Delicious Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls

My mom and dad hosted an engagement party dinner this past weekend at their beautiful home. I was so honored when they asked me to make the bread for the 70 guests! I decided to make a combination of bread, including my honey loaf bread and a new dinner roll recipe. I thought that it would be a nice variety, both visually and for the taste buds. I also made sure that I made more than enough of my loaves just in case my new roll recipe failed! Luckily, everything turned out perfectly! I had a hard time handing this delicious rolls over to my mom! Turns out, they were a hit at the party, and sadly for Bunker and me, there were no leftovers.

I think it is so comforting and intimate to have parties in homes. Bunker and I had our engagement party in my parent's home and then I had my bridesmaid's luncheon in the home of one of my mom's dear friends. There is just something about gathering together in a home as opposed to a restaurant that adds a layer of close friendship, a level of intimacy and sharing; it turns dinner or a party into a special event remembered with warm and loving thoughts.

I found this recipe from the food network, but of course, I made a few changes, including doubling the recipe. Even with the changes I made, the rolls were perfect. Even doubling the recipe was just fine, but I think I almost killed my electric mixer, as the dough was a bit overwhelming in size. Below you will find the recipe for one batch of rolls rather than my double batch. You can expect about 30 rolls from the single recipe.


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Ingredients:
1 Package of Dry Active Yeast
1 Cup of Warm Water
3/4 Cup of Honey (original recipe called for 1/2 a cup of sugar)
1 Egg, Beaten
1 Additional Egg, Beaten
2 Teaspoons of Salt
1 Cup of Milk, Warm
4 Ounces of Butter (4 ounces equals 1/2 a cup or one stick of butter), Melted
2 Additional Ounces of Butter (1/4 cup of butter or 1/2 stick of butter), Melted
5 Cups of Flour, plus more as needed to form a dough that does not stick
Muffin Tin Pan

Steps:
1. In an electric mixer fitter with the dough hook, yeast dissolve in the cup of warm water.

2. Let the water and yeast sit until slightly foaming, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the 3/4 cup of honey, the beaten egg, the 2 teaspoons of salt, the one cup of warmed milk, and the stick of butter

4. Slowly add the five cups of flour to make an elastic dough that is slightly sticky to the touch.

5. Place the dough onto a floured work surface and work in more flour as needed to remove the stickiness from the dough, but make sure you do not over knead the dough so that it becomes tough and dense. Knead for about 5 minutes.

6. Place the formed dough in a greased dough. Cover and let stand for about an hour so that the dough can double in size.

7. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
8. Grease the muffin pan.
9. Remove the dough from the bowl and punch down slightly.
10. Form individual 1 inch balls of dough, and place three balls in each muffin tin.

11. Cover the muffin pan and let the rolls rise for about half and hour.

12. Melt the additional 1/2 a stick of butter, let cool.
13. Whisk the additional egg.
14. Uncover the muffins and brush them first with the egg wash and then brush with the cooled butter.

15. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Mine took about 12 minutes.
16. Enjoy hot out of the oven!

Since I was making so many rolls, I ran out of muffin pans, so I actually used a cookie sheet and muffin liners. It actually worked out very nicely! Don't forget to grease your muffin liners, I did and lost a few muffins, but it was nice product control as Bunker an I enjoyed the rolls that fell apart.

I also formed some normal dinner rolls and baked these in cake pans. If you do this as well, you will need to bake the rolls for about 20 minutes.

Final bread for the party!