Stockpile of Frozen Buns
I have a cookbook made by Better Homes and Gardens that is called Test Kitchen Favorites. It is not my favorite book, and I don’t go back to it time and time again, but every once in a while I whip it out to find something new. It has recipes organized by era (very interesting to see what was tasty in the 30’s as opposed to what we eat now – lots more butter!) I was in a baking mood and I found this recipe for Cornmeal Buns (50’s & 60’s era). It is time-consuming (any yeast rolls are – rise and pound and all that) and yields way more rolls then my family of 4 will eat (froze the rest) but they are yummy. They taste kind of like a normal old dinner roll, but the corn meal gives them some texture that adds crunch, in a good way.
Cornmeal Buns
- 6 – 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 2 1/4 cups milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
- In a large mixing bowl combine 3 cups of the flour and the yeast. In a saucepan heat milk, sugar, butter, and salt just until warm(115F – 120F), stirring constantly to melt butter. Add milk mixture to flour mixture in mixing bowl; add eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low-speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high-speed for 3 minutes. Beat in cornmeal at low-speed. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much remaining flour as you can.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball. Place in a greased bowl; turn once. Cover; let rice in a warm place until doubled in size (1- 1 1/4 hours). Grease 36 muffin cups.
- Punch down dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into 72 balls (I know… it seems like a lot but it goes quickly, I promise!). Place 2 balls in each prepared muffin cup. Cover; let rise until dearly double (50 – 60 minutes).
- Bake at 375F for 12 – 15 minutes or until rolls are golden brown. Immediately remove from cups to wire racks. Serve warm or cool. Makes 36 buns.
If you don’t have 36 muffin cups: Place shaped dough balls on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet; cover with plastic wrap and chill while the first batch rises and bakes. After removing the baked rolls from the muffin cups, wash pan, grease, and refill with chilled dough. cover, let rise, and bake as above.
How I changed the recipe: I can never follow a recipe exactly! I used soy milk instead of cow.
My tip: Whenever I need a warm place for dough to rise I use my oven. I turn it on while I’m mixing my ingredients and then turn it off. When I’m ready for my dough to rise the warm place is ready!
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