Feather Dinner Rolls

The Better Homes and Gardens Golden Treasury says these rolls, light as a feather-bed, were a Sunday dinner staple in the 1930’s.  If you’ve been looking for Grandma’s or Mom’s dinner roll recipe without success, this is it.  It's certainly my favorite plain dinner roll recipe - always good.  Refrigerating the dough while it rises the first time makes it easy to handle when shaping into rolls.

I am giving the original recipe made with leftover mashed potatoes, and my quicker version, with instant potato flakes - I make them both ways.  I do use this recipe for sandwich buns or I cut off enough dough to make 4 rolls for lunch and shape them in knots and bake them on a sheet pan.  I also make these in 2 square or round pans – not necessarily on the same day - I often make half of the recipe right away and leave the remaining dough in the refrigerator to use in a day or two - this recipe is wonderfully versatile.   

When I make these for pot-lucks and reunions, I cool them on a wire rack, then split and butter them and place them back in the pan and take them along.  Folks know that they are homemade, and I never bring any back home.                        

 Feather Rolls

Original Recipe:

  5           cups  flour, all-purpose

  1            package  instant yeast

     1/2    cup  mashed potatoes

     1/3    cup  cooking oil

     1/4    cup  sugar

  1           teaspoon  salt

  1 1/2    cups  warm water --120-125°

My Recipe:

  5           cups  flour, all-purpose -- 20 ounces

  2           teaspoons instant yeast

     1/3   cup  potato flakes

     1/4   cup  sugar

     1/3   cup  cooking oil

  1          teaspoon  salt

     2      Tablespoons  wheat bran or germ -- Optional

15         ounces  water -- 120-125°

1.  Heat water to 120-125°.  Add to dry ingredients in mixer bowl.  Add liquids and beat on 'stir' until combined. Change to dough hook and knead 4 minutes more on '2'. 
2. Cover bowl with a cover or plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
3. Stir down, cover and let rest 10 minutes.  Shape into 18 rolls approx. 2 1/4 oz. and place in greased 9x13” pan.  Preheat oven to 400°.  Let rise, covered, 30 minutes in warm place.  Bake for 16-20 minutes in top part of oven.

• Can also be made into 3 ¼ ounce hamburger or bratwurst buns - 12 per recipe.
• The dough can also be shaped into bowknots, cloverleaf rolls or whatever shape you like and baked on a sheet pan.
• The entire recipe costs me about 98¢, including the wheat bran – or about 65¢ a dozen.
•  The original recipe added the mashed potatoes with the oil, then the warm water.
• Try them with strawberry jam, plum jam or Myrna's marmalade.