Overnight Reindeer Rolls -- The Ones Gayle and I Made Saturday

Easter week next week. This week was prep. Gayle and I made rolls Saturday. I made pies Friday. Amber will come Wednesday and stay through Monday. Eli arrives Saturday.

Drove a short Lincoln run Tuesday. Home Tuesday. Wrote the rest of the week. Book two at 39,500 words.

Tyler turned 16 on Saturday, April 15 — no, wait, his birthday is in May, May 1. I am ahead of myself. I apologize. Let me say: Tyler is not 16 yet. He will be 16 in three weeks. He has been anticipating it for months. He will get his driver's license. He has $2,200 saved for a truck. He has three vehicles he is considering. He talks about trucks the way Josie talks about her friends — constantly, with detailed emotional analysis. Dave is delighted.

Justin is training for spring football — conditioning, no games. He is going to be a junior in the fall, starting running back, the coach is already telling him. He is working very hard. He gained six pounds in a month, mostly muscle. He eats everything in the house. I am cooking more and the kitchen still cannot keep up.

Gayle is stable. She has been with us 14 weeks. She is part of the house now. The kids have stopped noticing that she is here, which is how I know the integration is complete. They come down in the morning, they say "Morning, Grandma," they make their breakfast, they go to school. Gayle is a fact of the house. She had not been a fact of any house but her own since 1976. She is a fact of ours now. This is what family means.

Made a roast chicken Sunday. Boring. Great. Easter is Sunday. I am going to cook my brains out.

These are the rolls Gayle and I made together on Saturday — the ones that made the kitchen smell like something good was coming. With Easter on Sunday and Amber arriving Wednesday and Eli Saturday and Justin eating everything that isn’t nailed down, I needed a recipe I could start the night before and not think about again until morning. Overnight rolls are exactly that: you do the work when you have a quiet hour, you put them in the refrigerator, and you pull them out the next day and let them finish rising while the oven heats up. It is the kind of cooking that feels organized even when the rest of the week does not.

Overnight Reindeer Rolls

Prep Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 50 min (plus overnight rise) | Servings: 24 rolls

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water (about 110°F)
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (one standard packet)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup whole milk, warmed
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, for brushing tops
• Flaky sea salt for finishing (optional)

Instructions

1. Proof the yeast. Combine warm water, yeast, and 1 tbsp of the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir once and let sit 5 to 7 minutes until foamy. If it does not foam, your yeast is spent — start again with a fresh packet.
2. Build the dough. Add the remaining sugar, warm milk, melted butter, eggs, and salt to the yeast mixture. With the dough hook on low, add the flour one cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Increase to medium and knead 6 to 8 minutes until the dough is smooth and pulls cleanly from the sides of the bowl. It will be slightly tacky but should not stick to your hands.
3. First rise. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn once to coat, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature 1 hour until roughly doubled.
4. Shape the rolls. Punch the dough down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 24 equal pieces (a kitchen scale helps here — about 50g each). Roll each piece into a smooth ball by cupping your hand and using a tight circular motion against the counter. Place in a buttered 9x13-inch baking dish and a second dish or rimmed sheet pan, spacing rolls just touching.
5. Overnight refrigerator rise. Cover the pans tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 8 hours and up to 18 hours. The rolls will rise slowly in the cold. This is where the flavor develops.
6. Come to room temperature and preheat. Remove rolls from the refrigerator 45 minutes to 1 hour before baking. They should puff visibly during this time. Preheat the oven to 375°F while they rest.
7. Bake. Bake uncovered 18 to 22 minutes until the tops are a deep golden brown and the rolls sound hollow when tapped. Rotate the pan once at the halfway mark if your oven runs hot on one side.
8. Finish and serve. Brush generously with melted butter the moment they come out of the oven. Sprinkle with flaky salt if you like. Serve warm. They reheat well wrapped in foil at 300°F for 10 minutes.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 135 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 4g | Carbs: 21g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 130mg