The best part of Thanksgiving dinner.

You may not agree with me, but I happen to think the rolls are the best part of Thanksgiving dinner. I’m a bread girl. Always have been, always will be. I love just about everything about bread (except how it evidently doesn’t like keeping me svelt). The process of making bread is an art, the smell while it rises and bakes, and the taste of warm bread is such a comfort. And for Thanksgiving, a good dinner roll rounds out the meal perfectly. What else are you going to snack on while the turkey is resting? How else will you get every drop of gravy into your belly? What else would you use to make leftover turkey sandwiches? Exactly.

Hence, I give you one of my favorite dinner roll recipes. It’s not quick – no good bread really ever is – but it’s as easy as a dinner roll recipe can be.

Clover Dinner Rolls

via Pioneer Woman, with some modifications

Printable Recipe

First, gather up your supplies. Here’s what you’re going to need:

Flour
Sugar
Milk
Vegetable Oil
Salt
Active Dry Yeast
Mixing Bowl
Measuring Spoons & Cups
Wooden Spoon
Muffin Tin
Kitchen Towel

Now, as a point of order, I always gather everything and measure it out when I’m baking. Especially when you’re prepping for Thanksgiving because you really need to be organized. No, it doesn’t always look this pretty, but I find it so much easier to keep the process going and keep my dough where I want it when the ingredients are close at hand.

Pour 4 cups of milk into a pot. Stir in 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of vegetable oil. Bring the mixture just to a boil (that’s called “scalding”). You’ll have to keep a pretty close eye on it and your cue will be when those tiny little bubbles start popping on the surface. Remove the pot from heat and let it cool down a smidge so that it doesn’t kill your yeast. If you want to use thermometers and whanot, feel free, but I’m a touch and feel kinda girl. It should be warm to the touch, or about 100 degrees.

Pour the milk mix into your mixing bowl. Add the yeast and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Then add 8 cups of flour.

I suggest stirring after every few cups to save some arm strength, but that’s your call. If you’re beast mode in the kitchen, more power to you! I call in tiny reinforcements.

Cover with a clean kitchen towel and put it in a warm spot in your kitchen for about an hour.

It can take some serious experimentation to find the best spot in your kitchen to proof (baker language for the rise time for a dough) your dough. I have found that the counter next to my coffee maker is the primo locale.

My oven also has a bread proof setting, which only comes in handy in the winter when the kitchen hovers around 67 degrees, because otherwise it starts to cook the dough on top.

Recipe for Dinner Rolls for Thanksgiving - The best part of your thanksgiving dinner. Bake these and thank me later. — Moooooom! It’s ready!

Your dough should double in size before you move to the next step. After the rise, add another cup or so of flour, 1 heaping teaspoon of baking powder, 1 scant teaspoon of baking soda, and 2 tablespoons of salt.

Then stir together with a wooden spoon until you get a somewhat sticky dough.

Next get your muffins pans ready. Melt a couple tablespoons of butter and, using a paint brush or your fingers, coat the muffins cups. As you’re working, sprinkle a little more flour on top of the dough every so often. You’ll probably need another cup of flour for this. This keeps the dough more workable and less will stick to your hands.

Pull up about a large marble size of dough and roll between your hands or fold it over and over until it’s smooth. Do three of these and plop them in a muffin cup.

Once you’ve filled your muffin pans, cover them with a towel and let sit on the counter for another few hours. They should rise up again and plump together, filling up the cups. When that happens, it’s time to bake!

Preheat the oven to 400. Bake the rolls for 18-20 minutes, adding extra time if you put all the pans in the oven at the same time. Allow the rolls to cool completely before serving.