My Grandma is the baker of the
family. Childhood memories of Grandma
revolve around the kitchen.
I love this picture of Grandma & my little one taken last year at Easter!
Whenever we
would go to her house, especially on a holiday, there would be dough
rising. Invariably she would enlist me
as her assistant. We would take turns whipping
the dough against the counter to get rid of the air pockets. It was a fun job (who doesn’t like throwing
bread?) and it planted the seed that eventually grew into my own love of
baking.
Just check out the next
generation tossing the air bubbles out of that bread!
Though I now live too far away
to visit Grandma frequently, I do see her on holidays at my Mom’s house, and
she always brings fresh baked bread.
This past Thanksgiving when I
hosted my first holiday, I also inherited her beloved bread recipe that was
passed down to her from her own mother.
When her mother used this recipe, if was four times larger, and used a whopping 26 cups of flour. Great Grandma made a lot of bread.
And so these delicate rolls
pass from one generation to the next and into the blogiverse. This Easter I’ll be bring the rolls and
Grandma will be bringing the Easter Bread – a perfect generational
collaboration!
Recipe
Notes:
*Use bacon drippings for a softer, more tender bun. Just make sure the bacon drippings are in a cooled, mostly solid state.
*This
recipe is easily doubled, tripled, or more!
*These
rolls make an excellent addition to any meal.
Try them with roast ham or turkey (sop up that gravy!) or as sandwich or
hamburger buns.
*These buns also freeze very well. Just place in a single layer in a large zipper bag (once cooled). Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw: place on a plate in the microwave for 15-20 seconds (for 1-2 buns). Or place in a paper bag in the oven on "warm"
Two
Hour Buns
Recipe from my Grandma
2 cups warm water (around 110 degrees F)
2 packages (4 ½ tsp) active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup solid vegetable shortening or bacon drippings or softened butter (see note)
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
6 ½ cups all purpose flour, divided
Garnish
(optional)
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp water
Sesame seeds