School Cafeteria Yeast Rolls - the rolls that came with my grammar school lunch were always the highlight of the meal. I found the recipe for those yummy rolls in a government cookbook & couldn't resist trying them. OMG! SO good! Super easy to make with only 6 ingredients - bread flour, salt, sugar, vegetable oil, water, and yeast. These are now our go-to homemade rolls for the holidays!
In a small bowl, combine yeast and 3/4 cup of water. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, salt, and dry milk powder.
Add vegetable oil and 1¼ cup water. Mix on low for 3 minutes.
Add yeast mixture and knead on medium speed for 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Loosely cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm spot until double in size, about 45 minutes.
Punch dough down. Lightly spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Divide the dough into 24 balls and place in the prepared baking dish. Loosely cover the dish and let the dough rise in a warm spot until double in size, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Bake rolls for 18 to 20 minutes.
Brush baked rolls with melted butter and enjoy!
Notes:
This recipe calls for 2½ Tablespoons of yeast. That is correct.
One cup of flour weighs 4.25-ounces. To properly measure flour, give the flour a stir to loosen it up in the container. Use a spoon and lightly spoon the flour into your measuring cup. Use a flat straight edge (like the straight back of a knife) to level off the top of the flour in the measuring cup. Do NOT compact the flour in the measuring cup.
Can I substitute all-purpose flour for the bread flour? Yes. The only difference between all-purpose flour and bread flour is the protein content. Bread flour has a little more protein. The extra protein will give you a slightly higher rise than all-purpose flour. You will still get a good rise from all-purpose flour.
Can Cafeteria Yeast Rolls be frozen? Yes! You can freeze the baked rolls for later. When ready to eat, thaw and reheat in the microwave or covered in the oven.