Dinner Rolls

              
             My family's new favorite roll are based on the Pani Popo rolls I found on King Arthur Flour's website.  The original roll recipe calls for a coconut syrup type topping to be brushed on the rolls.  I will try it one day I think, but everyone loves the rolls without it.  I make 24 rolls per batch of dough, and they are gone within 2 days.  My first batch didn't come out the prettiest.  They were kind of uneven, as you can see from the final pictures.  With practice, (I have made these numerous times since), they look like those that you would get right from a bake shop.

             These make great slider buns.  I used them for meatball sliders.  If you make bigger buns, you can probably use the dough for hamburgers.  The texture is soft and they taste slightly sweet.

             I slightly modified the recipe from King Arthur.  I also made liquid adjustments due to lack of humidity.  This is a sticky dough, but easy to work with once it rests for a few minutes.  I will explain my trick.



Ingredients

1. 3/4 cup of warm water
2. 1/4 cup of warm milk(I actually added a little more milk so that it was not an even 1/4 cup.  It was just over the 1/4 cup mark.)
3. 4 Tbl unsalted butter
4. 2 eggs
5. 2 tsp vanilla extract
6. 1/4 Cup sugar
7. 3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
8. 1 1/4 tsp salt
9. 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast or instant

 You also want to melt 2 Tbl of butter for brushing the tops of the buns.


Place all the ingredients in a bread machine in order and place on the dough cycle.  Let the dough double in bulk.  It was about 90 minutes.

If using a mixer, combine all of the ingredients and then place the dough in a greased bowl.  Let it rise until it doubles in bulk.

After the dough has risen, place it on a prepared surface.  I just used parchment paper that I sprayed with non-stick spray.  I then used my hands and formed a rectangle with the dough.  You will notice it's sticky, that's why I didn't use a rolling pin right away.

Let the dough sit for a few minutes.  It should become easier to work with once it sits.  I then was able to take my rolling pin and roll it into a large rectangle.  I then divided the dough so that I had 24 strips of dough.

Roll the dough to form the round buns.  I formed the rolls by rolling the dough between my thumb and pinky.  It takes practice to make a smooth roll.  Don't worry if they're not pretty the first couple of go rounds.  They taste delicious.

Place them in a greased 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking dish.  I had 4 rolls per roll, and 6 rows.
Ok, these are 3 rolls per row with 5 rows. This was my first batch as I stated.  I got better as I repeated the recipe. 

Them place them in a preheated 350F oven for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, brush them once with 2 Tbl melted butter.  Let them finish cooking (about another 4 minutes).  They will be golden brown when done.  Brush them with remaining butter when they are out of the oven.

These are worth making, again and again.