Diana's Famous Rolls

Before my lovely friend, Diana, gave me this recipe, I had never had much luck with rolls.  But this recipe rocks 1) because it's delicious, and 2) because it's forgiving.  The first time I made it, I actually added four times too much water (don't ask), and after adding more flour, they still turned out!  The next time I made them, I followed the recipe, and they were amazing--AMAZING.  I will probably never look for another roll recipe again because I love them.  Here they are:

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Diana's Famous Rolls

* Yields 4 dozen rolls

2 cups milk

8 Tbsp butter (one stick)

2 Tbsp yeast

1/2 cup water

3 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp salt

6 - 6 1/2 cups flour

Butter for brushing tops of rolls

1. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, scald the milk.  Remove from heat, and throw in a stick of butter to melt.  If it's taking a long time to melt, put it back on the off-but-still-warm burner until it melts completely.  Meanwhile, soften your yeast in the water. 

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups flour, sugar, and salt.  Add milk mixture, and stir to combine.  Add yeast and water mixture.  Stir in the rest of the flour (6 - 6 1/2 cups) until it forms a nice, soft, smooth dough.  Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it, and let it rise for 2 hours, or until doubled in size.  

3. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions, and grease 2 cookie sheets.  Roll out each dough portion into a large circle about 1/4 inch thick.  Cut the circles into 12 "pizza slices" or triangles.  Roll each slice, starting with the large end, into a crescent shape.  Or, if you want, they work just as well in regular round roll shape.  Place rolls on the baking sheet and brush with butter.  Cover, and let them rise until doubled (about 30-40 minutes).  

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Bake rolls for approximately 12 minutes, or until they're golden brown.  Brush with melted butter as they come out of the oven.  This will not only give them a buttery delicious flavor, it will actually prevent too much steam from escaping, leaving you with super moist rolls.  Cool, huh?

5.  Yum!  Devour those rolls.