Monday, September 16, 2013

MAMA'S BEST ROLLS

  (Mama is my grandmother Duella Eyre Hamblin, known for her magic in the kitchen)

Yield: Approximately  3 ½ -4 dozen rolls. I always double the recipe and freeze some for later Bake: 350 for 13-15 min.or til golden brown.
 May make ahead and freeze in pan or in ziplock bags.  To serve:  thaw, reheat in pan, covered with foil for about 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

1. Whisk these DRY ingredients together in large bowl:
3 cups high gluten flour                                                              Tips for success:
½ cup powdered milk                                           a.  use fresh Lehi Roller Mills or high gluten flour
5 teaspoons SAF instant yeast                              b.  SAF yeast
2 ½ teaspoons salt                                                c.  Real butter
¼ cup sugar                                                          d.  Don’t let over-rise
2.  Add these WET ingredients all at once to the dry:
½ cup canola or vegetable oil
2 ½ cups hot water
2 beaten eggs  - Make sure these are not cold. Defrost in microwave if necessary.
     Mix together wet and dry ingredients thoroughly - until very smooth.
3.  LAST, add  3 more cups high gluten flour.
     With a sturdy wooden spoon, mix the remaining flour into dough. This will take a  strong hand. Grasp both hands around spoon.  You become the dough hook and while occasionally turning the bowl, stir into a soft ball.  Signs that you have mixed it enough:  Dough should be very smooth and not sticky to the touch and the spoon should snap off the ball of dough easily.  More flour may be needed if dough continues sticky; just add by small increments until the dough feels right. Cover and let rise 20 min - ½ hour til double
 Tips for Rolling out dough:  Put dough on lightly floured surface.  Flatten it slightly with your hands until it is even all around.  Begin to roll, working from the middle out on all sides.  Roll to approx. ¼ to 1/3 inch thickness.  “Shrink” the dough by gently lifting it and giving a light shake. After shaping rolls, let rise in warm place until double.
Parker House Rolls:  Roll dough to 1/3 inch thickness. Brush dough with melted butter.  Cut with round glass, can or roll cutter to desired size.  Fold in half, butter on the inside.  Place in jelly roll pan; 8 down, 4 across.
Crescent Rolls: Divide dough in two. Pat each into an even circle. Roll, working from middle out on all sides, to about ¼ inch thickness. “Shrink” dough.  Brush with melted butter.  With pizza cutter, slice in fourths, then eighths, then into 16 pieces.  Roll from wide side down into a tight roll.  Place tip down on jelly roll pan; 7 down, 3 across. 
Orange Fan Rolls:   Pat dough out into an even rectangle, then roll evenly from middle out into a large rectangle to approx. ¼ to 1/3 inch thickness.  Shrink.  Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with about 1/3 cup sugar over surface. With orange zester, zest peels of 2  oranges. Slice dough with pizza cutter into 1 ½ inch squares. Gather up 5 squares in a stack and place in greased muffin tin, with edge sides down in pan. Make a cinnamon variation by sprinkling cinnamon on top of the sugar, and adding raisins, cranraisins, or nuts if desired. Cranraisins with the orange rolls would be fabulous, too.
Glaze for orange rolls:   Microwave ¼ cup butter with ¼ cup milk for 1 minute.  Add 1 pound  pkg. powdered sugar. Beat until smooth.  Add ½ tsp. orange flavoring, or juice from one orange, which may require that you add more sugar. Make to desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled rolls on baking rack.

STORY TIME:    In the fall of 2002,  Jenean Knowlton and I had a short-lived bakery business out of our homes in Alpine, Utah, based almost exclusively on my roll and cinnamon roll recipes, I had quite a few people before this who would call me during holiday times to bake for them.  Jenean joined me at Thanksgiving time and we advertised to make rolls and pies; she the pies and I the rolls.  I warned Jenean that I thought I could take orders only up to 50-55 dozen, and to not give me more than  I could handle.  Jenean kept on taking orders for the rolls, without counting the tally until she called me up to tell me that the total roll count for orders was 220 dozen.  At that time, my kitchen was of limited size and I had  but one conventional oven.  I about fainted when she told me the tally, but I got organized the night before.  With my young daughters and my mother, we worked non-stop the day before Thanksgiving, stirring, rolling and cutting out the rolls, baking them all in my little oven.  Customers dropped in at my house to pick them up.  On Thanksgiving morning, I made ten more dozen rolls for my large extended Bangerter family; I thought that was easy street compared to the day before.
     Jenean had told her customers that she would deliver their pies.  She and her husband, Nels, went absolutely insane trying to deliver those beautiful pies.  After it was all said and done, Jenean, normally chipper and a fabulous cook said to me, "I don't think I like to bake any more."  From them on, we did not advertise, but I continued to make rolls for those who called me during holidays.




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