Prep-ahead dinner rolls?

[ch1719]

So I'm visiting family for Easter, and I'm in charge of bringing dinner rolls. I'll have enough time once I get there at noon to bake the proofed, shaped dough, but here's the catch: I'll be at a church service and/or driving from about 8am until noon.

Most recipes call for maybe 1-2 hours of letting the dough rise at room temp; but this will be about 4 hours of the dough sitting in my car. How to I work around this problem? I really want to avoid baking them the night before. Thanks!

 

[Andy M.]

Bake them at home and reheat them at your destination.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Put the dough in a cooler with lots of ice. That should slow down the proofing. Experiment with it at home first, of course.

 

[caseydog]

Put the dough in a cooler with lots of ice. That should slow down the proofing. Experiment with it at home first, of course.

+1

You can proof your dough at a lower temperature, it just takes longer. You don't want to go high with the temperature.

CD

 

[GotGarlic]

For a holiday meal, I wouldn't risk proofing in a cooler and then baking. You can't bake them successfully if they're cold, so you would need to let them warm up before baking. Too many variables, imo.

Good yeast rolls are delicious reheated in the oven for a few minutes. That would make it easier on the host as well.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I would buy the best dinner rolls I could find and not have the stress and worry involved with this project. Save the baking for another time, in your own kitchen. Relax and enjoy the holiday with your family!

Good luck!

 

[Cheryl J]

I would buy the best dinner rolls I could find and not have the stress and worry involved with this project. Save the baking for another time, in your own kitchen. Relax and enjoy the holiday with your family!

Good luck!

This is exactly what I would do, and have done in the past. Bakeries are my friends.

 

[medtran49]

Find a good brown-n-serve recipe for rolls or try the ice pack/cooler method mentioned above.

Does the host/hostess realize you are bringing rolls that need oven space? Don't just assume.

 

[Addie]

I would buy the best dinner rolls I could find and not have the stress and worry involved with this project. Save the baking for another time, in your own kitchen. Relax and enjoy the holiday with your family!

Good luck!

Best advice! There is no guarantee that your hostess will have room in the oven for you to bake. You are putting a lot of unnecessary pressure on yourself. Relax and enjoy the holiday with your family.

 

[RPCookin]

I would buy the best dinner rolls I could find and not have the stress and worry involved with this project. Save the baking for another time, in your own kitchen. Relax and enjoy the holiday with your family!

Good luck!

I vote with the majority. Sometimes it just makes more sense to let someone else do the baking.

 

[Roll_Bones]

At Thanksgiving and Christmas, I buy frozen Parker House rolls. I brush them with melted butter or oil and let them rise.
Then I blind bake them. I'm not sure if that is the correct term for baking them less than completely?
Allow them to cool. I then put them in a paper or plastic bag.
When ready, I pop them back into the oven to brown.
Easy as pie..I mean rolls.

 

[GotGarlic]

At Thanksgiving and Christmas, I buy frozen Parker House rolls. I brush them with melted butter or oil and let them rise.
Then I blind bake them. I'm not sure if that is the correct term for baking them less than completely?

Baking blind (sometimes called pre-baking) is the process of baking a pie crust or other pastry without the filling. Blind baking a pie crust is necessary when it will be filled with an unbaked filling (such as with pudding or cream pies), in which case the crust must be fully baked.
Blind-baking - Wikipedia

What you are doing is partially baking.

 

[Just Cooking]

What you are doing is partially baking.

well... that accounts for some of my first cake failures...

 

[caseydog]

I vote with the majority. Sometimes it just makes more sense to let someone else do the baking.

With me, there is a double value in going to a good bakery... I don't bake.

If I am charged with bringing the bread, I go straight to my local La Madeline and buy it. Their bread is better than anything I can bake.

EDIT: I do bake some really good chocolate chip cookies. That's about it.

CD

 

[RPCookin]

With me, there is a double value in going to a good bakery... I don't bake.

If I am charged with bringing the bread, I go straight to my local La Madeline and buy it. Their bread is better than anything I can bake.

EDIT: I do bake some really good chocolate chip cookies. That's about it.

CD

I make a good ciabatta, and I have good recipe for classic soft dinner rolls that only takes a little over an hour total. The ciabatta travels well when baked a day before, the rolls not well at all.

I could probably adapt the ciabatta recipe for rolls, but I've never tried it and wouldn't do it without first using my wife as guinea pig.

 

[Addie]

I make a good ciabatta, and I have good recipe for classic soft dinner rolls that only takes a little over an hour total. The ciabatta travels well when baked a day before, the rolls not well at all.

I could probably adapt the ciabatta recipe for rolls, but I've never tried it and wouldn't do it without first using my wife as guinea pig.

Compare the two recipes for ingredients, baking time, etc. You will see they are two different recipes.

 

[dragnlaw]

I make a good ciabatta,...
...I could probably adapt the ciabatta recipe for rolls, but I've never tried it and wouldn't do it without first using my wife as guinea pig.

I tried to make rolls from Chef John's Ciabatta... what a disaster! It is so sticky as to be impossible to work with other than just throw the whole thing into the oven... only way.

I am looking for a drier dough, think I have found one but am not brave enough to try it as rolls.

Both recipes use a poolish and I am miserable at planning ahead.

 

[RPCookin]

Compare the two recipes for ingredients, baking time, etc. You will see they are two different recipes.

I'm well aware of that Addie. I meant that I could probably just break the ciabatta dough into smaller pieces and adjust the temperature and/or the cooking time to have rolls instead of loaves. I've been making both recipes for several years now and I certainly know that they are very different.

 

[RPCookin]

I tried to make rolls from Chef John's Ciabatta... what a disaster! It is so sticky as to be impossible to work with other than just throw the whole thing into the oven... only way.

I am looking for a drier dough, think I have found one but am not brave enough to try it as rolls.

Both recipes use a poolish and I am miserable at planning ahead.

I use the ciabatta recipe from Artisan Bread Baking. It's a very good site for many classic artisan breads.

 

[medtran49]

I use https://www.bettycrocker.com/how-to...ll-dough/9291ef0b-0283-42ac-a037-c6368ae5c6a4 this, well actually the RICHER SWEET DOUGH down at the bottom, where you cut down on the milk, salt and flour, for my "Mom's buns" that are always requested at holiday meals. They also freeze pretty well so sometimes I'll make them and only partially bake some of them so we can have brown-n-serve rolls.

In the cookbook, it says when you are ready to shape to roll out the dough to about 12 deep by 18 long, spread softened butter all over, fold in half (12" part) and then cut into strips 1" wide and shape. I make knots and curls. If you want extra, extra buttery, you can brush some melted butter on top when they come out of the oven.

Making these with me was the first time the GD got to "cook." She had a ball beating up the dough when we were kneading and then helping me to shape them, not to mention eating them.