Icebox Dinner Rolls Recipes

MOM'S ICEBOX ROLLS

Steps:

• 1. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Follow directions on yeast package.
• 2. Cream sugar and shortening together.
• 3. Add HOT water to sugar/shortening mix and allow to cool. If your water is too hot, it will kill the yeast when you add it in the next step.
• 4. Add the dissolved yeast (with the water) and the eggs, and whisk lightly.
• 5. Add 4 cups of flour and the salt, and stir into liquid. Add more flour if the dough is sticky. I usually end up adding at least another cup of flour, sometimes two or three, at this point. The dough will be a little tacky, but shouldn't be very sticky. It should be just past the "sticky" stage and feel a little bit "elastic."
• 6. Put the dough into a large greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap (pressed right onto the dough), and refrigerate until needed. The dough can be left in the fridge at this stage for as much as 2 or 3 days --just be sure it's not exposed to the air.
• 7. Several hours before you want to bake the rolls, take the dough out of the fridge. Punch it down (it will have risen some in the refrigerator), and let it rise double.
• 8. Punch the dough down again, flour a bread board generously, place the dough on the board and sprinkle lightly with flour. Fold the edges into the middle and knead with the heels of your hands for several minutes until it begins to feel "elastic." Start rolling it out with a floured rolling pin (or use a "stocking" on your rolling pin). Fold the edges in again, and repeat the kneading process.
• 9. Pinch off about 1/4 of the dough to work with, and set the rest aside. Start rolling the dough out with your floured rolling pin. Keep turning the dough over and around as you roll it. It will be very elastic and resist flattening. Add flour to your board as needed to keep dough from sticking to the board or rolling pin.
• 10. When the dough is about 1 inch thick, cut out circles with a biscuit cutter and lay them on an ungreased baking sheet, just touching. (This way, as they rise and bake, they will "merge" and the inside edges will be soft and high.)
• 11. Repeat steps 10 & 11 three more times until all the dough has been cut. Scraps can be gathered together, kneaded a little more and re-rolled to make more rolls.
• 12. Cover the rolls with lightweight cloths, like cotton dish towels, and allow them to "rest" on the baking sheets and rise before baking. The time for this varies according to how warm the room is. In a warm kitchen, they may rise double and be ready to bake in 15 minutes. If they're sitting on the table in a cool dining room, it could take an hour. When you see that they've risen some, but they're not rising anymore, bake them.
• 13. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, but time will vary with different ovens. Take them out when the tops are getting golden-brown.
• 14. Brush the rolls with melted butter while they are still hot.
• 15. I often make these rolls far ahead of time and bake them right to the point where they are just about to start browning. I put them in the freezer on sheets until they freeze and then put them into freezer bags. When I'm ready to serve them, I take them out frozen, put them into a 350-degree oven and bake them until the tops are golden brown. They taste even better than when I make them all in one day. Freezing seems to enhance the "yeasty" flavor.

ICEBOX BUTTERHORNS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large bowl, combine the milk, butter, sugar, egg, salt, yeast mixture and 3 cups flour; beat on medium speed until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky)., Do not knead. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and refrigerate overnight., Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each into a 12-in. circle; cut each into 12 wedges. Roll up wedges from the wide ends. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets, point side down. Cover with kitchen towels; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. , Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately brush with additional melted butter. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

ICEBOX ROLLS

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water (110°-115°). In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup boiling water and shortening. Add remaining (room-temperature) water, eggs, salt, sugar and yeast mixture., Stir in 1 cup of flour at a time, mixing well after each addition, until a soft dough forms. Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and refrigerate overnight., Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide dough into nine portions. Divide and shape each portion into 12 balls. Place 3 balls in each cup of 3 greased muffin tins. Cover with kitchen towels; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Preheat oven to 375°. Brush rolls with half of melted butter; bake until golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven; brush with remaining butter.

ICEBOX BUTTERHORNS (OVERNIGHT DINNER ROLLS)

Steps:

• Dissolve the yeast in the water in a large bowl. Add the milk, sugar, egg, salt, and half of the flour. Beat together with a wooden spoon until smooth; add the 3/4 cup melted butter, along with remaining flour. Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in your fridge overnight.
• The next day (or at least six hours later, if you'd like to make them in the morning for supper) punch the dough down. Shape as desired. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. (I like to turn the oven on for 1-2 minutes, then turn it off and stick the rolls in or 45 minutes. Then I pull them out, and preheat the oven to bake them.).
• Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes for round dinner rolls. Immediately brush with melted butter. Awesome warm, cold, or leftover.
• (For a butterhorn shape: make a 12 inch circle of dough, cut it into 12 pieces, and roll from the big end towards the little end. Place on the pan with the ends curled like a horn.).

ICEBOX ROLLS

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water.
• Sprinkle yeast into water.
• Allow to stand until yeast is dissolved and begins to bubble (or proof).
• Add oil, poppy seeds (if using) and 3 1/2 cups of the flour.
• Stir with a wooden spoon until all ingredients are well mixed.
• At this point, the mixture will be the consistency of a mash.
• Continue to add flour in batches until mixture becomes too stiff to easily stir.
• Turn out mixture onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking to surface or hands.
• When dough is "ready", it should be smooth, supple and stretchy.
• Grease a medium bowl.
• Form dough into a ball.
• Place in greased bowl, turning to coat ball on all sides.
• Cover bowl with a clean dish towel and put in a warm, draft-free place to rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
• I like to place my bowl in the oven with just the light on.
• When doubled, punch dough down and slap it around to get out all the air bubbles.
• At this point, dough can be refrigerated for future use or divided and formed into the desired shape (ie. dinner rolls, cloverleaf rolls, hamburger buns, etc.).
• Once formed, place on ungreased cookie sheet, cover again and allow dough to rise until doubled again which will take about 1/2 hour (longer if dough was refrigerated).
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. The larger the roll, the longer it will take to bake it.

ICEBOX DINNER ROLLS

Steps:

• Combine shortening, sugar, and 1 cup of the water in a medium saucepan. Put over LOW heat, just until shortening and sugar are dissolved. Remove from stove, and allow to cool to at least 110 degrees.
• Combine second cup of water - heated to about 110 degrees - with yeast in a small bowl, and stir until dissolved. NOTE: DO NOT overheat water, as then the rolls will not rise.
• Combine flour and salt in medium bowl.
• In a large bowl, beat eggs slightly, then add cooled shortening mixture, yeast mixture, and flour mixture, beating well after each addition. NOTE: Dough will be very "sticky". Do NOT add more flour. Cover bowl tightly and set into refrigerator overnight. Take out rolls as needed - but dough may be stored in refrigerator for 2 weeks.
• When ready to bake rolls, spray muffin tins with cooking oil. Take dough out of refrigerator. Flour your hands, and make small balls of dough by rolling in your hands. Balls should be about 1 inch in diameter or slightly larger. Place 3 balls of dough into each muffin tin space. Then cover entire pan with a lightweight dish towel, and place in a warm place for 1 hour to rise. NOTE: You can turn on oven at 200 degrees for about 2 minutes. Then, turn off, and keep door closed with oven light on. Then place covered roll pans into oven for 1 hour.
• Remove risen rolls from oven. Turn oven to 350, and when at temperature, bake rolls for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. NOTE: Some oven's heat is not regulated, so check temperature with oven thermometer.
• When rolls are done, take out of muffin tins and place on baking rack to cool. Brush tops with melted butter or margarine. Serve immediately, or freeze until needed.
• These can be stored in ziploc bags and frozen, but be SURE that rolls have cooled completely before placing in bags. When ready to serve frozen rolls, let them come to room temperature, and then microwave to warm up.