Lion House Dinner Rolls

Martin Luther King Jr. Day this week, and at New Hope AME this is not a day off. It is a day on. Calvin organized a community service event — the congregation went out to serve: cleaning up vacant lots in Ensley, delivering meals to homebound seniors, painting a community center that needed painting. I was on the meal delivery team, naturally, because what else would I be doing on a day dedicated to service except feeding people, which is the only form of service I have ever truly mastered.

I made fifty plates of food for homebound seniors in the Ensley and West Birmingham neighborhoods — baked chicken, rice, green beans, cornbread, and a slice of pound cake on each plate. We loaded them into insulated bags and drove from house to house, and at every door a face lit up the way faces do when somebody brings you food you did not expect, and I thought about Dr. King and his dream and my own dream, which is smaller than his but not unrelated: a world where nobody is hungry and somebody always shows up with a plate.

Marcus came on the cleanup crew. He picked up trash and painted walls and came home smelling like paint thinner and satisfaction. He said it felt good to do something for other people, and I said baby, that feeling is called purpose, and you should chase it the way you chase everything else — with your whole self. He grinned. He understood. He has been watching me chase purpose his whole life, and now he is starting to run on his own.

The cold continued this week and I baked bread. Not cornbread — real yeast bread, the kind that takes all day and fills the house with a smell that should be illegal because it is too beautiful to be free. I do not bake bread often because bread is demanding — it wants your time, your attention, your patience, your willingness to wait while the yeast does its invisible work. But today I had the time and the patience and the house was cold enough that the bread needed a warm place to rise and the warm place was my kitchen and we needed each other, the bread and I.

Sliced the bread warm from the oven, slathered it with butter, and ate it standing at the counter with Calvin, who had come in from the study following the smell the way a dog follows a scent. We stood there eating bread and butter in the warm kitchen while the cold pressed against the windows, and neither of us said a word because the bread was saying everything that needed to be said.

That bread Calvin and I ate standing at the counter — warm, slathered with butter, not a word between us — that is the bread I want to share with you. I do not make yeast bread on a regular day, but when the cold is pressing against the windows and the house needs a reason to be warm, these Lion House Dinner Rolls are exactly what I reach for: soft, pillowy, golden on top, and patient in a way that matches the mood of a day when you have already given something of yourself and you want the kitchen to give something back. They take time. That is the whole point.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes (includes rising) | Servings: 24 rolls

Ingredients

2 cups warm water (110–115°F)
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons fine salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus more for brushing
1 large egg
5 to 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Instructions

Proof the yeast. Combine warm water and dry milk powder in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir until dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast over the top and let sit 5 minutes until foamy. If it does not foam, your water was too hot or too cold — start again.
Build the dough. Add the sugar, salt, softened butter, and egg to the yeast mixture. Using the dough hook, mix on low until combined. Add flour one cup at a time, mixing between additions, until a soft dough forms that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be slightly tacky but not sticky.
Knead. Increase speed to medium and knead with the dough hook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Alternatively, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 8 to 10 minutes.
First rise. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and set in a warm spot. Let rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Shape the rolls. Punch down the dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 24 equal pieces. For classic Lion House rolls, flatten each piece into a rough rectangle about 5 inches long, then roll it up from the short end like a small jelly roll. Place seam-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet, rolls touching slightly.
Second rise. Cover loosely and let rise in a warm place until puffed and nearly doubled, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Do not rush this rise — it is what gives the rolls their soft, pull-apart crumb.
Bake. Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake rolls for 13 to 15 minutes, until the tops are golden and the rolls sound hollow when tapped. Watch carefully after 12 minutes — every oven runs differently.
Butter and serve. Remove from oven and immediately brush the tops generously with melted butter. Serve warm. Eat at least one standing at the counter.

Nutrition (per serving)

Lion House Dinner Rolls — The Bread That Says Everything