herbed.dinner.rolls

I made these dinner rolls the other night to eat with our leftovers of creamy chicken and wild rice soup.  Oh they are so good.  The first several times I made them, I put all of the herbs into the mix.  Then, someone asked me to bring plain white rolls to a gathering, and I liked these so well that I just took the herbs out!  They do need extra flour if you do this (see the notes section below). 

They mix in my bread machine for about 1 1/2 hours.  They take about 5-10 minutes to shape, 30 minutes to rise, and 10-15 minutes to bake.  From start to finish, I usually plan about 3 hours for these...so worth it!

The recipe came from a Quick Cooking magazine several years ago.  Enjoy...

Herbed Dinner Rolls 
1 cup water (70-80 degrees)
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon each dried basil, oregano, thyme, and dried rosemary (crushed)
3 1/4 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
Additional butter, melted
Coarse salt, optional

In bread machine pan, place the water, softened butter, egg, sugar, salt, seasonings, flour and yeast in order suggested by manufacturer.  Select dough setting (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or four if needed). 

When cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Divide dough into 16 portions; shape each into a ball.  Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes (I check them at 10) or until golden brown.  If desired, brush with butter and sprinkle with coarse salt (I do neither!).  Remove from pans to wire racks.

NOTES:
-The water temp doesn't have to be perfect.  Just put in some warm water.
-I don't do the butter or the salt at the end. 
-Sometimes I make the rolls smaller (they can get so big when they bake!) and I make 32 rolls instead of 16.  I usually turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake them for about 6 minutes or until golden.
-Most of the time, I don't put the herbs in and just do plain white dinner rolls.  When I do this, I add an extra 1/4 cup of flour with the other flour.
-These freeze beautifully!  Be sure to let them cool completely first.