Seasoned Dinner Rolls

I found this recipe in a food magazine and decided to make them for Thanksgiving. I thought about passing it off and buying store bought or refrigerated rolls since there are so many other things to make, but I have this thing for fresh yeast dinner rolls for big holiday meals. When I came across the article the title caught me eye. It said "Best Dinner Rolls", so I figured that since those are some pretty big shoes to fill it might be worth the effort.

What's great about this recipe is that you make a basic dinner roll and then you add whatever toppings you want to make it fit your taste. For Thanksgiving, I made plain, Parmesan-Garlic, and Almond-Herb. I made in the traditional style where you just set the dough balls in the 9x13 pan to double. My favorite were the Parmesan-garlic, followed by the almond-herb. I would have to say that the plain dinner rolls really didn't do anything for me.

Since I wasn't happy with this original batch I decided to make them again for our Christmas dinner. This time I made about 2/3 Parmesan-Garlic and about 1/3 with coarse sea salt. I also experimented with the shapes and made three different varieties: rosettes, cloverleafs, and twists. I really liked how the rosettes turned out with the twists coming in second. The cloverleafs really really didn't work for me because it seemed like they burned easily. That was most likely because you use muffin tins instead of flat sheets, but still, I wasn't as pleased with them.

I would have to say that the Parmesan-garlic are still my favorite, but I think I like the coarse sea salt over the almond-herb. It was difficult for the almond-herb mixture to stay on the roll and once that falls off you just have a very plain roll to eat. I will definitely be making these again. Enjoy! 

Seasoned Dinner Rolls
Makes 2 dozen rolls

4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 pkg (1/4 oz) active dry yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons butter
2 eggs
1 egg, slightly beaten
toppings (see below)

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. In a small saucepan, heat the milk, water, and butter to 115 degrees F. Add to dry ingredients; beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Add 2 eggs; beat on high speed for 2 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 24 portions. Shape into balls (or other shapes). Divide the balls between two greased 13x9 inch baking pans (or 11x17 pans if doing other shapes).

Cover with a clean, lightweight towel and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Brush with lightly beaten egg. Sprinkle rolls with toppings of your choice.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks.

Toppings
Parmesan-Garlic: 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese and 1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic
Almond-Herb: 2 tablespoons chopped sliced almonds and 1/2 teaspoon each kosher salt, dried basil and dried oregano