Refrigerator Dinner Rolls

This recipe comes from a collection of recipes I jotted down while I was in Alabama at my grandmother's house last American Thanksgiving. I had wanted to get more of her recipes while I was visiting, but had a difficult time determining which ones were actually hers (and she didn't seem to want to help with finding them much!), but this one was in an old church recipe collection and had her name on it. Her handwritten notes also adjusted the amount of yeast up from 2 packages to 3. I scaled the recipe in half, uncertain of how it would turn out and knowing that I cook for far fewer people than she did! I was pleased with the outcome and I like the idea of having dough ready in the refrigerator for whenever I want dinner rolls, but I'm not too sure about how practical it is during the week given that the rolls need a 2 hour rise time. Despite all of that, these rolls definitely brought back a few memories.

The instructions were a rough sketch and much more vague than I'm used to seeing with bread recipes. I'm not sure how much of that was my shoddy note taking and how much was due to the original. I've tried to flush it out below, but feel free to use your own judgement.

Two years ago: Raspberry-Topped Lemon Muffins

Refrigerator Dinner Rolls (from my grandmother)

Ingredients
2 cups warm water
3 packages yeast
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup soft shortening (I imagine you could use butter, but you may have a bit more trouble mixing)
1 egg
6 1/2 cup bread flour (I used all-purpose as Canadian flour tends to be higher gluten than American)

1. Mix water and yeast together. (I then let it sit for about 10 minutes so the yeast could do its thing. Most recipes would also start with a smaller amount of water.)
2. Mix in sugar, salt, shortening, and egg.
3. Add flour, stirring, 1 cup at a time.
4. Kneed dough until springy and elastic.
5. Place dough in greased container and grease top of dough. (Grandma recommended an old 5 gallon ice cream container. Use something that will leave enough room for the dough to double in size and has a lid.)
6. Place lid on container, seal, and put in fridge. Punch down dough as necessary.
7. When you want to make rolls, remove dough for rolls 2 hours before baking. (Extra dough can be stored in the fridge.)
8. Shape dough into rolls and put in pan.
9. Let rolls double in size for 2 hours.
10. Bake at 400F for 10 - 15 minutes.