Lion House Rolls

I made these rolls for Thanksgiving dinner. They sounded almost too complicated to make but I'm glad I did as they were quite tasty. I ended up making them again on Sunday just because I really liked them. Dh thought they were pretty good too. They were soft and fluffy. I'm sure these will be made often in out house. I found the recipe in the Lion House Christmas cookbook.

2 cups warm water

2/3 cup nonfat dry milk (instant or non-instant)

2 tablespoons dry yeast

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1/3 cup butter

1 egg

5 to 5 1/2 cups flour

In large bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine water and milk powder; stir until milk dissolves. Add yeast, then sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups flour. Mix on low speed until ingredients are moistened, then for 2 minutes at medium speed. Add 2 cups flour; mix on low speed until ingredients are moistened, then for 2 minutes at medium speed. (Dough will be getting stiff, and remaining flour may need to be mixed in by hand.) Add about 1/2 cup flour and mix again, by hand or mixer. Dough will be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff. (It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour.)

Scrape dough off sides of bowl and pour about one tablespoon vegetable oil all around the sides of the bowl. Turn dough over in bowl so it is covered with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until double in size, about 45 minutes.

Scrape dough out onto floured board. Turn dough over so it is floured on both sides, gently flatten to about 1 inch thick. With rolling pin, roll out to a rectangle about 18 inches long, 8 inches wide, and 1/4 inch thick. Brush with melted butter. With pizza crust or very sharp knife, cut dough in half to make two strips about 4 inches wide. Make cuts through strips of dough every two inches, making about 18 pieces of dough.

Starting with the short end, roll up one piece of dough, with butter on the inside. Place roll on parchment lined pan with other short end down on the paper. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. Be sure all rolls face the same direction on baking pan. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise until double in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes, or until light to medium golden brown. Brush tops of rolls with melted butter.