Monday's Meal

I am always surprised at how few people have heard of refrigerator dough before. In our convenience oriented society, it seems like this would be one of those recipes that everybody uses. Especially since we all seem to like better quality food that what is usually classified as convenient. Basically, this recipe lets you have all those wonderful home made rolls and such in a much shorter time. It is something you make and put in the fridge, then pull out the portion you need as you need it throughout the week.

In Tightwad Gazette (III if you have the individual books), she lists the things she did with one batch of her refrigerator dough. She just about always makes a double batch of everything. Here it is in summary: Sunday - cinnamon and powdered sugar doughnuts, Monday - cloverleaf rolls for dinner and breadsticks for their lunch boxes that week, Thursday - cinnamon rolls. Other things you can make with it are brown-n-serve rolls, crescent rolls, pan biscuits, hot-cross buns, hamburger buns, braids, etc. Pretty much any kind of bread or bread based thing. She says it makes a heavy moist loaf of bread but I've never tried that.

It is supposed to be good for up to 5 days in the refrigerator but she says she has stretched that to get sourdough tasting rolls. Again, I've not yet tried that. We are pretty happy with the regular rolls, cinnamon rolls, and doughnuts we've made using it so far. Check out my birthday doughnuts made from refrigerator dough.

Mind you, I was already hungry so I didn't care if they got a little misshapen. And, yes, one got pilfered before I even had time to take the picture. They took approximately 30 minutes that morning to cook - just slightly longer than muffins. Throw in a few minutes to make the glaze and glaze them and oh, my word! Not that they weren't pretty good without the glaze, but, hey, it was my birthday. The rest of mine pretty much went for sandwich rolls for lunches and yeast rolls for dinners the rest of the week.

The recipe originally came from the Betty Crocker cookbook but in my newer version does not appear. The recipe below I found somewhere on the internet. I know there is a version that uses instant potato flakes as well but I almost never have those. This one is a good way to also use up leftover mashed potatoes (another thing I almost never have except on the rare occasion).

I think this would be good for company that came to visit for a few days too. Fresh breakfast and dinner rolls of all types would be sure to impress and you wouldn't have to make a run to the local pastry shop or have a waitress shooing you off so she could get ready for the lunch crowd.

If you've never tried refrigerator dough, I highly encourage you to. Especially if you are fairly busy. This might just be the thing for you.

Refrigerator Dough

2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast (equivalent to one of those little packages)
1 1/2 cups warm water
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup lukewarm mashed potatoes
appx. 7 to 7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in sugar, salt, shortening, eggs, potatoes, and about 4 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make a dough that is easy to handle. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl and turn greased side of dough up. Cover bowl tightly and refrigerate at least 8 hours or until ready to use. Dough can be kept in refrigerator tightly covered up to 5 days.

To make regular rolls, punch dough down. Shape into rolls (whether using a cutter or making into balls). Brush with butter. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.