No-Knead Dinner Rolls

When I read this recipe the first thing I saw were the words "No-Knead"... obviously. Then I kept reading and saw that these babies were going to take at least 3 to 4 hours to make. With lots of waiting for milk to cool, dough to rise, dough to rise again, (plus a little measuring, stirring and rolling in between), but no kneading, I thought perfect. I love a recipe that gives me an excuse to sit around and watch The Great British Menu Olympic Feast back to back episodes on the Food Channel.

So out came the flour and dutch oven and on went the TV.  I scalded the milk and made coffee. I got all snuggled on the sofa with my cup of joe and I watched as Alan Murchison plated up his fabulous Duck Terrine and Pineapple. Then the timer went off and I had to drag myself into the kitchen to stir the dough and ready it for its first rising.

A quick trip to the freezer for a scoop of Mango Ice Cream and back to the sofa just in time to catch the judges deliberating on the fish course. Off went the timer.

Some stirring and rolling and a handful of pretzels later and I was back in front of the box to see the main courses going out. Daniel Clifford's slow-poached chicken, sweetcorn egg, spinach with bacon and peas was truly inspirational. Unfortunately the Milk and Honey household wasn't going to be dining on anything remotely like that seeing as how my butt was welded to the sofa by now. Off went the timer... again.

Back to the kitchen and I hurriedly unveiled the puffy little darlings and shoved them into the oven to bake and headed back to the sofa for dessert (on GBM that is...). I had between 17 and 20 minutes to drool over gorgeous plates of delicious sweet treats until my rolls were out of the oven.

Guess what we had for dinner? They ain't called dinner rolls for nothing.


No-Knead Dinner Rolls
from The Pioneer Woman
Makes 12

500ml milk
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup sunflower  oil
4 1/2 cups flour
1 shachet active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon (heaping) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (scant) bi-carbonate of soda
1 tablespoons salt

Pour the milk into a stockpot or Dutch oven. Add the sugar and the oil. Stir to combine. Now, turn the heat on to medium to medium-low and “scald” the mixture/lukewarm. Before the mixture boils, turn off the heat. Allow this mixture to cool to warm/lukewarm. The mixture will need to be warm enough to be a hospitable environment for the yeast, but not so hot that it kills the yeast and makes it inactive. the temperature should be between 32 and 42 degrees C. Feel the side of the pan with the palm of your hand. If it’s hot at all, wait another 20 minutes or so. The pan should feel comfortably warm.

When the mixture is the right temperature add in 2 cups of flour and the yeast. After the yeast and flour are incorporated, add another 2 cups of flour. Stir together and allow to sit, covered with a tea towel or lid, for an hour. After about an hour it should have almost doubled in size. If it hasn’t changed much, put it in a warm (but turned off ) oven for 45 minutes or so. When it has risen sufficiently add 1/2 more cup of flour, the  baking powder, the bi-carbonate of soda and about 1 tablespoon of salt. Stir until combined.

Butter a 12-hole muffin pan. Form the rolls by pinching off a walnut sized piece of dough and rolling it into a little ball. Repeat and tuck three balls of dough into each buttered muffin cup. Continue until pan is full. Cover and allow to rise for about 1 to 2 hours.

Bake at 200 degree C until golden brown, about 17 to 20 minutes.