Make-ahead Bread Rolls

I am grateful that in the past decade, I have never had to cook the Thanksgiving meal, thanks to the hopsitality of my friends who have always slaved in the kitchen cooking up a sumptious feast with home-made everything - from Turkey to the cranberry sauce to sides and pie.

Whereas, I walk in with something store bought. No shame in that though I do feel like the least I can do is to attempt something home-made.

So this year, in the spirit of taking baby steps -- here's my lowly contribution to the Thanksgiving table - home-made, make-ahead dinner rolls!

Tremendously easy - that is, if you have a dough hook or bread machine. By the way, the Kitchenaid mixer is the best investment I made in my effort to learn how to bake ... I've baked more in the past 2 years, than I've ever done in the past few decades (don't want to give out my age here :-)).

This is an easy recipe for the holiday feasts or just everyday dining! 

Recipe for Make-ahead Bread Rolls ( Source: Followed this recipe)

Ingredients:

(A) Bread rolls
1 cup milk (110 deg F.)
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 tsp salt
4 cups bread flour
3 tsp instant yeast

(B) Egg glaze
1 egg
1 tsp water

Method:

1. Put all ingredients in (A) in the stand mixer with a dough hook, until a soft dough forms.
2. Let dough rest infor 10 minutes.
3. Grease your baking pan(s) or cake tins.
4. Divide dough into even balls - best way to make sure they are even is to weigh them:

• 2 oz (for small rolls) or
• 3 oz (for big rolls).

Let it rise for about 1.5 hours in a warm place, and it will look like this:

At this point, you have a few options:

Option 1:  Bake immediately
- Pre-heat oven to 375 deg F.
- Place rolls evenly on baking pan.
- Apply egg glaze on rolls 
- I also melted some butter and brushed it on top.
- Bake for about 25 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Option 2:  Refrigerate and bake
- Cover with oiled plastic wrap and put in fridge overnight.
- The next day, follow the steps in Option 1.

Option 3: Freeze and bake
- Cover with oiled plastic wrap and put in freezer.
- Once frozen, you can remove and put in plastic freezer bags.
- To bake, place rolls on greased baking pans and let it thaw until room temperature.
- Once thawed, follow the steps in Option 1.

Makes about 22 rolls (2 oz each)

Finally, for a bit of a variation, I decided to make some herb rolls using the same dough above, after coming across a recipe for Buttered Rosemary Rolls from the amazing Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond.  No rosemary on hand, so dill will have to do.