Norman's dinner rolls

Norman’s Dinner Rolls

I don’t know what it is about dinner rolls that stimulates the appetite. Do you find yourself eating two or three when you are at a wedding banquet? I don’t know, maybe it’s the shape. But if you take a warm dinner roll and give it a big pat of butter, you can’t eat just one, at least I can’t. 

By the way, if you’re at a wedding dinner and you slip the waitstaff five or ten bucks, they might just keep the dinner rolls flowing throughout the whole dinner. I would never do such a thing of course. I’m just saying.

3 cups of flour

1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup honey (don’t measure, guess)

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbs. instant yeast

1-1/2 cups of water, approximate

Preparation

Place the flour in the mixing bowl, mix in the melted butter. Add the honey (ooh, a little more than that, don’t be stingy), salt and the yeast. Now start adding lukewarm water, first a cup, and then more, a little at a time, until the dough comes together. Don’t get worried. Relax, take a breath and have one of my home brews. We’re not doing brain surgery here. If it’s a little too wet, add a little more flour. Too dry, a spec more water. 

Once the dough comes together, knead it for about two or three minutes. Let it rise in a moderately warm place for about a half hour, allowing it to double in size. Knead it again and roll it into a long log.

Take a couple of muffin pans and spray them with one of those cooking sprays. Slice the dough so that when you place it in the muffin tin, it is about a third of the way below the top of the tin. When all of the dough is in the muffin tin, let them rise for about ten minutes while you preheat the oven to 450º.

Bake the muffins in the center of the oven for about ten to fifteen minutes, until they are golden brown. Allow them to cool for five minutes before taking them out of the tin. Serve them while they are still piping hot.

Serving

My dinner rolls go good with almost any of my fine meals. I especially like them (with lots of butter of course) with roast prime rib of beef, Yorkshire pudding, baked potatoes, a caesar salad and a bottle of the best California Cabernet you can afford. For dessert, I suggest apple pie and vanilla ice cream followed by a good Serbian Plum Brandy.