With the holidays just around the corner, I always like to have an arsenal of tried and trusted recipes that are simple and superb. I’m talking the kind of recipes you can make in a pinch, that will go with just about anything and will leave your dinner guests happily full. While pondering what recipe could possibly meet all of the aforementioned requirements, I was reminded of my mother’s dinner rolls. Simple, delicious home baked bread, formed into perfectly round morsels that can be served alongside a variety of dishes. There was only one thing missing from my mother’s otherwise flawless recipe—beer!
But, I couldn’t make these rolls with just any kind of beer. They needed to be infused with something inherently fall. Something that would echo the spirit of the season with each bite. I opened my fridge and low and behold, the answer to my question was staring me straight in the face. It was No Li Brewhouse’s Krumpkin Imperial Cranberry Pumpkin Ale. Cranberries and pumpkin come together as one to create this seasonal sipper, which also happens to double as a delightful addition to these delicious dinner rolls. No Li likes baking with their beer too—check out their website for a pumpkin pie recipe that is also decked out with the Krumpkin.
Prep time: 25 minutes
Rise time: 2-2 ½ hours
Bake time: 20 minutes
Makes: about 16 rolls
Ingredients:
2 packages (½ ounce) of rapid rise yeast
Pinch of sugar
2 cups No Li Brewhouse Krumpkin Imperial Cranberry Pumpkin Ale, warmed up
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons salt
6-7 cups flour (plus more for kneading)
Directions:
In a bowl, proof the yeast by combining with sugar and beer. Make sure the beer is warm, but not too hot (about 80 degrees Fahrenheit).
While the yeast proofs, in large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine eggs, ½ cup of sugar, oil and salt. Set aside.
Once the yeast has finished proofing, add yeast to egg mixture and combine either using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer or mix by hand with a spoon.
Next, stir or beat in in 3 cups of flour. When mixture becomes stiff and difficult to stir, remove mixture from bowl and begin to knead by hand, or knead using the hook attachment of your stand mixer.
Continue to gradually add flour bit-by-bit until the dough has formed. Once dough has formed, place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a towel. Let rise (in a warm place) for 1 ½ hours.
After the dough has finished rising, shape into dinner rolls (about 3” x 2”) and return to a lightly greased baking sheet, placing rolls a half inch apart. Let rise for 1 hour.
Once the rolls have finished rising, bake in a 350 degree fahrenheit preheated oven for 19-20 minutes. Let cool, or enjoy straight out of the oven with butter.
