Roll Call

Honey Butter Rolls

   Look at those beauts! Yes, I made those! As my baking failure rate is very high, I will continue to blog about successes until I bore you completely to death.
   We fired up the smoker last weekend to celebrate such gorgeous weather with good friends, and of course, pig was involved. Unfortunately, I have no other pictures to offer, such as farm fresh deviled eggs...coleslaw...honey BBQ pulled pork...shrimp wrapped in homemade pancetta. It just got "got" too darn fast. Sorry. But I do have a recipe for these amazing rolls, that were oh so good with heritage pork and a handful of refrigerator pickles.

Honey Butter Rolls


Ingredients

1/4 c warm water
1 package dry yeast
1 tsp good local honey
1 3/4 c warm milk
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 c butter, melted and cooled
1/3 c honey
3 tsp kosher salt
6 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c butter, softened
1/4 honey


Combine water, yeast, and honey. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Mix milk, eggs, 1/2 c butter, honey, and salt in mixer with paddle attachment. Add yeast mixture. Gradually add 5 c of flour, and beat on medium for 3 minutes.
Cover bowl with dish towel and let rise for 1 hour.
Uncover, add 1 1/2 c flour, and mix on medium for 5 minutes. Transfer to greased bowl, cover, and let rise yet again, for 1 hour.
Punch down dough and roll out into balls. Roll smaller balls for dinner rolls, larger for sandwich rolls.
Place in 2 greased 9" tins or pie dishes. Cover and let rise for 1 hour. (Almost there!)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix together 1/2 c butter with 1/4 c honey (although I admit I ran out of butter at this point and used lard instead...mmm)
Bake rolls for 10-12 minutes, or until delicious and beautiful like picture above.
Brush with honey butter and serve with remaining butter.


You can also freeze these rolls after baking, which is really nice for someone like me who rarely bakes bread. There is truly nothing more relaxing, satisfying, and seriously tasty than baking your own bread. While is does take time, the actual work involved is minimal, and the rising times take very little planning ahead.
  
Warning: Do make sure that people you invite over while you bake said bread are those you actually like, because it is terribly hard to get rid of company when the smell of baking yeast bread lingers in the air.