I wish there was a hyper-link for smells. Grandma's rolls coming out of the oven are … I don't even know what word to use. Perfect. They were a staple of my childhood, since we used to walk to Grandma's house after school and hang out there until my parents got out of work. She'd keep them frozen and warm them up for us in her toaster oven, and they were always just perfectly smooth and lightly powdery on top and soft and yeasty throughout. A little butter was nice, but you could down them straight, too. Walking into her house after church on a Sunday was almost more than you could handle, with the smell of roast beef mingling with the rolls. Plus all the uncles and then aunts and then children, crammed into her tiny kitchen and living room…plenty of harassment and teasing, but it was worth it. Canned peaches in perfect halves were usually on the table, too, and always some homemade applesauce for Uncle Dave. Dessert was a homemade pie…rhubarb for my dad or banana cream with meringue for Uncle Mark if we were celebrating a birthday, otherwise plenty of blueberry and apple double-crust pies. Grandma wasn't a fancy cook, but what she made, she made from scratch and made it well!
I'm glad that at some point when I was young she let me "help" her make rolls (and coffeecakes). I can still see the yellowish cupboards and counters trimmed with metal, and I remember being very frustrated because I couldn't get the hang of how to shape them. Funny, now that I'm grown, the method comes naturally and it's my kids who struggle to make sense of it. I wonder if there's a cognitive or motor skill "switch" that needs to be flipped to be able to shape rolls in this way rather than trying to force-roll them into a ball like they always seem to want to…
Anyway, once we bought a bread maker a few years ago, I decided to try my hand (machine) at these. The dough setting seems to work fine in about 90 minutes, so I can go straight to the snipping and shaping and baking. And the outcome? Still no words, but if you could smell the kitchen right now…mmmmmmmmm……
Basic recipe (bless you again, Aunt Marilyn, for preserving these recipes & instructions!)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
4 1/4 cups flour
2 pkgs yeast (1 tablespoon *it says 4 1/2 tsp later…think I've done both)
Mix. Let rise. Shape. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
(I put the ingredients above into my bread machine following the manufacturer's instructions - either pre-warmed or using the preheat cycle - and then skip to the ** below when the dough is done.)
Recipe with expanded instructions
1 cup milk (warmed, not hot)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil
Mix together and make sure it stays warm
2 pkgs yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp from jar) (Fleischmans active dry yeast, not quick, not Breadmaker)
1/4 cup warm water
Mix in a 1 cup measuring cup
Make sure it's warm
Beat 2 eggs in mixing bowl (don't whip)
Mix in milk mixture
Mix in yeast mixture
Mix in 4 1/4 cups Gold Medal flour, one at a time, low to medium speed
Dough will be somewhat sticky
Generously sprinkle flour on counter
Knead dough with added flour until not as sticky (will still be somewhat sticky)
Lightly spray oil or non-stick spray in an oven safe bowl and spread the dough out in the goal. Put the dough in a "register warm" place (either on a register or in an oven that was on warm for a few minutes but is now off). Put a warm wet cloth over it and let is rise for about a 1/2 hour.
** Once it has risen, take out and knead with a little bit of flour. Snip roll size pieces (slightly smaller than actual baked roll size) off with a scissors, dip the snipped edge in a little flour, and form them into rolls. This can be done by putting your thumbs in the center and pulling the edges out and under a few times. Place them on sprayed air bake cookie sheet if you have one, and let them rise for about 1/2 hour (don't cover).
Set oven to 350 and bake for 15 minutes - watch them. Take out and brush with melted butter.
For coffeecakes (makes 1 really large or two medium…I've always done 2)
Make the dough as instructed above, using traditional method or bread machine.
**Once it has risen, take out and knead with a little bit of flour. For 2 coffeecakes divide dough in half and keep one half warm while working on the other.
Roll out dough into a rectangle shape, roughly 6" x 18" x 1/3".
Spread 2 tablespoons melted butter on it with a pastry brush.
Generously sprinkle cinnamon all over it.
Generously sprinkle brown sugar all over it.
Roll it up the long way and place it on a sprayed air bake cookie sheet with the seam facing down.
Form the tube of dough into a circle on the pan.
Snip it with scissors, 1 1/2 inches apart, only snipping 1/2 way down into the dough.
Let it rise for 15-20 minutes.
Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, watch it (I struggle to get the center done without burning the top…but as I'm typing these instructions I'm wondering if I'm doing the snipping wrong by snipping from the outside in, rather than from the top down. Will try that next time!)
Let cool, then frost.
Frosting: mix powdered sugar, water, and a little melted butter.
Grandma's coffeecakes were always a treat when we got to spend the night at her house. She'd have two wedges wrapped in foil in her toaster oven, smelling up the whole house with morning goodness. The real legacy with her coffeecakes, though, was Christmas Eve. At some point she started giving each family a coffeecake when we'd gather to celebrate on Christmas Eve so that we could enjoy it on Christmas morning. When the Alzheimer's prohibited her from doing this, I think Aunt Marilyn took over for a little while, and eventually Holly took up the mantle for our branch of the family. When I discovered how easy it was with the bread machine, it became my job instead. This year it was truly a beautiful thing to see on Facebook that by Christmas Eve, I had made our coffeecakes, Andrea had made them for her family, and Aimee and Aunt Chris were busy baking theirs, too. Maxine left her mark on all of us in quiet ways, and these coffeecakes are warm, homemade evidence of that.
