There is nothing like warm bread fresh from the oven! I could probably live on bread alone…it is one of my favorite things!
I love to make dinner rolls to serve with some meals and I like them a particular way. They should be light and fluffy with just a hint of whole wheat…oh and I like them a little sweet too! I made some really good rolls a couple of months ago for my little granddaughter’s first birthday. They were a hit with everyone and my son just reminded me that all the guests requested some to take home and made sure they were equally divided.
The only trouble is…I’m bad in the kitchen. I’m always trying something new or making changes to something I’ve made before…but…I don’t write it down. So if it turns out good…I can’t always remember what I did! This happened to me last week during my cooking classes with Debra and Laura. We made rolls but they didn’t turn out well because I didn’t really remember just what I had done to them.
So I told the girls to give me a chance to work on it and I would do a better job of re-creating my rolls and get back to them with the recipe. So…my new friends…Debra and Laura…this is for you! Much better than the ones we did when you were here.
I usually use my Kitchen Aid mixer to make bread. It does everything you can do by hand and is much easier and faster.
Measure out your dry ingredients and put them in the mixing bowl. Mix together with using your dough hook attachment.
Heat your milk and butter and set aside.
Dissolve your yeast in warm water. Put your mixer on the slowest speed and pour in the yeast mixture. Then add the milk mixture and let the mixer do all the work. I usually let it knead the dough for about 8-10 minutes. Your dough should be soft but incorporating all the dry ingredients so it is actually leaving the sides of your bowl clean as it kneads the dough. You can always add a little more water if it looks too dry.
After kneading the dough just pour a few tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of a large bowl and using a spatula dump the dough into the bowl.
Turn it over with your hands making sure it is covered with the olive oil. I usually put a piece of wax paper over the top as you let it rise in a warm spot until it doubles in size.
Carefully pull off the waxed paper just knead the dough a little in the bowl. It should be soft but not sticking to your hands. Let the dough rest for about 5 minutes.
Spray your baking pans with cooking spray and if I’m using a cookie sheet I usually line it with parchment paper and spray the parchment paper.
Using one hand lift your dough with a couple of fingers and pinch off with the other hand a piece of dough about the size of a golf ball or a little smaller. They will almost double in size so keep that in mind when thinking about the size. You can make them any size but the rising and cooking time might vary a bit.
Place the rolls with space for rising around each in a glass or metal baking dish. You can brush the tops of the rolls with any of this for browning…
Egg whites – just mix with a little water for spreading consistency
Heavy cream
Melted Butter
You can also sprinkle the tops with sesame or poppy seeds.
Let rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes and bake at 350º for 15 minutes or until well browned.
Here’s your recipe!
Leah’s Dinner Rolls
6 cups unbleached flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ cups warm water (not hot…warm)
2 tablespoons dry instant yeast
2 cups milk
1 stick butter
In mixing bowl or large bowl add flours, salt, and sugar. Mix well. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Warm milk and butter in small saucepan until butter melts and mixture is very warm but not boiling. Let the milk mixture cool for at least 5 minutes.
With mixer on low speed or by hand…add yeast mixture to flour mixing until all incorporated in flour. Mixture will be very thick. Add warm milk mixture and knead until all flour is incorporated in dough. You can add a little more warm water if needed at this point.
Continue kneading for at least 8-10 minutes in mixer or until dough is very soft and not sticky if kneading by hand.
Pour several tablespoons (3-4) olive oil in large bowl. Using a spatula scrape the dough into bowl. Turn it over and tuck sides under making sure the dough is covered with oil. Let the dough rise in warm spot until double in size (1-1 ½ hours).
Spray baking dishes with cooking spray. Line metal dishes with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
Pinch off balls of dough and place in baking dishes with enough room around each for rising. Let rise in warm place for 30 minutes.
Brush tops with butter, cream, or egg whites mixed with a little water. Sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds if desired. Bake 15 minutes at 350º until well browned.
Try to leave some for your meal!
Enjoy and have fun baking!
Leah
Many years ago…
many…many…years ago…
back when I was in high school…
”The Jolleys” moved to town. Jolley, as everyone called him…or Coach Jolley to all the kids…was the football coach at our high school in Comanche, Texas. The Jolleys were very good family friends…and I have many funny stories to tell you about them…but for now…I will save those for later…
Katie, Coach Jolley’s wife, made this wonderful bread…Dilly Bread…it was delicious! It became a favorite with our family and still to this day… I love this bread. Katie…my dear friend…I think of you every time I make it!
It’s so good that as soon as it comes out of the oven…you can’t wait to taste it. You will want more than one loaf. Share a loaf with a friend… I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t like Dilly Bread.
I usually just use my mixer to make it easy….
so this is what you will need…well almost everything you will need…I mistakenly bought low fat…cottage cheese…I usually just use the regular…
But one thing before we start…this bread has of all things…cottage cheese! Now…don’t you click off this page…go to the store and buy some cottage cheese. Even if you think you wouldn’t touch cottage cheese with a ten foot pole…much less eat it…go buy it. Trust me…with all your heart…you will never know it’s in there!
First dissolve your yeast into the warm water…for those of you who may be new to making bread…it should just be warm…not hot…it will kill your yeast if it is too hot…let it sit while you measure all the dry ingredients into your mixer bowl.
Heat up your cottage cheese and butter until it is lukewarm…just a little warm to the touch…not sizzling hot.
Chop up your onion and fresh dill very fine if you are using fresh onion and fresh dill.
Start your mixer and let it mix the dry ingredients on the slowest speed. Add your dill seed, dill weed or fresh dill along with the onion to the mixture and give that a whirl to mix it together.
Then pour in the cottage cheese mixture and yeast mixture to the dry ingredients. Add the egg and mix together for a couple of minutes.
Add about 2 Tablespoons olive oil into a large bowl. Turn out your yeast dough into the bowl and then flip it over making sure the dough is covered in olive oil. Pat it smooth and let rise until doubled in size …about an hour.
Scrape the dough from the sides of the bowl and turn out on a well floured cutting board. I like to cover my cutting board with wax paper. It makes your clean up easier and I am all for easy!
Cut the dough into 2 or 3 pieces according to what size bread pans you are using. Knead each piece a couple of times and form into a loaf shape and place into an oiled bread pan. I use cooking spray to oil my pans. Let rise for about 30 minutes.
Bake at 350º for about 30 minutes or until well browned. Remove from oven and turn bread out onto a cooling rack. Brush top of loaf with butter and sprinkle generously with Kosher salt before serving.
Although the bread is delicious when it is hot…wait until it cools…or even better…until the next day. The flavors have a chance to develop with a little time. This bread is delicious as sandwich bread…it is so good with BBQ and potato salad and makes a wonderful bread to serve with ham.
You are going to love Dilly Bread!
And to my friend, Joyce…this one is for you…! Sorry I took so long to get you the recipe.
Have fun in the kitchen….Leah
Katie Jolley’s Dilly Bread
2 packages dry yeast (scant Tablespoon if not using pre-packaged yeast)
1/2 cup warm water
1 – 24 ounce container cottage cheese (slightly heated)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup finely chopped onion or 1 Tablespoon dried onion
2 tablespoons dill seed
¼ cup chopped fresh dill or 1 Tablespoon dried dill weed
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
4 tablespoons melted butter
6 ½ – 7 cups flour
Dissolve dry yeast in warm water (water should be warm to the touch…not hot).
In mixer or large bowl place 6 cups flour, sugar, soda, and salt. Mix well.
Add dill seed, fresh dill or dried dill weed and onion to the dry ingredients. Mix in cottage cheese, yeast mixture, butter, and eggs until you make a soft dough. Continue adding flour ½ cup at a time until dough does not feel sticky to your touch. Knead in mixer or by hand for several minutes until dough looks smooth.
Scrape out dough in large oiled bowl (I usually use a couple of tablespoons olive oil) turn it over making sure the dough is covered with the oil and let rise until doubled.
Pour out onto floured cutting board (I like to cover my board with wax paper…it makes the clean up easy). Cut the dough into two or three pieces depending on what size loaf pan you are using. Shape into loaves and place in bread pans that have been sprayed with cooking oil.
Let rise until doubled…about 30 minutes and bake at 350° for about 30 minutes or until browned. Remove from oven and from pans onto cooling racks.
Brush tops of loaves with melted butter and sprinkle with Kosher salt before serving.
Makes 2 large loaves or three smaller ones.
