Sour Cream Yeast Rolls

Dinner tonight was corned beef and cabbage, which I made last year in a huge batch and froze a few containers with 2 servings each. I just thawed it in the fridge yesterday and today and reheated it in a pot on the stove.

Since I was going kind of no-hassle on dinner, I wanted to do something a little special on the side, to spice it up. That's when I remembered that I'd flipped to a recipe in my Taste of Home issue I got last month. Sour cream yeast rolls! I instantly knew I was going to make them because the picture looked great, we love anything sour cream, and it was simple ingredients I always have on hand.

I will have to say, they turned out to be more work than I realized. I dirtied several dishes and the kitchen, and felt like I'd been working on them all day by the time they were ready for the oven. There's not a lot of hands-on, but two separate dough rise times, so they're occupying your attention for awhile. They were good, and I'll probably re-make them because Johnny loved them, but definitely not an everyday batch I'd whip up.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 pkg (or 2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup water
3 Tbsp, butter divided (I ended up using only 2 and substituted Smart Balance)
1 egg

In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. In a small saucepan, heat the sour cream, water, and 2 Tbsp butter to 120°-130°; add to dry ingredients. (That seemed a little on the hot side to me, so I only heated mine to about 110° - 115° so I wouldn't kill the yeast). Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add egg and 1/2 cup flour; beat 2 minutes longer. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. (At this point, I stirred in only about 1/4 cup more flour, because I knew I'd be adding a lot more during the kneading process)

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. (I ended up adding 1/2 - 1/3 cup more flour during this.) Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. (I put mine in the kitchen sink with a little bit of warm water and a dampened paper towel over the top of the bowl. I saw this trick on somebody elses' blog recently, but I forget whose!)

Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 12 pieces. Shape each into a ball. Place in a greased 13 X 9 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. (Again, I did this in the kitchen sink with warm water.)

Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Melt remaining butter; brush over rolls. (I omitted this step.) Remove from pan to a wire rack.

Michelle at Lucky Taste Buds is having a giveaway here, so stop by before next Monday!

The host for this week's BSI is Laura at Hey, What's for Dinner Mom!, and she chose strawberries! I added them to my grocery list, but will have to put on my thinking cap!