Cooking With Hudson: Rolls

I can't have Kitchen Week without inviting Hudson back for one of his spectacular guest posts. Today we're making rolls. Not just any rolls. Delicious, little buttery morsels that you actually make ahead of time, freeze, and bake on the day of your meal. I'll give you the ingredients, then I'm turning things over to Hudson. {Deanna, this is the recipe I promised to give you like a year ago. Sorry 'bout that.}

Make Ahead Butterhorns:

1 Tbsp. active dry yeast

1/4 c. warm water

1/2 c. butter or margarine

3/4 c. milk

1/2 c. sugar

3 eggs, beaten

3/4 tsp. salt

4 to 4 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. melted butter

Combine yeast and warm water; allow to stand 5 minutes until it foams, then stir down. Melt butter in pan. Add milk immediately and remove from heat. Blend in sugar, eggs, salt and dissolved yeast. Stir in enough flour to make soft dough. Cover and allow to rise until double, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Now Hudson's going to walk you through the rolling and cutting of the rolls.

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Hi Everyone. I'm back. And I'm here today to teach you how to make one of my favorite accompaniments to any meal. Bread. If you're anything like me, bread may actually be your entire meal for those extra finicky days. So if all you're eating in a meal is bread, it had better be some darn good bread.

Once the dough has had time to rise, you're going to want to put it on a floured surface. Squish it about in your hands slightly until it's easier to handle. Divide it in half. Roll each half into a circle, 12-14 inches in diameter. Yes, I know what diameter is. I am four after all. See, look how good my circle turned out:

Now comes the fun part. Whip out your trusty pastry brush and paint the entire circle with butter. The more the merrier. Go crazy with your bad self and let the butter fling about the room. Your mom will love it.

Now get out the roll cutter (or a pizza cutter, if yo don't have one of these fancy little numbers). And don't mind the green marker on my face. It was a busy day at preschool. Can you believe my mom makes me come home and slave away in the kitchen after a long day of arts and crafts?

Cut the circle in half, then in half again. Keep cutting each of those pieces in half until you have 16 pieces.

Then roll each piece loosely from the large end to the pointed tip.

Place point down, close together on a baking sheet. Or any other tray or plate that will actually fit inside your rad 1980's freezer, for that matter. Repeat above steps with the second half of the dough. Place the rolls immediately in the freezer and let them freeze for two hours.

Definitely do NOT drop the rolls on the floor on the way to the freezer. Moms don't really like food that lands on the floor. Not sure why. It looks OK to me. Anyway, after they're nice and frozen, transfer them into a big ziploc bag and keep them in the freezer until you're ready to cook them.

Now for cooking instructions:

2.5 to 4 hours before time to serve, remove desired amount of rolls from freezer and place on buttered baking sheet (can you tell I like butter?) about 2 inches apart. Cover lightly with clean towel and allow to rise at room temperature until double. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Makes 32 rolls.

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Thanks, Hudson. You sure make cooking lots more fun. And messy. But mostly more fun. Enjoy the rolls everyone. I promise, this recipe's a keeper.