Thanksgiving, Part I: Tender Honey Rolls

As I was preparing for Thanksgiving, I got on my blog to print out some recipes I used in previous years (I'm horribly unorganized and don't have all of my recipes saved on my computer! Shameful!!)  To my horror, I realized I have twice posted photographs of a Thanksgiving meal with a promise to quickly update recipes, but never did. SHAME ON ME! Well, I'm going to remedy this situation, though it will take a few posts over a few different days.  For Thanksgiving we had:

Apple Scented Roast Turkey
Tender Honey Rolls
Rice Dressing (no cornbread mush in my house!)
Squash Casserole (traditional family recipe prepared by my sister)
Candied Sweet Potato Casserole (traditional family recipe prepared by my dad)
Green Bean Casserole (oy, so many casseroles! this one prepared by hubby's mother)
Macaroni and Cheese (at hubby's insistence) 

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Honey Pumpkin Crumble Pie
And this month's Daring Bakers' Challenge which I will reveal tomorrow

The turkey recipe is all ajumble and will take some time to mesh out into a real, directional recipe, so I'm starting with the easy stuff already typed up on my computer.  And hey, who's going to be roasting a turkey any time soon?

Tender Honey Rolls

(recipe found here)

• 4 cups bread flour (Start with 3 if you are hand kneading)
• 1 cup warm water (105° to 115°F)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 package dry yeast (1/4-ounce)
• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp hone

Hand kneading instructions:

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the honey, egg and oil. Add roughly 3 cups of the flour and the salt until the dough comes together in a sticky mass. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, working in the remaining flour as necessary to keep the dough from being too sticky, until the dough is smooth and elastic, 8 minutes. Do not be tempted to add too much flour. The dough should stay soft and will become less sticky with kneading.

Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in bulk, about 2 hours.

Bread Machine Instructions:

Follow manufacturer’s instructions for placing first 7 ingredients into bread pan; select dough cycle, and start bread machine. Remove dough from machine (do not bake).

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead 30 seconds. Cover dough, and let rest 10 minutes.

Punch dough down, and divide into 12-18 equal portions. Shape each portion into a ball, and place on baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 20 minutes. Uncover and bake at 400° for 13 minutes or until browned. Remove rolls from pans, and serve warm or at room temperature.

About 5 minutes into baking , top rolls with 1 tbsp melted butter and 1 tbsp honey to give it that golden brown shiny coat.

(This year, I used a bit too much flour so they weren't as light as soft as the year before, but regardless, these rolls are a HUGE hit. )