Old Fashioned Yeast Rolls: #Recipe - Finding Our Way Now (2024)

Why Old Fashioned Yeast Rolls? Let me explain. We were visiting our family last Thanksgiving, relishing in the fact that we weren’t responsible for the feast. While staying out of the way and witnessing all that was going on in the kitchen, I was fascinated as I watched my stepdaughterprepare these old-fashionedyeast rolls. It was a recipe that had been passed down in the family for many generations.

Modern day Yeast Rolls, also commonlyreferred to as Quick Rolls or Parker House Rolls date back to the 16th century. The first English version of this recipe was printed in 1588 in “The Good Huswifes Handmaide.”At that time, these old-fashioned yeast rolls were called Manchet,Manchetteorthe French word Michette. The namereferred to a wheaten yeast bread of very good quality, a bread that is small enough to hold in your hand.

With many variations, these old-fashioned yeast rolls were particularly popular with the English Tudor Court. Because of the high quality of flour needed to make these rolls, it was rare to find this kind of bread in households outside of the aristocracy.

Today that isn’t an issue and the ability to make them in our home is very easy. Now without further ado let’s start making these old-fashioned yeast rolls.

Old Fashioned Yeast Rolls

Ingredients: Makes24 Dinner Rolls

Starter

  • 2 packages active dry yeast
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ cups whole milk
  • ¼ cup butter softened or cut into pieces
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Dough

  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 3½ to 4cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons melted butter

Directions:

Put on an apron, it helps. Gather and measure all your ingredients. Butter 2 – 9’ x 13” baking-pans. Butter a large bowl. Set both aside.

The Starter:

In a small mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of flour and all the yeast.

In a 1 quart saucepan add the milk, butter, salt and sugar, stir and heat just until it’s warm, not hot. DO NOT boil. Once the milk mixture is warm, whisk the flour and yeast mixture until smooth and combined.

Forming the Dough & Rolls:

Using a stand mixer, pour the starter (flour and milk mixture) into the mixing bowl. Add eggs. Using a regular beater, beat ½ minute at low speed. Increase the speed to high and beat for an additional 3 minutes. Change the beater to a dough hook and then add 1 cup of flour beating for 1 minute. Add the remaining flour, 1cup at a time, until it reaches a soft doughy consistency.

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface. Knead the dough until it’s smooth and satiny to the touch, about 2 to 3 minutes. Place the dough in the prepared buttered bowl; brush the top and sides of the dough with melted butter. Cover with a clean cloth and place in a warm location and let the dough rise for 1 hour.

Remove the cloth and punch down the dough. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and then cut into quarters. Cut and form 6 dough balls from each quarter making 24 dough balls in all. Place the formed balls into the two prepared pans (12 in each pan), cover and let rise for about 1 hour or until they’ve doubled in size.

Heat the oven to 375° F. Bake the rolls for 15 to 17 minutes.

Remove from the oven; brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter. Pull apart and place in a bread basket and serve immediately. Store any leftover yeast rolls in a plastic bag. To reheat the rolls, wrap them tightly in aluminum foil and warm at 325° F for 2 to 5 minutes.

Notes: I’ll use an unheated oven with the light on to proof the dough. It’s the perfect environment for raising dough. I have a double oven making this an easy thing to do. Ifyou don’t have that luxury, use your oven for the first rise. Then place the unbaked rolls on the counter to rise before baking. They will rise just fine, but it will take a bit longer. If you want larger rolls then make them to the size you desire.

I know you must have laughed when I said put on an apron. Flour is light and will get all over you; an apron helps keep the mess down. A stand mixer is great when making any kind of bread. If you don’t have one, a hand mixer along with a wooden spoon in place of the dough hook will work just fine. However, it will be necessary to knead the dough for at least 5 up to 10 minutes to the right consistency. Kneading ensures the flour will be completely incorporated. These rolls will keep for a bit, if they last that long. As I said before you can reheat them or toast them.

The hardest part of making these old-fashioned yeast rolls is the waiting. The smell of these old-fashioned yeast rolls just out of the oven and all the memories it evoked made them so worth the effort. Now I ask you, how can anyone resist that. I know my neighbors sure couldn’t.

Time to eat…

If you enjoyed my “Old-Fashioned Yeast Rolls,” check out myEasy Beer Bread,Make Ahead Freezer Biscuits, Homemade Whole Wheat Bread For Any Cook. Enjoy.

P.S. P.S.Take amoment to check out my recipe booklets for sale on this site and purchase some of the tools I used for this “Old Fashioned Yeast Rolls” below. 🙂

Old Fashioned Yeast Rolls: #Recipe - Finding Our Way Now (2024)

FAQs

How long does it take for dough to rise with instant yeast? ›

If a recipe using instant yeast calls for the dough to “double in size, about 1 hour,” you may want to mentally add 15 to 20 minutes to this time if you're using active dry yeast.

Why are the tops of my yeast rolls hard? ›

Too much flour, or not the right kind, could be to blame. Dough made only from flour with a high or even average amount of protein (like bread flour or all-purpose flour) can become tough from overmixing. Protein gives bread structure in the form of gluten—the more you mix and move the dough, the more gluten you get.

What happens if you put too much yeast in rolls? ›

Putting too much yeast in bread dough will make it double in size very quickly during the bulk ferment and even more quickly during the proofing of your loaves. As long as you don't let the dough more than double in size at either stage, you should get a reasonable loaf of bread.

Can you use too much yeast in rolls? ›

This can affect the bread by adding a "yeasty" taste if you put too much into the dough. General amounts of yeast are around 1 - 2 % of the flour, by weight. Too much yeast could cause the dough to go flat by releasing gas before the flour is ready to expand.

How do you fix dough that didn't rise? ›

But almost as good as a proofing box is taking a Mason jar filled halfway up with water, microwaving it for two minutes, then putting your bowl of dough into the microwave with the jar to rise. The other thing you can do is place your lidded container or bowl of dough into a second, larger bowl of warm water.

What happens if you leave dough to rise for too long? ›

A bread dough that's over-risen - collapses. You get a dense loaf instead of airy lightness. What happens is that the yeast starts to exhaust food availability. The enzymes produced during fermentation also weakens the gluten structure so much that it can no longer hold gas as well.

How do you tell if dough has risen enough? ›

What bakers call the “poke test” is the best way to tell if dough is ready to bake after its second rise. Lightly flour your finger and poke the dough down about 1". If the indent stays, it's ready to bake. If it pops back out, give it a bit more time.

What is the most common cause of yeast bread failure? ›

Many of these common yeast dough problems are usually due to the yeast being dead to begin with, the yeast being killed or impeded somehow during the bread-making process, or being in a non-ideal environment that is too hot or too cold.

How do you know when yeast rolls are done? ›

The internal temperature of a loaf of crusty yeast bread when it is cooked to perfection should be 200 to 210 F. Soft breads and dinner rolls should be 190 to 200 F. The bread will pull away from the sides of the pan and will feel firm to the touch. The bread will sound hollow when you tap it lightly.

Where is the best place to let dough rise in the house? ›

The best place for your dough to rise is your oven – when it is switched off! Experts advise that you preheat your oven then have it cool down a little before explaining the dough in it to rise. The key to achieving this is ensuring that your oven is going to stay warm enough to facilitate rising, but be careful.

Can I let dough rise overnight on counter? ›

- Uncovered container with dough you need to limit to max 4 hours in room temperature. It is possible to leave bread dough to rise overnight. This needs to be done in the refrigerator to prevent over-fermentation and doughs with an overnight rise will often have a stronger more yeasty flavour which some people prefer.

What temperature kills yeast? ›

Too Hot to Survive

Regardless of the type of yeast you use, if your water reaches temperatures of 120°F or more, the yeast will begin to die off. Once water temps reach 140°F or higher, that is the point where the yeast will be completely killed off.

What makes yeast bread light and fluffy? ›

Add Sugar

As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

Why is my bread not light and fluffy? ›

Incorrect Activation or Wrong Yeast. For the bread to appear soft and fluffy, You must ensure that your yeast ferments correctly. It's not just the temperature in your kitchen, but also the activity of the yeast. Also, you must add the yeast to warm water to activate it.

How do I make my rolls more airy? ›

Shape and Rise

Each dough ball will weigh right around 3 ounces, give or take. Space them a little bit apart in the baking pan and let them rise until very puffy and the sides are touching. Don't skimp on the rising! If they don't rise long enough, they won't reach their fluff-fluffy potential.

Why isn't my yeast puffing up? ›

Yeast is too hot Yeast may have been dissolved in water that was too hot, or the liquid ingredients in the recipe may be too hot, causing the yeast to die. Yeast needs to be warm - not too hot, not too cold. Yeast is too cold If the other ingredients are too cold, it could cause some of the yeast to die.

References

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