Grandma Tess’ Yeast Rolls

Yeast Rolls.

This time of year, my blog should be overflowing with holiday recipes. As I ramp up with this blog, eventually it will be. But, it’s not as easy as it seems to keep up with posting this time of the year. I’m trying to soak up the moments while capturing them authentically. That said, I’m making time to share a few of my tried-and-true holiday recipes—the stuff I’m making now - starting with something truly special.

Let’s talk Yeast Rolls. Soft, pillowy comfort with just a hint of cardamom, these rolls are pure nostalgia wrapped in dough. They transport me straight back to my Grandma Tess’s kitchen at holiday time. She was an exceptional baker, and her perfectly set and balanced dinner table was always the heart of the season. When she didn’t have time to make homemade rolls like these, she would always stack a plate with whatever sliced bread she had available and set that at the table alongside a stick of butter. Bread and butter was an essential part of her dinner table. To me, these rolls aren’t just food—they’re a slice of her love and warmth, carried on through generations.

This is, hands down, the only roll recipe you’ll ever need. This year’s batch? Well, I made them for Thanksgiving as I always do and they turned out especially exquisite—so good they almost feel too good to be true. Add a little pat of butter, and these beauties go from satisfying to downright heavenly.

So, if you’re looking for the perfect holiday roll recipe, this is it.

Yeast Rolls, Cutting and Rolling them in action on the countertop, before 2nd Rising and popping into the oven.  

Grandma Tess’ Yeast Rolls

by Jane Hugentober

Bake time: 8-15 mins, Prep time: 15 mins plus an hour or two of 1st rising time, and 30 mins of 2nd rising time.

Yield: Enough rolls for dinner for 10-15 people plus leftovers for pre dinner taste testing and post dinner snacks.

INGREDIENTS

1 Pkg Yeast

1/4 C. Milk, Whole Milk if you have or use what you have - This 1/4 C. Milk is for the Yeast Dissolving Step.

1 C. Milk, Whole Milk if you have it or use what you have.

1/3 C. Shortening, like Crisco all Vegetable Shortening.

1/3 C. Sugar

1 tsp. Salt

3 1/2 C. Flour

2 Well Beaten Eggs

1 tsp. Ground Cardamom

PREPARATION

Step 1

Dissolve yeast into 1/4 C. of the Milk. I sprinkle the yeast into the 1/4 C. Milk and let it sit while I’m doing everything else and need to use it. I also ever so slightly warm the milk to room temperature. Yeast dissolves faster and is happier in at least room temperature liquid. Ice cold liquid isn’t ideal.

Step 2

Scald the 1 C. Milk in a small sauce pan and take it off the heat, adding the next 3 ingredients to it: shortening, sugar and salt. Scalding milk is just when you heat the milk on medium until you see it start to cook a little and leave a film on the bottom of the pan. Do not bring it to a boil, you’re just heating it up a bit by scalding it.

Step 3

Let that sauce pan with milk mixture sit until a cooler warm temperature that you can touch with your finger. To help this along take the mixture and pour it into a large mixing bowl. When at that cooler warm temperature, Add 2 C. of the Flour to it, Beat it in with a wooden spoon or whatever mixing spoon you have.

Step 4

Add 2 Well Beaten Eggs and the Dissolved Yeast Mixture to the mixture above. Then, add the rest of the Flour and the Cardamom. Mix until well mixed but don’t over do it. The dough should look like this:

Yeast Rolls, dough before 1st Rising.

Step 5

Cover this bowl of dough with tight Plastic Wrap and let the bowl sit on your kitchen counter top for an hour or two or longer. Rise the dough until at least double in size. This step is the 1st Rising. And, it’s this step where after the 1st Rising, you can punch the dough down with a spoon, cover again and store/chill in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. Use Dough as needed.

Step 6

Get a few baking sheets ready. Line them with Parchment Paper so the rolls don’t stick. If you don’t have parchment, grease the baking sheets with Crisco Shortening, Canola Oil or Baking Spray. We don’t want the rolls to stick while they bake.

Step 7

Pre-Heat Oven to 375 and prep the rolls while the oven is pre-heating. Take 1/2 of the dough from the dough bowl and roll out on a floured surface like a clean countertop or on waxed paper - roll out a circle about a 1/3-1/2 inch thick, a circle that resembles a full moon. Cut the the rolled circle into two halves like two half moons. Cut those in half to quarter moons. Then, once again into triangles. Use a sprinkle of flour as you’re rolling and cutting as needed to help manage the stickiness. The entire circle will look like a cut pie, triangular cuttings. Take one triangle and starting with the wider end, roll into a roll shape, they will resemble little shells. Place on the sheet pan and leave room between them for rising and baking into larger rolls. Repeat until all the dough is cut and made into these shell rolls and placed on the sheet pans.

Step 8

Cover un-baked rolls with a tea towel while they rise a 2nd time. The 2nd Rising. This Rising is done on the sheet pans and just before baking. You’ll want to have them rise 15-30 minutes until they look puffier, and ready to bake.

Step 9

Bake on 375 for about 8-13 minutes. Set the timer for 8 minutes and see how they look. Every oven is different and we don’t want to over or under bake these. Bake until a little golden but not too golden.

Step 10

Serve nearly immeditely with a side of butter. YUM.

Yeast Rolls, after cutting them, about to 2nd Rise, just before popping them into the oven.  

Yeast Rolls, Done!