Saturday, March 15, 2008

SCORE!

My sister called at 8:00 this morning to let me know her neighbor was selling her
large Kitchenaid mixer--perfect for my baking/bread making/mixing large quantities
catering adventure. My sister worked in a Sur La Table kitchen store a few years back
and said these mixers sold for approx. $600. This lady was asking $200. with a meat
grinding attachment thrown in and all the hooks and a 6 quart bowl. So here it is on
my table just waiting to be put to some good use. I can hardly wait to try it! The flowers
are from my daughter for my birthday--aren't they gorgeous?



Last week I had a hankering for fresh rolls, so I made a batch of these Cloverleaf
Sweet Rolls from my Grandma's old Betty Crocker cookbook. They are fairly easy to
make and just as good as it gets for taste and excellent eating quality. I think one
of the keys with these is to keep the dough as sticky as possible before kneading.
The more flour you have to use the tougher the dough in my opinion.

These rolls can be made in any shape you like: Parker House, Twists, Knots, etc.
I like the Cloverleaf because I can't really mess them up as far as shape and they
are fun to pull apart and eat.




SWEET CLOVERLEAF ROLLS

1/2 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
2 packages active dry yeast
1 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup shortening
7 to 7 1/2 cup sifted all purpose flour

Measure warm water into mixing bowl and add yeast, stirring with a wire whisk until
dissolved completely. Stir in milk, sugar, salt, eggs and shortening with the whisk until
the shortening is in small pieces. Add about half the flour and mix until blended. Add
enough of the remaining flour so that you have a dough that can be handled--keep
in mind that the less flour the better for a softer roll in the end. Turn dough out onto
lightly floured board or countertop and knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 min.)

Grease a large bowl and place dough in bowl, turning the whole round of dough with
your hand so that it is greased all around. Cover the bowl (I use plastic wrap to hold in
the heat) and place in a warm spot (I use my oven with the pilot light on) until double
in size (approx. 1 1/2 hours) Deflate the dough by pushing with fists once or twice and
let rise again in the same bowl until almost double, which takes about 30 minutes.

Place dough on your floured board or countertop and cut in half with a sharp knife.
Cut those halves in half (kitchen shears work great for this!) and continue doing this until
you have 72 small pieces of dough. The idea here is to place 3 dough pieces in each muffin
cup to make a cloverleaf roll. Lightly roll each bit of dough into a round shape and place
3 balls in each greased muffin cup.

Brush with melted butter and place in oven with pilot light on for approx. 15-20 minutes
to rise until light. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, turning each pan once during
baking to distribute heat evenly. Remove from oven and brush again with butter for taste
and softness. Cool completely before removing from pan. Store in airtight container so
they don't dry out.

Makes 24 large, buttery, tender I can't believe how good these are! rolls.

4 comments:

Laura ~Peach~ said...

DROOL....I used to make all of our bread... same recepie only I would make loaves or rolls or what ever hit my fancy...It finally got to where I was making bread daily as having 8 kids in the house at any given time (I used to keep kids here) they would plow through it... I think I may make a batch one day just for fun! I bet they would not make it 15 minutes out of the oven :-)
Great deal on the kitchen aid too! I bet you will be making some great stuff with it! CONGRATULATIONS... and HAPPY BIRTHDAY! today is my DH's b- day :-)

Anonymous said...

When was your bday? Today??? Happy Birthday!
Re has a mixer like this, and it is awesome. I know what a steal of a deal this is, you will love it. And... it's red, so cool.

Anonymous said...

Those roll look so pretty. I bet they tasted great.

Congratulations on the Kitchen Aid mixer. It looks like you got a great deal.

I can't imagine having bears walking down the street!

Kate

Grandma Tillie's Bakery said...

Laura--yes, try making bread again! I know what you mean about it going fast though. The standing joke around here is "they ate it all in 15 minutes!"

Pam--I am glad to hear Re has the same mixer since it sounds like she is a great baker. My B-day was the 13th. Sometimes it falls on Friday the 13th--ssshhhh--don't tell anyone in case they are superstitious!

Kate--yes, the rolls tasted great. Too great in fact, I can't believe how fast we ate them! We were at my brother's house last night for dinner. The kids went out to bring the dog in and my brother mentioned not to stay out very long since it's almost time for the bears...

Kris