  

This recipe makes a lot so its perfect to bring to a bigger get-together and its done in about 2 hours start to finish (not much time at all for a bread!).  The hour and a half resting time was perfect to assemble and bake my maple apple pie - I love multi-tasking!

Memo: We wear parsley to parties

I wanted to decorate them with some flat leaf parsley but the recipe was hidden deep within my millions of well organized foodie blog bookmarks (so much for sub folders). With little time and lots to do I popped the rolls in the oven and tried to adhere the flat leaf parsley when they were done. Then I realized it should have been done before baking. : (

The second batch was just as delicious and as big of a hit as the first -- even more so now that I managed to decorate them with the parsley.

Sweet Dinner Rolls

Recipe courtesy of Food Network

Ingredients

• 1 package dry active yeast (1/4 ounce)
  
• 1 cup warm water, about 110 degrees F (its okay if you don't have a thermometer - just don't make it steamy hot - this will kill the yeast and your bread will be a flop.)
  
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup milk, scalded but cooled to warm (I used skim)
  
• 4 ounces melted butter, plus 2 ounces (4 oz = 1/2 stick)
  
• 5 cups flour, plus more, as needed (I used about 5 1/2 for the dough plus more for dusting the work surface)
  
• 6-cup, 3-inch muffin tin pan (I baked them in a pie tin and a spring form cake pan. Both worked perfectly)
  

Directions

In a standing mixing bowl with dough hook, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let sit until lightly foamy, then stir in sugar and add egg, salt, warm milk, and 4 ounces of butter. With machine on medium-high speed, slowly add 5 cups flour, adding more as needed to make an elastic dough (dough might still be a tad bit sticky). Mix well, then roll out to floured surface and knead dough for about 5 minutes.

Place dough in buttered bowl (I just coated it with cooking spray), cover with towel, and set in a warm place to rise until double in bulk, about 1 hour.

Lightly oil the muffin pan. Punch down dough and form dough into 1-inch balls. Place 3 balls in each muffin tin. (I made tennis ball sized rolls and placed them about 1/2 inch apart in a spring form pan) Fill muffin pan, cover with towel, and allow to rise an additional 1/2 hour.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Brush with remaining melted butter.(This is where you would use the egg wash and parsley to make the decorated rolls) 

Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.

These are best served warm but you can reheat them in a warm oven and no harm will be done. :) Just make sure its not on broil - eek!

Nutritional Stats: (1 roll - Recipe makes 30)
Calories 131, Fat 3.5g, Carbs 21g, Sugars 3.8g, Protein 3g
Vitamin A 2%, Calcium 2%, Iron 6%