Melanie rolls

Thanksgiving is less than a week away and it has me thinking about what my food contributions will be to the mix. Years ago, because I enjoy making things from scratch, I made home made rolls. Then it became my "responsibility" to bring them to family gatherings, referred lovingly by family members as "Melanie Rolls". So here is the recipe and a bit of a demo so you can make your own "melanie rolls".

 I usually double the recipe (because we have a HUGE family). This will make around 4 dozen rolls. First measure out 3 cups of flour and add 2 Tablespoons of yeast (2 packets) to the flour. Add 1-1/1/2 teaspoons of salt and set aside.

 Heat 2 1/2 cups milk, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 stick of butter (and yes, if you are going to go to the trouble of making home made rolls, use the good stuff!!). Heat to 115 degrees, until butter almost melts. It's ok if its not melted completely, it will mix in just fine. You don't want your liquid too hot or you will burn the yeast.

 Add liquid to your dry ingredients and mix until combined.

 Add 2 eggs, one at a time and mix on low for 30 seconds until combined. Then mix at a higher speed for 3 minutes.

 Now, you can change and use your dough hook on your mixer or just use a wooden spoon at this point. Add 1/2 cup flour at a time, adding 3 1/2-4 cups flour, stirring  to make a soft dough.

 here's what the soft dough looks like :)

 Place in a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to grease the whole surface of the dough.

 cover with a warm damp towel and put in a warm place for 1 1/2-2 hours until it doubles in size. On colder fall/winter days I like to heat the oven up to 200 degrees, shut it off and then place the bowl in the oven with the door open.

 Isn't it pretty??

 So, I like to form the dough into a knot. First take a piece of dough and with  your hands, stretch it out to make  a little log.

 Then take one end and put it behind and then through the hole

 presto!

 Place rolls on well greased cookie sheets, cover and let rise for about 30-45 minutes, until doubled in size

 Here they are ready to go into the oven. At this point you can brush the tops with either an egg wash (beaten egg with a little water added) or melted butter, or just leave them plain. If you want to sprinkle anything like poppy seeds or sesame seeds you will need something wet to hold the seeds to the raw dough.

Bake 400 degrees for about 10 minutes (give or take a few minutes depending on your oven). Many times I will "under bake them" just a little and put them in the freezer. About an hour before we eat them I'll take them out of the freezer, line them on a cookie sheet and "rebake" for 2-5 minutes, just to get them hot and a little brown. If you put the rolls in tupperware or freezer bags they should stay for a couple weeks without freezer burn.
Well, that's done. Now onto pie crust....