Lion House Rolls

At my house, homemade rolls are a must have for Thanksgiving dinner. Sometimes I’ll skip one of the side dishes just so I’ll have room for more homemade rolls.

The smell of yeast rolls baking is irresistible. I always make extra rolls so we can eat some hot out of the oven, and so there will be plenty for leftover turkey sandwiches.

One of the great things about this Lion House Roll Recipe is it makes 2 dozen rolls.

The Lion House was built in 1865 in the heart of Salt Lake City. Named for the lion above the entrance, it was originally built as a personal residence. However, in 1932 it became a social center.

Today the bottom floor of the Lion House is a cafeteria-style restaurant called The Lion House Pantry. The Lion House Pantry is a popular downtown lunch spot.

It’s known for it’s home-style cooking, but especially for The Lion House Rolls. If you stop in for lunch, they’ll have rolls rising and baking. The smell of rolls baking, is what keeps people coming back for more, I’m sure.

There’s a new Lion House cookbook filled 500 recipes, including their popular Lion House Roll recipe. I adapted the original Lion House Roll Recipe to the way I prefer making rolls. Using a stand mixer and mixing the yeast and other dry ingredients together first, then adding the warm wet ingredients.

This simplifies and speeds up the process because you can use warmer water and today’s great quick rising yeast. I used Red Star Platinum Yeast, but you could also use Red Star Quick Rise Yeast. If you prefer to use Active Dry Yeast, you’ll need to increase the rise times.

Shaping Lion House Rolls

Lion House Rolls in addition to being big and fluffy, are super buttery. There’s butter in the dough, and then more butter is spread on the dough before shaping the rolls.

Once you divide the dough in half, you roll the dough into a square and spread the square with butter!

Next, you’ll cut the square into fourths. Then cut each fourth into 3 rectangles. Roll each rectangle up like a snail snail and place the rolls on a baking sheet with the roll resting on it’s open edge.

At the Lion House bakery, they hold the rectangles of dough between their hands and flip the dough around itself into a snail shell shape. But I found it was just as easy to roll them and then you’re not flinging butter all over yourself and the kitchen.

You can fit two dozen rolls on one baking sheet. Place four rolls in a row and make six rows of rolls.

I had a friend over to help me make these rolls. We had a great time in the kitchen together, and we made four dozen rolls in less than two hours. Kids would have fun rolling these rolls as well.

Put Lion House Rolls on your holiday menu this year. You’ll be so glad you did!

Lion House Rolls

Lion House Rolls are a popular dinner roll for a reason. They're big, fluffy, easy-to-make, old-fashioned dinner rolls that your family will ask you to make again and again.

Yield 24 dinner rolls

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Ingredients

• 5 to 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
• 2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 (0.25oz each) packages (14g) or 4 1/2 teaspoons Platinum Yeast
• 2 teaspoons fine salt
• 2 cups warm water (120°–130°F)
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter (softened)
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, for topping (melted, divided)

Instructions

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, combine 2 cups flour, nonfat dry milk, sugar, yeast, and salt.
• Add water to flour mixture. Mix at low speed until moistened. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Add 1 cup flour and mix at low speed until moistened. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Add 1/3 cup softened butter and egg and beat 2 minutes more.
• Switch to the dough hook and mix in the remaining flour a little at a time, to make a soft dough. Add more or less flour as needed. Knead the dough for 5 minutes until dough is smooth and just slightly sticky.
• Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and turn to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place until double about 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle a work surface lightly with flour. Divide the dough in half. Roll out one half of the dough into a 12×12-inch square.
• Brush the top of the dough with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into four squares. Cut each of the four squares into three rectangles about 2 inches wide and 6 inches long.
• Roll each rectangle up like a snail shell, and place on a silicone-lined or parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheet with the roll resting on the open edge. Repeat with the second half of the dough.
• Cover baking sheet with plastic wrap and allow rolls to rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Uncover the rolls and bake until they are browned and cooked through, 15-20 minutes. Brush with additional melted butter while they are still hot.

Notes

Recipe by Barbara Bakes.

Hi I’m Barbara Schieving. I love to bake, especially breads, cookies, cakes, and pies. Visit me at Barbara Bakes where I show you how easy it is to bake from scratch. In addition to sharing my wonderful baking recipes, I share my adventures in the kitchen, as well as great family meals.  You can also find me whipping up quick and delicious pressure cooking recipes on Pressure Cooking Today.