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fluffy dinner rolls
These fluffy dinner rolls really rise to the occasion.
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Prepare Ingredients
Gather Baking Equipment
In bowl of stand mixer, whisk together flour, yeast, and salt. Lock bowl in place and attach dough hook to stand mixer.
In 4-cup liquid measuring cup, whisk milk, melted butter, honey, and egg yolk until honey has dissolved, about 20 seconds.
Start mixer on low speed and slowly pour in milk mixture. Mix until no dry flour is visible, about 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium and knead dough for 8 minutes. Stop mixer.
Transfer dough to clean counter and knead dough for 30 seconds, then form dough into smooth ball.
Form Dough Into Smooth Ball: 3 up
Place heel of your hand in center of dough ball and press down and away from you.
Fold dough over. Rotate dough and repeat steps 1 & 2 until dough looks smooth, about 1 minute.
On clean counter, use your cupped hands to drag dough in small circles to form smooth ball.
Spray large bowl with vegetable oil spray. Place dough in greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise until doubled in size, 1½ to 2 hours.
Transfer dough to clean counter and use your hands to gently press down on dough to pop any large bubbles. Pat dough into 6-inch square and use bench scraper to cut dough into 9 equal squares. Form each piece of dough into tight, smooth ball.
Shaping Dough Into Rolls: 3-up
Pat dough into 6-inch square. Use bench scraper to cut square into 3 equal strips, then cut each strip into 3 equal pieces (you should have 9 pieces of dough).
Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, on clean counter, fold corners of dough into center and pinch edges together. Flip dough over.
Use your cupped hand to drag ball in small circles until top feels tight. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.
Spray inside bottom and sides of 8-inch square metal baking pan with vegetable oil spray. Arrange dough balls in 3 rows in greased baking pan. Cover baking pan loosely with plastic. Let dough balls rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Use oven mitts to remove baking pan from oven (ask an adult for help). Place baking pan on cooling rack and let rolls cool in pan for 30 minutes. Turn baking pan upside down to release rolls from pan. Turn rolls right side up and use your hands to pull them apart. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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Food for Thought
You Say “Ball,” I Say “Boule”
The fancy French word for dough shaped in a ball is boule. Bread makers use the same technique to form a tight ball of dough for a large loaf of bread and for small individual dough balls such as these fluffy dinner rolls. While it takes two hands to form a large loaf into a boule, you can make a small one with just one cupped hand. If you get really good at it, you can even do two balls at once—one in each hand!
