Sunday, April 8, 2012

Tara's Grandmas Rolls


4 cups water
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup lard (or Crisco)
1 tablespoon salt
4 eggs 
1 pkg yeast (I use 1 tablespoon bulk yeast I buy at the health food store.)
8 – 10 cups flour
Bring water and sugar to a boil. Boil 5 minutes. Pull off of heat and add lard, cool 3 to 4 hours. Add salt, eggs, and bear with mixer until well blended. Add 3 cups flour, mix until smooth, dissolve yeast in ¼ cup warm water, and 1 tablespoon of sugar, let set for a few minutes until it begins to foam or grow. Add yeast mix to flour mixture, beat well. Add remaining flour one cup at a time until mixture is able to be kneaded by hand.  Knead for a bit, put into a large greased bowl, turn the dough in the bowl so it is coated with some grease, let rise until double its size. Shape dough into small rolls and let rise overnight, or until double. Bake 325 degrees 10-12 minutes (depends on how big or small you make them). This recipe makes very good cinnamon rolls, too. 
Start at dinner, punch down and form into rolls around 10-11P.M. Bake first thing in the morning. 
For Cinnamon Rolls:
Divide dough into 1/2 or 1/3. Roll out with a rolling pin into a rectangle 12 X 9 ( 9 X 13).  Melt butter so it is just soft and almost liquid.  Put a stick of butter on each rectangle.  Spread it around with a spatula.  Take brown sugar and spread around the dough, sprinkle it.  Then take cinnamon and sprinkle on top of the brown sugar.  Heavy cinnamon.  2 tblsp.  
Roll into a log.  Slice about 3/4 to an inch.  Put into greased 9 X 13 inch pan.  Space between each one to allow room to rise.  Serrate bread knife.  Put on counter with light dish towel