Buttery Dinner Rolls

These are the best rolls ever.

I'm on a roll (haha, no pun intended) finding easy recipes lately. Spanish chicken? I could do that in my sleep! Egg and Bacon Salad for lunch? Um, yes please. A reason to use my crockpot? Who you kidding.

Today I hope to break bread with you. I promise the whole process (not counting oven time) takes 30 minutes. Less if you have a helper- come here, husband! Or if you've got kids, they can definitely help with this too. It's fun, it's relaxing, it's an activity for the whole family. Grandma visiting? They like bread too, no? Get everybody in the kitchen!

What I love most about making bread is watching the dough rise. With these rolls, you don't need to get the dough to rise. Instead, you'll get to see what happens to yeast after it sits in a bowl of warm water and honey. I've made these rolls 3 times already and I'm still amazed. Easily entertained.

After the yeast has gotten all foamy and bubbly, you'll make the dough. If you have a stand mixer this is easy. If not, that's okay, your hands will work just fine. Once the dough has been kneaded, you'll cut out strips and roll them into little balls. Easy peasy!

Source: Sprinkles of Parsley
Servings: 20 rolls

2 cups very warm water
1 packet yeast
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 1/2 cups flour (I used half whole wheat, half white)
melted butter (about 1/2 stick)

Begin with preheating your oven to 350 degrees.  Then in a mixing bowl, combine your water, yeast, and honey.  Gently stir until your honey dissolves.  Place the bowl on your stove top and cover with a dry towel.  Make sure your oven is preheated to 350 degrees because when working with dough, you have to create a warm environment to activate the yeast so that it properly rises.  Let your bowl sit untouched for 15 minutes.  

After 15 minutes, your mixture should appear slightly foamy.   Add your salt and baking powder and stir until incorporated.  Then transfer your liquid mixture to an electric mixer if you have one.  Otherwise do this next step by hand.  With the paddle attachment, mix on low speed, gradually adding a 1/2 cup of flour at a time until you've reached 4 1/2 cups.  Mix on low until the flour is incorporated.  Then switch your paddle attachment with the dough hook attachment and mix on high speed for 2-3 minutes.  The dough hook does the kneading for you.  Don't be alarmed when your dough slashes around violently- that's normal! All in the act of kneading.  If you don't have a mixer, transfer your dough to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 2-3 minutes.  

Once your dough has finished kneading, transfer to a lightly floured surface and sprinkle with flour.  Shape your ball of dough into a rectangle and cut into 4 even strips.  Then cut and shape into 20 balls of dough.   Cut an x into each ball. 

Grease a 9x13 pan with butter and place your balls of dough evenly into the pan.  Brush with melted butter. Then place your buns into the preheated oven (should still be preheated to 350 degrees).  Immediately after your close the oven door, increase the temperature to 400 degrees and bake for 17-19 minutes or until golden brown.  

Break apart your dinner rolls and serve warm.