Honey Yeast Rolls

Delicious!

Sweet Naomi approves!

Let me preface this recipe with a few thoughts.
1) Baking perfect yeast breads isn't rocket science.  It feels more like art to me.  Pardon me for not being super exact with every measurement, but I promise, this is a pretty hard recipe to mess up.  Treat it like art, something you do for your soul, and the results will most likely be tasty.  And the more you do it, the better you'll become at it.
2) Some hard rules (just a few!):  make sure your yeast is in date.  This one can ruin any good recipe.  I've learned this the hard way so many times and it is no fun.

Yeast and water- see the bubbles?
If it isn't bubbly, the yeast is no good

Also, while most of the measurements can be eyeballed, actually measure the salt.  Too much will prevent a good rise.  Thirdly, don't be afraid of a wet(ish) dough.  Stiff dough makes tough bread (great for croutons though, haha).
3) If you don't own a stand mixer with a dough hook, you can still make great bread.  It just takes more work.  If you can afford one, it makes every kitcheny thing easier.  I love mine.  Rabbit and I joke that mine was the costliest gift I've ever received- there's a story there, I'll tell it one day.

Best part of this recipe- it can be made into amazing cinnamon rolls in a jiff, and all the ingredients are easy to keep on hand.

Place 5t active dry yeast (or 2 packets if that's what you have on hand) in the bowl of your stand mixer.  Add 1/2c warm water (about 100 degrees F) and let sit for 5 minutes to dissolve yeast.
In a microwaveable bowl, combine 4T unsalted butter (half stick) and 1/2 to 3/4 cup of honey.  Microwave 30 seconds, or until butter is melted.  Add 1T salt and 1-1/2c very warm water.  Stir until everything is well combined.  Pour this into the mixer bowl with the yeast.  Stir to combine.
At this point, begin adding flour and mixing to incorporate.  If you want to use whole wheat flour for a portion of the total flour, add this first.  Whole wheat flour is drier than all-purpose flour, so you will use less. (I recommend not using whole wheat for the total flour content.  Some people love the denser texture and nutty taste- we do- but I find that the rolls don't store as well and are very tough if not consumed right away.)

Time to change to the dough hook

Adding a cup of flour at a time, mix using the regular paddle until the dough starts to get stringy and is pulling away from the sides of the bowl.  Switch to the dough hook, and continue adding flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing each addition until well incorporated.  You will know you've added enough when the dough begins to clean the sides of the bowl.  (It usually works out to be around 6 cups of flour.)  It may still seem quite tacky, but THAT'S OKAY.  If it is too sticky to touch without making a huge mess, add a little more flour.  Otherwise, you're done.

Still just a bit too sticky 

Looks good- tacky, but not sticky

Grease a large plastic bowl (I use shortening), toss your dough in and flip to cover all sides with whatever you used to grease it, cover with a clean towel, and set it in a warm place to rise.  Easy peasy.  I generally let it rise about an hour before shaping it.

Before first rise

After first rise

Punch the dough down once it has at least doubled in volume.  This recipe usually triples in volume on the first rise, but don't be discouraged if yours didn't.  Shape it into rolls about the size of golf-balls and place these close together (maybe 1/2 inch apart?) on a large baking sheet.  I put parchment paper on mine first for easiest cleanup.  Cover the rolls with the towel again and allow to rise once more, around 30 minutes.

Before second rise

When it's time to bake, don't worry about preheating oven- just pop the rolls in and turn it on to 375 degrees F.  Depending on how big you made them, they'll take between 20-30 minutes.  Pull them out when they are golden brown on top.  To make them extra fancy, I brush the tops with a beaten egg at the end of baking and return them to the oven for about a minute to make the tops glossy.  This extra step makes a big difference in presentation!

Sans eggwash

The egg makes a bug difference!

Makes about 2 dozen large dinner rolls (I saved half the dough to make cinnamon rolls this time).

Look for my cinnamon roll recipe using this dough in tomorrow's post.  And don't forget to pin/share!