Dinner rolls

Makes 16 small rolls, 110 calories each

Ingredients:

• 2 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour, including 1 tbsp wheat gluten (optional)
• 1.5 tsp yeast
• ¼ cup warm water
• ¾ cup warm nonfat or low fat milk
• 3 tbsp honey
• ¾ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter


Directions

• Combine yeast with ¼ cup warm water and let sit until frothy, 5-10 minutes.
• Combine milk, butter and honey in a small bowl and heat in microwave until warm (not hot or you will kill your yeast).
• In bowl of mixer combine warm milk mixture and 1/2 cup flour and mix until incorporated (this will dilute the salt and oil, which can reduce yeast activity).
• Now add in yeast and water mixture.
• Add additional flour a few tbsp at a time, allowing time to mix in between, until a soft dough forms. It should be soft, gooey and just sticky enough to knead.
• Knead by hand 8-10 minutes (12-15 minutes of using whole wheat), or 2-4 minutes in a kitchen aid mixer.
• To knead, stretch it out or fold and flip. Use balls of wrists to push and stretch (you will feel it rolling), then fold it back on itself. Add flour as needed. You can tell if your dough is under-kneaded if it's floppy and loose, tears easily, and still looks shaggy. Over-kneading is only a concern in a stand mixer. If the dough feels very dense and tough when you knead it against the counter, that is a sign that it's starting to become over-kneaded.
• Place dough in a oiled bowl, flip it, cover it with plastic wrap and a towel, and let rise 1 hour in a warm place, until dough has doubled.
• Punch down. Divide and roll into 16 balls (do this by cutting the dough into 16 pieces – for each fold over and pinch tightly at the bottom, turn 90 degrees, fold, and pinch tighly at the bottom again- continue until a nice ball has formed).
• Shape into greased 16x16 pan (leave space in between, as they will expand), let rise another 45 minutes (longer if using more whole wheat) in a warm place.
• Bake at 350 for 15-25 minutes (the whole wheat rolls don’t brown much on the top, so take them out and check the bottom to see how they are doing).
• When they are done, they will be golden and the bottom will sound hollow when tapped. Remove from the pan immediately to prevent them from going soggy, and let cool on a rack.

Notes:
• Depending on humidity and temperature, the amount of flour needed in a recipe may vary by as much as a cup or two. Therefore, the amount of flour called for in a recipe is always approximate.
• Always start with the full amount of liquid, adding a bit of flour at a time until the proper consistency is reached. You may not need all of the flour, and that’s fine. Dry dough will yield dry bread.