Buttery Dinner Rolls

It’s November! Welcome, morning frost and fresh cranberries. Welcome, soup and tea and nights-that-are-dark-too-early. Welcome, month of pies and all things good!
This year, I’m hosting a Friendsgiving gathering at my house. We’re doing away with a lot of the traditional Thanksgiving foods, like turkey and stuffing, (mostly because we are teenage girls and there is no way we will finish an entire bird, but also because I have been craving fried chicken lately and need an excuse to fry up a big batch) but my friends are adamant that there be lots of pie. Of course! Given. Done and done.
As a matter of fact, in addition to pie, these dinner rolls will probably be the only traditional thing on the table. Because the truth is, whether you’re experimenting with new menus or sticking with old ones, all meals need a common denominator, and that is a fluffy, buttery, and basically perfect dinner roll.
Dinner rolls set the tone of the entire meal: if they’re good, everything else will be, too. They should be subtle enough to support epic sandwiches, sauces and salads, but also tasty enough to eat on their own and above all, they should be in abundance, with golden tops and soft, pillowy insides that will have everyone reaching for just one more.
These classic rolls fit the bill and are made in one bowl (the less dishes to wash, the better!) and I already can’t wait to pile one high with all the trimmings of a good fried chicken sandwich.
Happy November!

Yields: around 25 dinner rolls

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Why I love this recipe: made in just one bowl, this butter, yeast and egg enriched dough yields the fluffiest, butteriest dinner rolls around, good with everything from burgers to mopping up gravy to constructing epic fried chicken sandwiches. 

For the dough:

• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 3 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups warm whole milk
• 3 large eggs, one set aside for the egg wash
• 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1. Place the water in the bowl of a stand mixer; sprinkle with the yeast, and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. Pour the milk, butter, sugar, salt and 2 eggs over the foamy yeast mixture. Combine on a low speed in the mixer.
3. Begin adding in the flour, 1 cup at a time, and mixing until a soft, shaggy dough forms. Knead with dough hook in mixer until smooth and elastic, 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface. Butter the inside of the mixer bowl; place dough in bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let stand in a warm spot until dough has doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
5. Butter one 9×13″ baking pan. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 15-inch rope; cut each rope into twelve pieces (I got 12-13 pieces from each rope) . Press each piece into a disk, then shape into a ball.
6. Arrange dough balls in prepared pan. Cover pans loosely with plastic wrap or a towel; let stand in a warm spot until rolls have doubled in size, about 1 1/4 hours.
7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. In a small bowl, beat remaining egg until blended; brush onto rolls twice (this ensures a very nice, deep golden color).
8. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes, rotating pans back to front and top to bottom halfway through. Let rolls cool 15 minutes before serving.