Rolls from "Rue Tatin"

Over vacation I enjoyed reading Susan Loomis's "On Rue Tatin." I enjoy this kind of book - travel (France), decorating (an old house), and food (recipes) - three of the clever things I love! I felt like I had escaped to France for a few days as I read it. I have the corners of several pages marked with recipes to try. A few days ago I tried "The Rolls that Brought us Together" which the author made and gave to her neighbors which helped her to make friends.

I love making yeast bread, but hate all the kneading, so I wanted to simplify the process of making these rolls. I also adapted the ingredients so it made only a dozen rolls. I tried one batch in the food processor (too messy!) and one batch in the bread machine (wonderful and easy!). These rolls bake up into little puffy pillows that melt in your mouth. Here's how I made them:

Rolls from "Rue Tatin"

1/2 cup milk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/4 cups flour

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Scald the milk. Add the butter and stir until melted.

2. Put flour, sugar, and salt into the bread maker. Add the milk mixture, and then the egg. Put the yeast in the yeast dispenser. Set the bread machine for the dough cycle and press start.

3. The dough should be kneaded and will rise during the dough cycle. (I found that at the end of the 2.5 hours of the cycle that the dough needed to rise another hour so I just left it in the bread machine. Not sure if this recipe needs longer to rise or if my yeast is just old.)

4. Remove dough from the machine onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a circle of about 16 inches. Cut the dough with a knife into 12 pieces. Roll each triangle up starting at the wide end to form crescents.

5. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet (I used an airbake cookie sheet) with the tips tucked underneath so they don't unroll while baking. Cover with a towel, and let rise for another 1 - 2 hours, until almost doubled.

6. Bake in a preheated 350 F oven for 10 - 12 minutes. Remove and eat while warm!