Ashley's Roll Recipe

I had a request to post my roll recipe. I must confess, that everything I am as a roll maker is thanks in large part to my friend Ashley. She gave me this fabulous recipe, and taught me how to roll them up nice and pretty. I typed these instructions out to include in the cookbook I made for my sister when she got married.

Dinner Rolls

2 T yeast
1/3 cup sugar +1 T sugar
1 1/2 c warm milk
1/3 c butter flavored shortening (I just use butter)
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
6-7 c flour (it usually ends up being 5 1/2 cups for me)

Combine yeast, sugar, and 1/2 cup warm milk. Mix together with a fork. (You can warm the milk in the microwave. It should be about 110 degrees for the best results. I usually microwave 1/2 cup milk to mix with the yeast for 40 seconds.) The sugar will help the yeast to turn into a sponge. Once it looks kind of foamy and spongy- it's ready. This should take less than five minutes. In mixing bowl fitted with the dough hook, pour remaining sugar and milk, shortening (or butter), salt, eggs, and 2 cups of the flour, as well as the yeast mixture. Turn mixer onto low and mix until blended. Add two more cups of flour and mix again until blended. Add remaining flour half a cup at a time until the dough lightly sticks to the bottom of the bowl, or until you can handle it well. (You should be able to lightly touch the dough and it won't stick to your finger when it's ready.) Knead by hand (my favorite part!) for about a minute then place in a large, oiled bowl. (Pour a teaspoon of vegetable oil in the bottom of the bowl and swirl it around, then move the dough around so it is slightly oiled. This will prevent it from forming a crust.) Drape a kitchen towel over the bowl and let it rise until twice its size (about an hour and a half.) Divide the dough into 4 or 6 sections (4 if you want large rolls, 6 if you want small rolls.) Roll out each section into a long rectangle, about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick. Using your pizza cutter and starting from the middle of the end of the rectangle closest to you, slice the rectangle in half so that now you have two long rectangles. Now, starting from the point where you made the first slice, cut each rectangle into two triangles. Now you are ready to roll these babies into crescent shapes. Starting with the flat end of the triangle, roll the dough towards the tip. (Pictured on the left in case my instructions are impossible to understand.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Let your rolls rise about 45 minutes and bake for 15 minutes. (If you leave the dough in a warm place like on top of the stove or somewhere near the oven, it will rise faster.)