Soft Dinner Roll Dough

By Adell Shneer and The Canadian Living Test Kitchen. This bakes into tender, buttery buns in a variety of shapes. Do some of each to make a fabulous breadbasket for your holiday table.

Yield

20 rolls

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp (25 mL) granulated sugar
  • 1-1/4 cups (300 mL) milk
  • 1/4 cup (50 mL) butter
  • 1 tsp (5 mL) salt
  • 1/4 cup (50 mL) warm water
  • 1 pkg (2-1/4 tsp/11 mL) active dry yeast
  • 1 egg
  • 4-1/2 cups (1.125 L) all-purpose flour, (approx)

Directions

  1. Remove 1 tsp (5 mL) of the sugar; set aside.
  2. In saucepan, heat together milk, butter, salt and remaining sugar until butter is melted; let cool to lukewarm.
  3. In large bowl, dissolve reserved sugar with warm water. Sprinkle in yeast; let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes. Whisk in milk mixture and egg.
  4. Stir in 4 cups (1 L) of the flour, 1 cup (250 mL) at a time, to make soft shaggy dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead, adding as much of the remaining flour as necessary to prevent sticking, until smooth, elastic and quite soft, about 10 minutes.
  5. Place dough in large greased bowl, turning to grease all over. Cover with plastic wrap or tea towel; let rise in warm place until dough is doubled in bulk, about 1-1/2 hours.
  6. Additional Information
  7. Variation – Whole Wheat Soft Dinner Roll Dough: Replace 1-1/2 cups (375 mL) of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour.