WARNING: IF YOU LEARN HOW TO MAKE THESE ROLLS – YOU WILL BE ASKED TO BRING ROLLS TO EVERY FAMILY FUNCTION…FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! ALTHOUGH THAT MIGHT SEEM LIKE A LONG SENTENCE – THEY ARE TOTALLY WORTH IT!
My friend Shellie is amazing and her cooking skills are far beyond my comprehension. I asked her a few years back to teach me how to make her rolls. She hosted 5 women in her home and walked us through step by step how to make them and I’ve not made another roll recipe since. Here’s the recipe in it’s entirety – I’ll then walk through the process with pictures.
POTATO KNOT ROLLS (yields 48 rolls)
1 1/2 T Yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 t sugar
3 cups milk
3/4 cup butter
1 cup instant potato flakes
3/4 cup sugar
1 T salt
5 large eggs
7 to 8 cups flour
Additional cube of butter for spreading on dough before forming knots
Heat milk in microwave for 5-7 minutes. Add butter, potato flakes, sugar and salt. Combine and let cool to lukewarm.
Mix yeast with 1/4 cup of water and 1/2 t sugar to activate yeast.
Beat eggs and add the lukewarm milk mixture. Add 4 cups flour and beat until smooth (at least a minute or two). Add yeast mixture and slowly add more flour until sides of bowl are clean(ish). Dough should still by sticky. Put dough in bowl and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Divide dough in half and roll into large rectangle. Take soft butter (1/4 cup) and spread all over the rectangle. Take the top of the rectangle and fold to the middle and take the bottom and fold on top. Use rolling pin to flatten a little bit. Cut dough into 1 inch strips and tie in a knot. Place on greased baking sheet and let rise for 2-3 hours. Bake at 375 for 11-12 minutes. Brush with butter.
Here’s a picture tutorial:
Heat milk in microwave for 5-7 minutes. Add butter, instant potato flakes (or potato pearls), sugar and salt. Combine and let cool to lukewarm. This will look like runny mashed potatoes after it cools a bit.
Follow the directions to make the dough. This dough is sticky. Do not add too much flour – as you can see from the picture, it would not form into a loaf. In fact, it’s hard to get out of the mixing bowl its so sticky.
After the dough has doubled in size you’ll divide the dough in half. Roll out one half of the dough into a large rectangle. With softened butter, cover the entire rectangle. (I use the back of spoon to spread it around)
After the butter, you’ll fold down the top 1/3 and then fold up the bottom 1/3. Then use a rolling pin to roll it out just a little.
You should get 24 rolls out of the first rectangle. Using a pizza cutter – cut the long skinny rectangle in half and then cut the two halves in half again. You should have 4 sections. Take each of the 4 sections and cut so you have 6 strips.
This step takes a little practice to get them to look good, but start making a knot out of each strip. You literally tie the dough in a knot. The first batch may look a little sad – but my 12-year-old can make these (after some practice) – after one batch you’ll be a pro.
A little tip: I make these for a lot of family functions – and I love a fresh roll but it never works out to make them the day of. Instead I make them the day before. Once I tie them in a knot, I place them on a cookie sheet right next to each other and freeze them. After a couple hours, I put them in a ziploc bag. The next morning, I pull them out and place them on cookie sheets to rise. They take 6 or 7 hours to rise and then I cook them. I’ve kept them frozen for several weeks before cooking them, but I’ve found they’re best within a day or two.
They are soft and buttery and oh so good!
