As October ended and November began, I started thinking about the upcoming holidays. I really enjoy the holidays and always look forward to them. I also look forward to all the food associated with the holiday season – turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, rolls, pies, cookies, candies, etc. I love to bake and often spend entire days in the kitchen getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

Blue likes the rolls!

However, it’s hard to find time while parenting a toddler to have one marathon baking day (much less 2 or 3), so this year I decided start preparing for the holidays a little early and baked the rolls for our Thanksgiving dinner last week. I put Blue down for a nap and immediately began mixing up a double batch of rolls. When Blue woke up from his nap it was time to start rolling out the dough and making rolls so my mother-in-law came over to play with Blue while I finished the rolls. It worked out really well and we now have 4-dozen delicious rolls frozen and ready to be warmed up for Thanksgiving dinner.

Michele recently featured several farmer stories and one of them included a wheat farmer.  She also shared a recipe for French bread to go along with that story. The bread in the picture looks delicious and gave me the idea to share my family’s recipe for homemade Crescent Rolls (we call them Yeast Rolls).

We love the rolls!  When HandyMan and I got married, they are one of the food items that I brought to my new family’s holiday dinners. I’m not sure I would be allowed to come now if I didn’t bring them!

The rolls are relatively easy to make, but do require a little bit of time to complete. The best part about them is that they can be frozen and reheated very easily, so feel free to make them ahead of time and keep them in you freezer until needed. When you’re ready to use them, simply place the rolls on a baking sheet and put them in the oven at 350º for 5-10 minutes.

Homemade rolls, fresh out of the oven and ready to eat!

YEAST ROLLS
¾ c milk
½ c sugar
2 t salt
½ c butter, softened
½ c warm water (105°-115° F)
2 pkg. dry yeast
2 beaten eggs
4 ½ c flour

Heat milk until bubbles form. Add sugar, salt, butter, and stir together. Cool to lukewarm. Sprinkle yeast over warm water and stir to dissolve. Stir into milk mixture with spoon; add beaten eggs and 2 c flour. Beat with spoon until smooth (about 2 minutes). Gradually add the rest of the flour beating until dough is stiff and cleans sides of bowl. Brush the dough with soft butter. Cover with a cloth in a warm place and let rise until it is double in size (about 1 hour). When the dough has doubled in size, push down and divide into 3 sections. Roll into 3 circles, spread with melted butter and cut like a pie (pizza cutters work well). Roll from outside edges in. Place on a cookie sheet and shape by turning in slightly. Let rolls rise again until doubled in size. Cook at 350 degrees until golden brown. About 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

-Guest Post by MRS

Hungry for more? Related Posts:
Local Food, Locavores & Hungry People
Balancing Harvesting & Parenting
Reflections in Your Thanksgiving Plate