Monday, January 5, 2009

Calling All Colorado Bakers!

I seriously need some help.

In 2006 – I decided that I was going to teach myself how to make great homemade rolls. {My mother in law makes the TASTIEST rolls – honestly, on my dying day, they are what I would request for my last meal – with lots of butter, and her strawberry freezer jam. Amazing.} Every other Sunday that entire year, I tried my hand at her roll recipe. Never once did I even come close to duplicating her scrumptious rolls. They were either flat, or too yeasty (to the point of smelling like beer), or hard as rocks. On my 26th try, I finally gave up.

In 2007 – a sister at church brought the best pull-apart “Monkey Bread” rolls for a potluck. I convinced myself that I could do rolls again – and that maybe, just maybe, I could make this recipe work. To no avail. I probably made her monkey bread 15 times, before I admitted defeat.

I took roll making off of my agenda in 2008. {I discovered Pillsbury “bake from scratch” Hot Roll Mix, and used that for a year. Not too shabby, but not Grammy's rolls, either.}
Today, our sweet Relief Society President asked me to help put together a meal, and asked if I could make a bread, and a dessert. Of course I said yes, and since I didn’t have any Hot Roll Mix on hand, set to work trying a different roll recipe - one from the “Oakwood Ward Cookbook” that was sure to be a tried and true Colorado recipe that would work in this altitude, and in my kitchen. They looked good, they smelled good, they didn’t exactly rise as much as they should have, but I thought with a couple more tries, THIS could be my go to recipe.

After I dropped off my creation, I tasted one of the rolls {don’t ask me why I waited until afterwards} and they weren’t terrible, but they really didn’t taste like anything. With enough butter and jam, they could be dressed up to act like a real roll, but without it – it was kind of like just eating a pile of flour.

So this is where you come in! I need your dinner roll recipes – ones that you have used here in Colorado – that actually turn out – that you love! Another requirement: the dough must respond well to hand kneading. I don’t have a Bosch, or a Kitchen Aid, or really any other mixer than the little hand-held one we got for our wedding years ago – so hand kneading is a must!

Thanks to all! Maybe we should get together for a roll tasting party!
HERE’S TO ROCKIN’ AND ROLLIN’ IN 2009!
{sorry, I know that was soooo cheesy. I just couldn’t resist}

5 comments:

ang said...

too bad i don't live in colorado. i have a roll recipe that is easy enough that even i can do it. maybe you would want to try it just to see what happens some day when you are bored with nothing else to do (ha ha). let me know if you ever get that desperate!

it was fun to see you guys!!! your family is darling!

Robin said...

These are my best rolls. They are a little sweet. You can use them for dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls. I did a whole blog on them: http://robinblogz.blogspot.com/2008/10/conference-rolls-fall.html

You need to throw a Rockin and Rollin' tasting party. I bet I win!

Cumorah said...

Angie! Utah is pretty close altitude-wise, I'd love your easy recipe! I'm a sucker for "easy"!
So good to see you guys too! Sorry my girls are a little on the wild side!

Robin! I absolutely LOVE sweet dinner rolls - so I think I'll try these, (your conference rolls look delicious!) but I can't imagine kneeding 9-12 cups of flour by hand...so I'll try halving the recipe. Thanks for the recipe!

daveanddebbie said...

I know exactally how you feel! My mom and grandma are master roll makers! I've tried their recipe dozens of times in Colorado,and while they may be wonderful straight out of the oven, an hour later they are nothing to brag about! I've always thought I'd feel like a traitor if I abandoned their recipe, but after taking mediocre rolls to Christmas dinner with friends I'm ready to try something new! I'd love to join you in your quest, so let me know if you have that Rockin and Rollin' tasting party!

Kim said...

I'm up for the party! We should have made those rolls together-that would have been a lot more fun. I actually was looking at the cookbook while you were here. The recipe right next to the one you used called for sweet potato and I had some I needed to use, so I tried the recipe the next day-forgot to tell you. It turned out good. It makes 30 rolls and I think Hannah ate half of them (good thing they were small). I really like a little sweetness in my bread-so they weren't my favorite but they worked. I have a recipe I really like-you'll have to come over and we'll make them together!