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School cafeteria food was, on the whole, pretty nasty. However, I remember those cafeterias having the best bread rolls. Really light and tasty and buttery. While Googling around for a recipe I found out that, guess what, a lot of other people remember those rolls as being delicious too. Furthermore, they've posted recipes which may not be exactly the same, but they're pretty dang close!

What you need (separated by stages):

1 cup warm water
3 tbsp and 1-3/4 tsp sugar
1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast

1 tbsp and 1 tsp milk
2/3 egg
1 tsp salt
3-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp and 1 tsp shortening

1 tbsp and 1 tsp melted butter
1 tsp  sugar

Can you tell I scaled the recipe down a bit? Originally it took 10 cups of flour. I don't know about you, but I don't need that many rolls! This dough can be used for many other things, including an pan and pigs in blankets.

First off, I'll tell you right away that I haven't made this by hand. I recently got a bread machine, and it is the most wonderfullest thing in the world for making dough. I'm including by-hand directions, but I have not done them myself.

Bread machine version:

Mix the warm water and sugar in a cup. Sprinkle the yeast onto the top, and let it stand for about 10 minutes, until the yeast is foamy.

Dump the yeast mix into the bread machine. Add the milk, eggs, salt, shortening (in small gobs), and flour, in that order. Put it on the dough cycle and walk away for an hour and a half.

When the dough is ready, dump it onto a kneading surface (does not need to be floured!) and pour the sugar and melted butter over it. Knead it for a few minutes, and don't worry about the very-weird texture. Let the dough rest for a few minutes, then make balls out of it and place them in a greased pan, spacing them about 1 inch apart. (Or place them closer together - you'll have to pull them apart, but they'll separate easily, just like the ones in the cafeteria.) Let them rise again until they double in size.

While they're rising preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake the rolls for about 12 minutes, until golden brown on top.

Hand-kneaded version:

Mix the warm water and sugar in a large bowl. Sprinkle the yeast onto the top, and let it stand for about 10 minutes, until the yeast is foamy.

Mix the milk, eggs, and salt into the yeast. Measure the flour into a separate bowl, and add the shortening in little bits. Stir the flour, a small amount at a time, into the wet bowl. Mix the whole thing using a wooden spoon until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and starts to form a ball around the spoon. Cover it with a hot, damp towel, and set it in a warm place to rise until it doubles its size, about 45 minutes.

When the dough has risen, pour the sugar and melted butter over it, then knead it for a few minutes. Don't worry about the very-weird texture. Let the dough rest for a few minutes, then make balls out of it and place them in a greased pan, spacing them about 1 inch apart. (Or place them closer together - you'll have to pull them apart, but they'll separate easily, just like the ones in the cafeteria.) Let them rise again until they double in size.

While they're rising preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake the rolls for about 12 minutes, until golden brown on top.

Steamed variant:

An interesting variation to try is steaming the bread instead of baking it. Follow the regular cafeteria roll directions until it comes to the baking part, and from there just steam it for 20 minutes, ala the steamed buns recipe. The bread will be denser, and lack a crust.