ambar@EDDIE.MIT.EDU (Jean Marie Diaz) (09/04/87)
YEAST-ROLLS(B) USENET Cookbook YEAST-ROLLS(B) EASY REFRIGERATOR ROLLS YEAST-ROLLS - An utterly reliable recipe for yeast rolls. I believe this recipe started its life on the back of a Fleischman's Yeast package, but it has been memorized and modified for about ten years now. It is the most reliable yeast recipe I've ever seen: it's never failed on me, and it always does an amazing amount of rising (my family calls them mushroom rolls). INGREDIENTS (Makes 24 rolls) 61/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup sugar 2 tsp salt 2 Tbsp dry yeast (each package is about 1 Tbsp) 1/2 cup milk 11/2 cups water 1/4 cup butter 1 egg vegetable shortening or more butter PROCEDURE (1) Combine 2 cups of flour, sugar, salt, and undis- solved yeast. (2) Heat milk, water, and butter until liquids are very warm (120-130 deg. F). Add to dry ingredients. (3) Beat 2 minutes at medium speed (I've never used an electric mixer, by the way. Just stir until things are evenly combined and not terribly lumpy.) (4) Add egg and 1 cup flour. Beat at high speed 2 minutes. Add enough additional flour to make a soft dough. This is where the arm muscles get their exercise! (5) Grease top of dough (with butter or vegetable shortening). Cover the bowl and refrigerate it overnight. (6) Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces. Shape them into balls, and place each in a greased muffin cup. (7) Cover; let rise in a warm place (75-100 deg. F) until doubled. This will take between 1 and 1 1/2 hours. Towards the end of the rising period, preheat the oven to 400 deg. F. (8) Bake at 400 deg. F for 12 to 15 minutes. Store the rolls tightly covered-that is, if there are any left. NOTES This is the first really good yeast bread recipe I discovered when I started making bread in the sixth grade. Done carefully, it can approach a delicate, cakelike tex- ture. It doesn't have to be shaped into rolls, of course -- try it in a regular bread pan, or in fancy shapes. I use Fleischman's dry yeast. I suppose cake yeast can be used, but it always seemed like a nuisance to me. RATING Difficulty: easy. Time: 1 hour of work spread over 2 days. Precision: measure the ingredients. CONTRIBUTOR Jean Marie Diaz (aka AMBAR) Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA "I choose this place to call my own; The only grace I've ever known. I never tire of legends grown; We dream too much, and time has flown...."