My Grandma’s Classic Dinner Rolls

I was hunting for Christmas recipes this weekend and pulled out a small book from 1945. Out fell a piece of my grandmother’s world — a worn, soft-edged scrap of paper where she’d written her version of a recipe for dinner rolls.

Not even a week earlier I was standing in the grocery store lamenting (possibly out loud) how impossible it’s become to find plain, old-fashioned dinner rolls. The kind that showed up at every family dinner for as long as I can remember. And you know baking and I have a long, storied love/hate relationship… but challenge accepted. If I tried it, I knew she’d be watching from above. Spoiler, they stood the test of time!

Let’s Bake!

• Heat milk until just about bubbling, not boiling (Grandma’s recipe called it scalding, I’ll admit I didn’t know what that meant!).
• Add the sugar, salt, and butter; stir until everything melts together.
• While the milk mixture is cooling, mix the yeast and warm water in a large bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes so the yeast can do its thing.
• Add the milk mixture to the bowl and stir to combine.
• Add the egg and two cups of flour, beating until smooth.
• Add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough.
• Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
• Punch down the dough and shape into 2 dozen rolls.
• Place on a lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise again until doubled (another 30 minutes or so).
• Bake at 400°F for 12–15 minutes, until golden brown.

So… Grandma’s roll-formation directions were a little vague. My approach: roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch thick, cut it with a 2-inch biscuit cutter, make a crease down the center, brush with melted butter, and fold along the crease to try to create an old-fashioned Parker House roll.

Serve them warm and be transported. Or make a big batch and freeze them — pull out what you need and warm just until soft and steamy for dinner.

What’s your favorite recipe find? Share with us so we can try too!

Eat well friends!

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