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Buttermilk Rolls

Source of Recipe

"Country Cooking from a Redneck Kitchen" by Francine Bryson


Recipe Introduction

"My great-granny was the buttermilk queen. I mean, this woman used buttermilk in everything, including rolls, cakes, and cookies. If something called for milk, she used buttermilk. She would even drink it straight. When I would see her fixing to make these, I knew I was in for a treat — and a little work. Great-Granny would sucker me into making homemade butter with a real butter churn, no mixers. We'd sit out on the porch churning butter (to slather on top of the hot rolls) and buttermilk (to bake with), watching the cars go by. Yep, those were the days."

List of Ingredients

◦  1 (0.25-ounce) envelope active dry yeast
◦  ¼ cup warm water (110° to 115° F)
◦  2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading the dough
◦  ¼ teaspoon baking soda
◦  1 teaspoon salt
◦  1 tablespoon sugar
◦  ¾ cup lukewarm buttermilk
◦  3 tablespoons shortening (I use Crisco), at room temperature


Recipe

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water.

In a separate bowl, mix together 1¼ cups of the flour with the baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture, sugar, buttermilk, and shortening to the yeast and mix well with a wooden spoon. Add the remaining 1¼ cups flour and mix well until it comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead about 4 times until smooth. Shape into 1½-inch rolls. Put them close to one another on a greased baking sheet in two rows of 11 rolls so that they almost touch (and will touch once they rise). Let them rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400° F.

Bake the rolls until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving warm or at room temperature.


Makes 22 rolls