ROBERTA'S ROLLS
1/2 cup really warm water
1 Tb sugar
2 Tb active dry yeast
Mix this together in small bowl--set aside for at least 5 min. or until nice and foamy.
2 cups scalded milk
1 cube butter-cut into pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 Tb sugar
3 beaten eggs
2 tsp salt
7 1/4 cups flour (give or take)
In microwave scald milk for 3 to 5 min. Pour hot milk in your mixer attached with dough hook and add cut up butter. Allow butter to melt. Add sugar and beaten eggs and 2 cups flour, mix then add yeast mixture scraping the sides. Add 1 cup flour and salt mix, then gradually add additional flour. Total cups of flour about 7 1/2 cups. Beat until well incorporated. The dough will be pretty sticky. That's normal. If it looks a too soupy, sticky you can add no more than 1/2 cup to 1 cup more flour especially if you live in an area with high humidity.
Remove dough and place in a large well oiled bowl, cover and let rise 2 hours. If you have the time, you can add an extra hour.
Punch down dough and dump onto lightly floured counter. Prepare into desired roll shape. Lightly dust with flour when needed. Be careful not to add to much flour or your rolls won't turn out as light and fluffy as they should be.
Let rolls rise on pans until double in size. A good hour.
Bake at 420 degrees for 7-9 minutes. Or until they are nice and brown on top. The most important step is to brush each roll with melted butter after they are baked. Don't hold back!
*When I make cinnamon rolls I add about 1 1/2 more cups of flour until the dough is still sticky but the dough is starting to come off the sides of the mixing bowl. I'll post the cinnamon roll recipe later.
