Best Ever Dinner Rolls

Rolls have always been kind of intimidating to me. I guess bread in general has always intimidated, but rolls especially. Unfortunately (fortunately?) for me, my mom's rolls are one of a select few things that just make my mouth water and I couldn't live without them when we moved to Ohio. After nearly a year of craving them every single Sunday, I finally bucked up and tried to make them myself. That first attempt is something that I am not proud of. They were flat, dry and all around yucky. Two years later, I am proud to say that I am a master at making them and they work every single time. The trick is rising time. Don't cut it short, even if it means letting the first rise happen all through church.

1/2 cup potato flakes
1/2 cup water
3 eggs
1 cup milk (warmed for one minute in the microwave)
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp yeast
4-5 cups flour

Combine potato flakes and water in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, warmed milk and butter. Mix until combined. Add sugar, salt and yeast. Mix until combined. Add flour and mix until the dough is slightly sticky to the touch (if you're using a kitchenaid or bosch, this is usually when the dough pulls away from the sides on its own). Don't be afraid to use more flour than called for if necessary, but always err on the side of too sticky rather than overly stiff. Knead for 6-8 minutes and then cover and let rise until doubled in size (1-2 hours). Punch down and mold into rolls (sadly, I'm not going to give instructions, but you can google all the different ways to mold into rolls. I will always prefer the classic pull and pinch underneath into a nice round ball method). Arrange on a baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled in size again (this is where you really don't want to cheat yourself. Give yourself at least forty-five minutes of rising time, even though my mom says you only need twenty minutes).

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until golden on top. When you take them out of the oven, immediately baste with butter.

I can usually get twenty four rolls with a little bit of dough left over.