twelve days of christmas baking: day nine

I've tried dozens of roll recipes. I usually stick with the basic recipe out of my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, but today I tried a new recipe. I liked it, but I would tweak it a bit. I found it on the following website: Mel's Kitchen Cafe. If you haven't looked at this site, you should. The recipes are amazing.

Day Nine: Dinner Rolls (with my modifications)
1 1/4 c. warm water
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast (one pkg. yeast)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 c. potato flakes
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, slightly beaten

Whisk water, oil, sugar and yeast in a small bowl. In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, potato flakes and salt. In a steady stream, add wet mixture to dry mixture. Knead into a ball for 6 minutes. Let rise for an hour and a half. Punch down and split dough into twelve small balls. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise another hour. Remove plastic, brush egg over the tops and bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

Added bonus: My pizza dough recipe
A lot of people ask me for my pizza dough recipe. I love making homemade pizza. Next to spaghetti, it's always a good backup dinner. I use this dough recipe for my chicken ranch pizza.

 

Yummy Pizza Dough

1 Tbsp. yeast

1/4 c. water

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. shortening

1 tsp. salt

1 c. milk, scalded

1 egg beaten

3 1/2 c. flour

Soften yeast in warm water. In a large bowl, combine sugar, shortening and salt. Stir in hot milk. Cool to lukewarm. Add softened yeast, egg and 2 cups of the flour and beat well. Gradually add remaining flour or enough to make a soft dough. Knead for 4-5 minutes. Let rise in a warm place for about an hour. Roll out to fit pizza. Top with favorite pizza toppings. Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes. This makes 2 pizzas with thick crust.