French Bread Rolls

I love to cook and eat wonderful food. As a mom of 4 plus anyone who walks through the door we feed a crowd all the time on a very limited budget. I make something out of nothing a lot. Don't be afraid of making food from scratch. It's a lot easier than it seems. Just takes patience and sometimes a little trial and error. 

These are some of the best and easiest French Bread Rolls I have ever made. You can do it all by hand or use a stand mixer that has a dough hook on it. I do a combination of both for this one. I make these at least 5 times a week. My family loves them!

French Bread Rolls
2-1/4 cups warm water (about 105-110 degrees F.)
5 tsp. yeast
3 Tbls. Oil
3 Tbls. sugar (you can use honey also)
1-1/2 tsp kosher salt
6 cups bread flour

Mix water sugar and yeast in large mixing bowl. Let stand 10 min.

Add oil, salt and 3 cups of the flour. Mix well. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time stirring it in well. Mix until the dough pulls away from the bowl.

Put about 1/2 cup of flour on the board or counter. Place the dough on the flour and knead 8 minutes. The dough will have an elastic feel to the touch and be smooth.

Oil your bowl well and place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat it well. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled, about 45 min to 1 hour. 

After the dough has risen punch it down and let it rest about 3 to 5 min. 

Prepare 2 baking sheets that are well oiled. 

Pull the dough off into 2 ounce pieces (about 1-1/2 to 2 inches in diameter). Using the palm of your hand and your fingers gently shape the roll so that the top is smooth and about 3 inches across. Place on prepared baking sheet. 

You should get about 16 dinner rolls. 

Let rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake rolls for 11 to 12 min or until nicely browned.

Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes before removing them from the pan. 

Enjoy!

NOTE: I must note here that using Kosher salt is crucial in making yeast based dough. Normal table salt destroys the yeast and the bread won't rise much. If you don't have a choice but to use table salt then use it after almost all of the flour is added and the table salt can't come into contact with the living yeast. Personally I don't use table salt because of its aluminum and flouride content but that is a choice you will need to make on your own. Just make sure you get your iodine from other sources.