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Sunday, November 13, 2011

SCHOOL HOUSE ROLLS


When I was in school, the "lunch ladies" made the best rolls.   I remember the wonderful aroma of those rolls being prepared for lunch.   You could seriously smell them all over the school before lunch.    Several years ago, David worked at a job that took him to the school cafeterias to support the staff with their IT issues.   He got first hand experience with the amazing smell of the rolls and somehow managed to get the recipe from the grateful "lunch ladies".   Of course, the original recipe makes 120 rolls and had to be scaled down to a more reasonable amount.

He hasn't made them for years; but recently, at the request of my mom, the baker returned and he made a batch of these amazing rolls.   I knew that I had to share these with you just in time for Thanksgiving.

School House Rolls
adapted from the "Lunch Ladies" recipe from Lincoln Parish Schools

3 1/2 cups Water
1 Tbsp. Honey
6 1/2 to 7 cups of All Purpose Flour
1 cup Dry Milk
1/2 cup Sugar
2 1/2 tsp. Salt
2 sticks Unsalted Butter*
3 packets of Yeast
Extra butter for the tops of the rolls

Heat water to 110 degrees (hot tap water).  Stir honey and one stick of melted butter into the water until thoroughly combined.  Add yeast and let it grow (about ten minutes).  Add all of the other ingredients to the water and butter mixture and mix until a ball is formed.  Transfer the ball into a lightly oiled large bowl.  Cover and let rise until double in size.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Once the dough has risen, pinch rolls into balls and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet.   Let the rolls rise again, approximately 30 minutes.  Brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter and place in the preheated oven.  Bake until golden brown, approximately 20 minutes.

*  The lunch ladies used shortening instead of butter in the rolls.  We don't like to use shortening so David used butter in place of the shortening this time.  The rolls are delicious either way; however, I think the rolls made with the shortening have a slight edge.

 Thanks so much for stopping by,

18 comments:

  1. Nice to have homemade rolls at school, our cafeteria was nothing like that, would have been nice. They look so good. I can see them as a delicious addition to the Thanksgiving table.

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  2. These look so good and are totally the front runner for my first yeast baking experiment!

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  3. Ah, a recipe using yeast! haha! : )
    Your recipe sounds delicious. There are few things better in this world than homemade rolls, fresh out of the oven! I wonder if the lunchroom at my kids' school serves homemade rolls?! Probably not!!! ;)

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  4. Is it possible, Candace, that the rolls with the shortening are fluffier? I've noticed that when I use half shortening in my pie crust, it makes it flakier and more tender than when I use just butter. Regardless, thank you so much for this recipe. They look fantastic! The last time I made rolls they resembled medieval weapons! All I needed was a catapult. :-((

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  5. Those look like a yeasty yum party for my mouth. Love them!!! :O)

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  6. I'm pretty sure MY lunch ladies didn't make homemade rolls...the ones we had were dry and awful. These do look delicious, though!

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  7. Oh now your going old school on me:) talk about something that reminds me of growing up. Was there ever a sunday that I didn't have these babies? Nope! Your picture of the rolls looks divine and I only wish I had one right now!

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  8. If I think it s entire 1 bread it look like ramadan bread in turkey which s a special type of Pide(bread) mostly only cooked during ramadan.. I m sure it s so tasty especially when it s warm..
    cheers from istanbul

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  9. how lucky to have lunch ladies that actually make things from scratch!!! looks heavenly!

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  10. This totally reminds me of the Holiday meals at school. Thanks for sharing and I hope you have a fabulous day!

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  11. Can you ship those to Arizona?? :) Oh my goodness, I can even smell them baking!

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  12. WOW! Candace, this week I am making rolls for Thanksgiving and now I find your recipe.

    I will give a try and comeback to let you know. Thank you for sharing and you husband for getting the recipe.

    Mely

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  13. Question:

    About how many rolls will this amount of flour will render? My guess is like 40, but anyway I need to know.

    Thanks in advance for your answer.

    Mely

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  14. You are so right about that! School rolls were awesome! I'm still out of state...so, that's why I'm just getting around to this! Hope you are well...Big hugs, Leah

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  15. School House rolls a great hit in my house.

    Thanks Candace.

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