Great Grandma Kyle's Dinner Rolls

I have genuinely struggled to find a reliable dinner roll recipe that is easy to make and enjoyed by my whole family. And then a few months ago on Thanksgiving, a young cousin brought several trays of these truly enjoyable rolls to share with everyone! It seems she found the recipe in some old papers belonging to my grandmother.

My guys enjoyed these rolls so much, they almost didn't save room for anything else! So after a healthy dose of teasing, we convinced my cousin to share what she learned. And today my boy and I spent an enjoyable afternoon in the kitchen cranking out a batch of our own.


These rolls are good with dinner, at breakfast, or just anytime you want a nice, toasty, yeasty snack!

Great Grandma Kyle's Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:

3 - Tbs rapid rise yeast (1.5 pkgs)

1 - egg

1.5 - cups warm milk

1/3 - cup sugar

5 - Tbs softened butter

1 - tsp salt

4 - cups all purpose flour

2 - Tbs melted butter

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 180F. When it reaches temperature, turn off the heat and keep the door closed. This is an optional step, but is useful in cold weather.
2. Combine all ingredients except melted butter in a bowl. You’ll want to start with 3 cups or so of flour and add in the rest as needed. Adding all the flour at once is doable, but difficult. The dough should be sticky, but workable. Add flour 1 tablespoon at a time as needed to achieve proper texture.
3. Put the dough in a greased oven-safe bowl and let it rise for 30 minutes in the warm oven (or on the counter in warm weather). It should roughly double in size.
4. Take the dough out of the oven and punch it down, then return it to the oven and let it rise for another 30 minutes in the warm oven. Again, it should about double in size while rising.
5. At the end of the 2nd 30-minute rise, punch it down again.
6. Pull out dough and roll in your palm to your desired size. We use about a 2 Tbs scoop at a time.
7. Place the dough balls in a greased pan (or two, depending on the size of your pan). Cover with a damp rag and allow the rolls to rest while you preheat the oven to 375F.
8. When the oven reaches 375F, brush the melted butter over the top of the dough.
9. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes until lightly golden in color.

Allow rolls to cool slightly before enjoying!

Recipe Notes: I've actually made these a couple of times now and I've tweaked things just a little. I like to "proof" the yeast with the warm milk and sugar for 5-10 minutes before mixing everything together. It's not necessary, but I'm finding the dough to be a bit lighter and more airy when I add this extra step. Also, just before putting in the oven to bake, just after brushing with the melted butter, I like to lightly sprinkle sea salt over the rolls. We like a lot of savory foods and these rolls really pair well with savory dishes with the added salt.

I am thankful that I got to spend a large part of my childhood around my Great Grandmother Kyle. Grandma Kyle (as we all called her) was a teacher by profession and by spirit. She never missed a teaching opportunity. She liked to lead hikes through the woods with my cousins and I where she would tell us tales from her childhood and point out the different plants and animals we saw along the way.

But my favorite remembrance of her was story time! Grandma Kyle could crank out a yarn at the drop of a hat! She did special voices for all of the characters and even acted out some of the action. She could recite a favorite story or spin a tale of her own but my favorites were the escapades of Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Fox. I can still hear her voice in my head as she would mime out Br'er Rabbit's tricksy plans to make a fool of Br'er Fox.

Grandma Kyle also played a role in a "breakfast scheme" my cousin Lian and I had going when we were in elementary school. We all lived within sight of one another on "the hill": my cousin and her family, my grandparents, my great grandmother, and my little family. Each day, before our parents left for work, we'd have breakfast at home. Then we'd meet up at our grandparents home and grab breakfast with them before Grandaddy had to go to work. After Granny shooed us out of her house, we'd sneak back to Grandma Kyle's place for one last morning feast with her before being told to get on to school or at least outside for some play time. It was always a fun way to start the day and remains one of my favorite childhood memories.