She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. Proverbs 31

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

From My Kitchen ~ Homemade Cloverleaf Rolls

I just love to make homemade bread. I love the way it fills our home with a delicious scent. I love kneading it by hand ~ it just plain ole' feels good! LOL And I really love the way my husband and boys make over me when I bake. I get lots of extra lovin' on bread baking day. :)



But most of all, I take great satisfaction in knowing that I am making something for my family that doesn't contain all the chemicals and preservatives that store bought breads contain.

It is one of my goals this year to create a routine for myself to bake enough bread each week to eliminate our reliance on store bought. And a secondary goal would be to replace some of my store bought ingredients with freshly, ground whole wheat.

Some time back, I purchased a very nice hand powered grain mill from Lehman's Non-Electric. Little did I realize that you must have an extremely solid surface in order to use it. I still giggle a little thinking of the first time I set it up and began to grind. Wheat nuts were flying all over the room and the table was slowly vibrating across the floor. Colton thought it was hilarious while I wanted to cry.



I've debated purchasing an electric mill, but I think I would prefer to keep my non-electric and invest in a solid oak table instead. Still thinking about that ....

Well I'm telling you that whole, long story just to tell you this ... I made some wonderful homemade cloverleaf rolls tonight!

I used a recipe from my dear friend, Mary of And Even If ... And they were wonderful! Mine don't look nearly as good as Mary's but they were so tasty. My family just raved about them. So I wanted to share Mary's recipe with you.



Mary's Homemade Texas Ranch Rolls
(Mary is a Texas girl and I couldn't resist embellishing the name just a bit.)


First, dissolve 2 packages of yeast in 2 cups of warm water.

Then in a large mixing bowl, place the following:
1 beaten egg
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt

Mix egg mixture into the yeast water and stir well.

One cup at a time, add 5-6 cups of flour to the mixture. Knead by hand or use your mixer if you have a kneading attachment until the flour takes on a nice elastic feel.

Place large roll into a greased bowl - I prefer to use butter. Then cover and allow to rise in a warm place until it almost doubles in bulk. Depending on the temperature this may take about 30 minutes or more.

Get your muffin tin already by rubbing the cups with ... you guessed it ... more butter! (You can see why these rolls are so very tasty, can't you?)

Then pinch off walnut-sized pieces and roll them into balls. Place three dough balls into each cupcake cup. Allow these to rise in a nice warm spot until they rise just above the cup. Then they're ready to bake.



Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and .... brush with more butter!

This recipe makes about 30 absolutely beautiful rolls. I split the dough and made 18 rolls and one small loaf of bread for sandwiches for tomorrow's lunch.



Hope you enjoy Mary's recipe as much as we have!

Blessings,
Lea

18 comments:

~Tonja~ said...

Your rolls looks so good and sound pretty easy...thank you for sharing
the recipe with us...
Have a blessed evening...
Prim Blessings...
Tonja

Marjorie (Molly) Smith said...

I just love making breads and rolls. I use an Amish bread starter that I found in a Amish cook book several years ago. But this sounds so yummy I think I will try it for Easter.
Yours look so pretty and professional.
Thanks for sharing.

Mandy said...

Lea,those look wonderful and not too terribly difficult!

I think I always get the water too hot for the yeast!

Blessings,
Mandy

Anonymous said...

That looks like a good recipe, your rolls look great and I bet they smelled just as good too......guess I will have to ave the recipe and make some....I used to make bread every week, we had a bread machine but since it died, I haven't done it....

Anonymous said...

I completely agree, the smell of fresh bread has to be one of the best ever!

Great recipe.
CJ xx

carolyn@simple~primitive~devotion said...

YUM! My mouth is watering! I love breads and rolls. I haven't made anything like this in a long time, but how great they would be with Easter dinner! If I can find a little extra time, I just might try to do that!
Thanks for the recipe!

Unknown said...

Hoppy Easter Lea! One trick to deter those critters from eating your veggies, place human hair around the plants, they won't touch them! I know, where do I get a bunch of human hair? Those rolls look perfect and yummo, another recipe to try, thank you! I love baking bread for all the same reasons. Sorry to hear about your knee, are you getting enough vit.D? Take 800 units to keep your bones strong. Hugs!

KKJD1 said...

Yum Yum, I'm going to come back in a little bit and write the recipe down. Thanks for sharing. Hope you have a great day! Blessings,Karen

Nancy Jo said...

lea,
Boy do they look good. You mean to tell me from a walnut size they get that big? That's amazing. Good thing you added that to the recipe, I would have put something a lot bigger in the tin and then who knows what would have happened. Probably one giant roll for dinner. They really look good. I should try them.
Funny about your grinder, I think I would go for the new maple table, seems like a better deal, why waste money on another grinder.HA.
Is it warm your way today? Not here. Looking forward to all your summer pictures. The yellow bedroom. It looks great now, but a yellow for summer with your new quilt will be pretty too.
Well I'm off the clean out all the closets today and give lots of stuff away, not sure why we feel its important to hang on to clothes we have had since kindergarden.
NANCY JO

QuiltedSimple said...

These look yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe - I'll have to try them.
Kris

A Bit of Colour said...

They look simply delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Nancy M. said...

It sounds fairly easy. And they look so yummy! Thanks for sharing Mary's recipe with us!

Cindy said...

I have made cloverleaf rolls for years and they are always a favorite. When my boys were at home, chili and cloverleaf rolls always went together. I use the recipe from my BH&G 1969 cookbook--I have never purchased an updated version! You make the basic roll dough and then shape it into the balls for cloverleaf rolls. Brush them with butter hot from the oven. They don't last long. Your look delish. I use unbleached, all purpose flour but must try whole grain flour some time.

Penny @ Miss Pootsie's Primitives said...

Oh YUM Lea!!! That bread just looks HEAVENLY! I've always thought that Heaven would smell like fresh homebaked bread...heheee.

Lea, sure, if you'd like to post on your blog about our giveaway, that's great! It ends tomorrow night, Thursday the 9th, and I'll draw the winner Friday.

Thanks sweetie!
Penny

I Play Outside The Box said...

I love baking breads...I plan to try your recipe too. Thanks for sharing!!

Paula said...

Mmmm that sounds wonderful!!

~Lesa~ said...

They look great. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us...it's a keeper.
~Lesa

Barb J. said...

The smell of baking bread is the best!

I've thought about getting a grain mill, and thought "hand crank or electric?" And then I think, "
We really don't have the money for either one right now, anyway," lol!

So was the grinder worth it? Do you enjoy using it?