Freezer Dinner Rolls

Thanksgiving preparations are already underway in our house.  The big day is just under 2 weeks away and it might be too early to get the food ready, but it's not too soon to get the house ready.  If we didn't host a family gathering every once in a while - my house would never get a thorough cleaning.  🧹😂 I've spent the week systematically going through each room of the house and giving it a good cleaning and when I'm done, I close it off.  If anyone has some of that yellow "do not cross this line" police tape - could you send it to me?  ⚠️ 🤣  I really think that might be the only way to keep this house clean until Thanksgiving.  

This weekend I'll be sorting through tablecloths, dishes, silverware, wine glasses and serving platters to make sure I've got what I need for Thanksgiving dinner.  I'm always amazed at how many plates, bowls, trays, boards and baskets it takes to pull off a Thanksgiving meal.  🦃🥔🥙🍠🥐🥧  Honestly, this is exactly the kind of organizational puzzle that I love though.  I get out all of my serving dishes, a stack of post it notes and a sharpie and I start assigning  foods to each.  😅

Most of the food prep for Thanksgiving will happen next week.  With one exception - yeast rolls.  I don't think that I've ever hosted a special dinner without making homemade rolls.  Freshly baked, warm rolls just add something special to a meal and until recently - I've always carved out precious time to make them on the morning of the event to make sure they were as fresh as possible. 

Hello, par cooked rolls from the freezer.  Why did it take me so long to figure this out?  I've seen bags of partially cooked rolls in the freezer section of the grocery store but I never realized that I could do it at home.  Now that I know the secret though - I'm never going back to making rolls on Thanksgiving morning again.  With this recipe, all the dough making, rising and shaping is done ahead of time.  The only thing for me to do on Thanksgiving morning is to throw them in the oven for 10 minutes to finish baking.  

Freezer Dinner Rolls
Flour Paste
1/2 cup water
3 Tablespoons bread flour

Dough
3/4 cup milk, cold
2 2/3 cup bread flour
1 egg
2 teaspoons yeast
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons butter, softened

Whisk water and flour together until smooth.  

Microwave 40-80 seconds, until thick and pasty, whisking every 20 seconds. 

Whisk together flour paste and milk until smooth in standing mixer. 

Add flour, egg and yeast.   Knead with dough hook 1-2 minutes.  Let rest 15 minutes.  

Add sugar and salt and knead on low 5 minutes.  

With mixer running, add butter, 1 T. at a time.  Mix 5 minutes more until smooth.

Place dough in a greased bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap.  

Let rise 1 hour. 

Transfer dough to counter.  Pat into an 8" square. 

Cut dough into 16 pieces.

Form each piece into a smooth ball.  Arrange dough balls on a silpat lined baking sheet. ​

Cover and let rise 1 hour. 

Bake rolls 14 minutes at 300.  

Let rolls cool 30 minutes.  Transfer sheet to freezer and freeze 1 hour. 

Transfer rolls to a ziploc bag and freeze for up to 6 months. 

Arrange frozen rolls on a silpat lined baking sheet.  

Bake rolls 8-10 minutes until golden brown.  

Look out Mrs. Rhodes - I'm comin' for ya!  Just kidding - thank you for inspiring me.   

Ciao!

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