I did it! I DID it! THIS TIME I REALLY DID IT!!!


 Linda    03 Apr : 20:13
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nelms rolls.jpg

Recreating Grandmother's Rolls - 50yrs in the making!

I wrote this article whose title was similar, but ended "no, (sigh) I really didn't" about six years ago, and yes, the topic was the same - my Grandmother's Refrigerator Rolls. Uniquely her own, never duplicated or experienced from anyone's hands but her own... I can honestly state that this is a personal mission the equivalent of my family's Holy Grail! With me as the primary bread baker in the family... Here's the recipe as was observed on numerous attempts - Grandmother never wrote it down:
Ingredients: 1 cup Milk 1/3 cup Crisco 2 tsp salt 1/3 cup sugar ½ cup warm water 1 small yeast cake or 2 1/2 tsp instant yeast 1 large potato 2 eggs, well beaten 4-1/4 cups flour Method: Scald milk – do not boil. Add Crisco, salt and sugar. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Cook and mash potato, add well-beaten eggs. Add mixture and yeast to warm milk mixture. Stir in flour. Turn onto well-floured board and knead into a smooth texture. Place into a well-greased container with tight cover. For best results, refrigerate for 12-24 hours. Make into rolls and place in greased pan. Leave to rise until size has doubled, about 2 hours. Bake 10-15 minutes at 350F.
Seems simple, right? Problem was, I could get delicious yeast/potato flavor, or the light as air texture - never both. I've tried dozens of times... How many kinds of flour are there? AP, bread flour, self-rising... even cake flour! I tried them all. I found numerous similar recipes, but none panned out. This past weekend it was my neighbor's birthday, and the silly gal decided to throw her own party! She'd planned on cooking up a storm and when I asked what I could bring... you guessed it, she asked for rolls wink So I tried these once again. I've been enjoying the exploration of King Arthur Flour, and they had an Amish roll that was somewhat similar to my elusive goal. Batch One: Made strictly to their recipe with the exception of using Crisco instead of butter. I'm sure butter would be good, but NOT what Grandmother used. Result was a great texture, and everyone enjoyed, but not enough of the potato flavor. Batch Two: This was actually my first attempt but served later on at the party. I'd started the same as above, but earlier that morning so it could rise in the fridge for several hours. Result: More of "the right" flavor!!
20rolls
Encouraged, Batch Three was started the next day, using a full 24 hour rise in the fridge. Surprisingly, even with the slow rise in the cold environment, it grew more than either of the previous batches. It was easier to shape into rolls, though I need some more practice to make them all uniform wink I allowed more time for the second rise... PINCH ME NOW!!! They smelled, looked, and felt "just right"!!! This is the batch I shared with my Mom, the only remaining local critic with factual knowledge of "the" original - and I wish I'd let my machine answer the call. "They're good, they're really good!" In my favorite purpose, I have always split two rolls, schmeared with Hellman's Sandwich Spread, topped with a single slice of American cheese, quartered, a generous grating of black pepper and then toasted - Absolute Heaven!!! These live up to that standard, I'm proud to say. Fresh out of the oven I don't feel as if I've found that "perfection" frown . We obviously had far too much liquid in our note taking, and the current version omits the milk - at least one more round of tweaking is needed - but enjoy, folks. Grandmother's Refrigerator Rolls WILL live on!


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