Since things have been crazy and I’ve not been able to post much, I decided to go ahead and share my dinner roll recipe, even though I only had this one lonely roll to photograph for you. This recipe came about due to an effort to reproduce the amazing, heavy yeast rolls served at Buntyn Cafe in Memphis, Tennessee. My son and I selflessly tested batch after batch as I tweaked the recipe here and there, and one day this is what I came up with. They aren’t as heavy and are a bit different, but are now my family’s favorite, and a heck of a lot easier than anyone need know, to make!

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I realized last weekend, as I was making Eggs Benedict for a crowd, that I often miss out on eating when this happens — people are just Not Generous when it comes to sharing hollandaise sauce, for some reason. I also realized how dry and essentially tasteless (not to mention chewy-in-a-bad-way) store-bought English muffins can be. Yesterday, I decided to make this dish again — properly this time.

English muffins are not hard to make, although they are a bit time-consuming. My recipe is adapted from Alton Brown’s, which is, in turn, rather different than any other recipe I’ve ever encountered for making these tasty morsels. I thought the salt and sugar were a little off, taste-wise, so those are different. And I don’t know what size metal rings AB uses, but when I tried putting two #20 dishers of batter in one, I got a mutant muffin. I also finagled the rising process a little. So, as usual, normal Sunny-Tweaking has taken place, but AB’s recipe was my starting point. Here’s mine:

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These pretties were made for a twist on my normal hoagie rolls for philly-style steak sandwiches. Honestly, I ran myself out of white flour — a neat trick, when you buy it in bulk like I do, but somehow I managed! These are very dense and flavorful, but not overly heavy. They went well with a tangy horseradish & smoked paprika sauce and garlicky onions, peppers, and steak. Mozzarella was the cheese of choice.

Here’s the roll recipe:

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… they’re either perfectly delectable, or decidedly NOT. You’re also likely to start a fight if you present any one recipe as THE BISCUIT, but I’m willing to risk it, here. It took me most of a lifetime to perfect what I consider to be the best recipe ever. I am a firm believer in tolerance and acceptance of diversity, so please, no flames. At least not until you’ve tried them…

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… literally. This is the bread that I make daily; although now that our household has shrunk considerably, it’s not always daily anymore, although it often is, especially on the weekends and if we have visitors. Is there anything finer, really, than the aroma of fresh-baked bread? Is there anything more homey? And in this case, is there anything easier?

Ok, so a peanut butter and honey sandwich is easier. But as far as baking goes — as far as a LOT of recipes go, even — my family’s favorite everyday bread is a snap. With only one rise, done in the pans, and a quick 25 minute baking time, you can have fresh made bread on your table in well under two hours, inclusive even of cleanup. Unless you have an aversion to white bread, you can’t get much better than this.

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I’ve had a craving for pita bread for a few days, so I asked Cat to bring me home some avocados & alfalfa sprouts (my filling of choice) this morning, and made honey-whole wheat pitas. YUM! I also made up some chicken salad with the leftover roast chicken from last night, for while the avocados are ripening up in a bag for a day or so.

These are far easier to make than you might think. First, the ingredient list:

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