Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Michael's Dinner Rolls

INGREDIENTS

6-7 cups white flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, crushed up
2 cups water
2 yeast packs

butter for brushing bread once almost done
sesame seeds to sprinkle on bread once almost done

DIRECTIONS

1.) Measure two cups of warm water (warm enough to dissolve the yeast, but not so hot it kills it - you should be able to stick your finger in the water without it burning you) and pour in the yeast packets. Allow them to bubble up for a couple of minutes.
2.) Mix dry ingredients in large bowl (don't use all of the flour yet).
3.) Add the yeast and water to the dry ingredients. Mix sufficiently into unified lump and be sure to put flour on your hands while doing so!
4.) Put the dough on the counter and knead it for 8-10 minutes. Add flour as needed but try to keep the dough wet. When kneading, pound the dough with the butt of your palm and fold over constantly.
5.) Once the dough is kneaded and smooth, form into sphere. Place in large bowl (I use a giant pot) and coat sphere of dough with oil. Cover with a towel and allow to rise (about an hour and a half in winter months, about an hour in the summer).
6.) Once the dough has risen to twice its size, punch it. Move back to counter and add a little more flour, then beat out the oil and air a bit.
7.) At this point, you can preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
8.) For rolls, separate into several separate but equal sized parts. Roll into balls, place on baking sheets and let rise for about 20 minutes. (For a loaf, let rise one hour.)
9.) Brush with butter and bake for 15 minutes.
10.) Remove from oven, brush with butter again and sprinkle with seeds.
11.) Bake for about 5 more minutes or until rolls are golden brown.
12.) Remove bread from oven. Knock on it do make sure it sounds hollow. Eat it!