Dinner Rolls

I don't intend for this to become a food blog exclusively, but that seems to be an easy subject for me lately.  One of my family favorite recipes are these fluffy, warm, there's-no-place-like-home dinner rolls.  When we lived in Taiwan, I made them almost daily and my family devoured them.  I'm so, so glad I have my real oven to bake in now, rather than my Costco countertop oven that did okay, but just not great.  It was like a grown up Easy Bake Oven.  Anyway, this is a relatively simple recipe, tweaked a bit from what my homemaker extraordinaire sister, Julie, gave me.  Before we get started, let me suggest you do yourself a favor and buy some decent yeast.  Good yeast is the secret to any bread concoction, in my opinion.  I use Saf instant yeast and store it in the refrigerator or freezer and it will last a long time.  I keep mine in a plastic storage container.  Fresh flour makes a difference too.  I like Gold Medal all-purpose flour or King Arthur bread flour typically. I hope my recipe works for you!  The more you make these, the easier they'll be to whip up.

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all purpose flour or bread flour
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour or bread flour
• additional flour to sprinkle on countertop and dough to roll out

Step 1.  Microwave milk for about one minute or 70 seconds.
Step 2.  Whisk very warm milk together in a large bowl with sugar and yeast.
Step 3.  Add oil, salt, egg.
Step 4.  Whisk the first two cups of flour in with the other ingredients.
Step 5.  Set whisk aside and use a large spoon to stir in the 1 1/4 cups flour, stirring for a few minutes until everything is well blended.
Step 6.  Put lid onto bowl and set aside to let rise for 1 1/2 hours.
Step 7.  Remove lid, then sprinkle flour on top of risen dough, and also onto the countertop.
Step 8.  Turn out all of dough onto counter, then sprinkle more flour so it won't still to rolling pin.
Step 9.  Roll dough into a 16" to 18" circle, so it looks like a large pizza dough.
Step 10.  With a pizza cutter, cut into 16 pieces.  (Cut in fourths, then eighths, then 16ths.)
Step 11. Roll each pizza slice looking piece of dough into a crescent shape with the outer edge of the circle rolled up first, and the tips wrapping around it.
Step 12.  Place four rows of four dinner rolls onto a cookie sheet or silpat baking sheet, then cover with a clean dish towel to let them rise again for about 40 minutes.
Step 13.  Bake at 400 F for 10 minutes.
Step 14.  Cool and serve.  Makes 16 fabulous dinner rolls.