Thanksgiving is one of those times when my dreams of a perfect meal are bigger – way bigger – than the stomachs of the two people in this household, and therefore, I tend to needlessly go all out. Now, that’s not to say that if you want to go all out, Thanksgiving isn’t the perfect time to do so. Because it absolutely is. And this is my justification that despite the fact that we can’t possibly eat all the food I make, I’m going to do it anyway, because I want to.
For me, Thanksgiving is all about the sides. The turkey is almost an afterthought, and probably about my least favorite part of the meal. That’s not saying I don’t love it, I just love it a little less than the rest of the food options. I make turkey every year for 2 reasons: 1) it’s tradition and just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without it, and 2) without leftover turkey, I wouldn’t be able to make my super-awesome After Thanksgiving Wreath recipe (which I plan to share with you soon, btw!) So, basically, I make turkey so I can have it as leftovers? Yep. That’s correct.
Now. The sides. This is what it is all about; because the special blend of flavors that is everything Thanksgiving only happens once per year. I mean, honestly, who makes real stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie all together for a single meal, unless it is Thanksgiving? Ummm… no one… just doesn’t happen. So while, you may enjoy a sweet potato, or a slice of pumpkin pie outside of Thanksgiving, it is the medley of flavors blending together bite after bite that makes a Thanksgiving meal a once per year pleasure. 
That brings me to these rolls. They are out-of-this-world good. The perfect roll for your Thanksgiving feast. I make these rolls rarely because they take a little bit of work, and they are indulgent. They are not a day-to-day type dinner roll. These are special. And so… they are reserved for special occasions. Basically, Thanksgiving. Sometimes Christmas or Easter, but always Thanksgiving. 
If ever a dinner roll could be described as ethereal, these would be it. They are delicate and tender with a rich, slightly sweet flavor. The interior is soft and pillowy, while the exterior has a gold-kissed glow and just a touch of crustiness that creates a delightful contrast in textures. When still warm from the oven, with a little spread of salty-sweet butter melting into the crevices, there is almost nothing better in the world.
Plus! Yes, there is another little perk to these delightful rolls… you can make them ahead of time. Like this weekend… when you actually have a little time to do the hardest part of making these rolls. Then you just freeze them until Thanksgiving, plop them out on a baking sheet, let them thaw/rise for 3-5 hours, and simply bake for 15 minutes. Voila! Homemade rolls, baked fresh on Thanksgiving Day, that actually allow you to focus on everything else you have to do besides make bread! Perfect! 
- 2 packages (1/4 ounce each) dry active yeast
- ⅓ cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
- 9 cups all purpose flour, divided
- 2 cups warm milk (110-115 degrees)
- 1 cup butter, softened to room temperature (or shortening)
- 1 cup sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- 3-4 tbsp butter, melted
- In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water. Add 4 cups of flour, milk, butter (or shortening), sugar, eggs, and salt; beat for 2 minutes, or until smooth.
- Add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured board; knead lightly until smooth and elastic.
- Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 2-3 hours (or 60 minutes for quick yeast).
- Punch dough down. Divide into four equal parts. Roll each into a 12 inch circle. Brush with melted butter. Cut each circle into 12 pie-shaped wedges; roll each wedge up from the wide edge to the tip of the dough, pinching to seal. Place the rolls, tip down, on baking sheets; freeze immediately.
- When frozen, place the rolls in freezer bags and keep frozen until needed.
- To bake, place the rolls on greased baking sheets; thaw 5 hours or until doubled in size (time will be a little less for quick yeast). Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Remove from the baking sheets and serve immediately or cool on wire racks.
I like to let my bread rise in the oven. I turn the oven on to warm for about 5 minutes, then turn the oven off and place my dough, covered into the oven to let it rise. It is the perfect warm, draft-free place!
I plan to make these instead of my old stand-by rolls that my family begs for at holiday time. I know these will be excellent. I always use flour for bread when making rolls or yeast breads and I do think it makes a nicer texture. Happy Thanksgiving to you and Jason!!
I will have to experiment more with bread flour soon! I’ve always made these with AP flour, because that’s what I have around and they still turn out great.
Barb and I made these this afternoon..um um good. We are ready for Thanksgiving!!! They didn’t turn out quite as pretty as yours, but tastes wonderful.
Had these for Thanksgiving and tonight with soup and they were sooo delicious! I did not make them but I plan to try making them for Christmas dinner. Heard you can make them ahead of time and bake them and then freeze them. They thaw beautifully and heat up like you just made them!! They have a wonderful flavor and texture.
When you say beat for 2 minutes do you mean with a mixer or by hand? I am not a bread maker so I need more info. If you use a mixer do you mix on low just to blend everything? This is probably a dumb question but I want to make these for Christmas dinner and we are going to have at least 12 people so I want to get it right the first time.
I beat for 2 minutes using a mixer. I think I usually just beat it on low or low-medium. In step 2, when I add the rest of the flour, I usually switch to a wooden spoon and mix by hand because the dough gets too thick for a mixer at that point. Hope that helps! 🙂
Thanks! I will let you know how things come out when I make them. Probably make them the week of Christmas so we can have them for Christmas dinner.
O.K. I did make these rolls last week. They came out looking like your pics but did not taste right. When it came to kneading the dough it was so sticky that I started to add more and more flour until. I could handle it without sticking to my fingers. I would guess I added another one to two cups extra of flour. I feel that is why the right taste was not there. Rita said this was pretty easy and that the dough is forgiving but I did not feel that way. I used 2% milk, are you suppose to use whole milk? I thought I would try making them again but use half the milk. I made half a recipe so I used one cup of milk. When I divided the dough in half the first half made really big rolls so the second half I divided it in half again and the rolls came out more the normal size. Again, they all looked good, just various sizes it was just lacking the taste. What do you think? Rita said I should ask the pro so I hope you can help me. Rita has made them for Thanksgiving and there REALLY good so I would like to make them for our Florida family for Christmas. Help!
Hi Janet! I’m not quite sure why they didn’t turn out right for you. It sounds like you did everything right. I usually use 1% milk. Did you melt the butter? That could make the dough stickier – you should just soften it to room temp or use shortening. I often have to mix in some extra flour to get the right dough consistency, but you’re right, you have to be careful not to mix in too much extra flour or they might get too dry. For a half recipe I probably use about 4 1/2 to 5 cups of flour. I’m not sure why you had a lack of flavor… I’ve made these rolls so many times and they’ve always turned out so good. These rolls are always quite large. I already adjusted the original recipe to make slightly smaller rolls, but if you wish to make them even smaller, that is just fine. The cooking time may be a minute or two less if the rolls are significantly smaller.
Maybe we can swap a bread making lesson for a pie crust making lesson the next time we get together! Good luck!
Thanks for the suggestions. Will try to make them again but I will cut the milk in half and see if that will work better. I feel like I added way to much extra flour and that changed the taste. I will take you up on making pie crust. It is much easier making pie then rolls! I can make a no-knead bread that you bake in a cast iron pot….it comes out beautifully. Next time I make the bread I will take a pic and send it to you so you can see how beautiful it is and very delicious. It comes out looking like it just came from the bakery! It is very crusty on the outside which it makes it great to have with soup and makes a great dipper in the soup.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!
Tried your recipe this year and they turned out wonderful! My Grandmother used to make these and always called them Christmas Pigs, but added 3/4 of chopped walnuts into the mix. Yum!!! Our whole family always looks forward to these, and it’s not Christmas without them. I’ve tried for years to make them from her recipe and they never seemed to turn out right. These turned out perfect. Thank you! 🙂