I love the texture and slight sweetness of these dinner rolls.

New to making yeast breads?
Click for our photo tutorial on making yeast breads for important techniques.

Makes 20 to 30 Rolls

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk. Then add 1 1/2 cups of the flour and all the remaining ingredients. Stir the mixture vigorously until it is smooth, then go ahead and stir it a bit more. Now stir in the the remaining 1 3/4 cups flour in two or three additions, or as much flour as it takes to make a soft, kneadable dough.

2. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes, adding more flour if necessary. Round the dough up and and place it in a vegetable shortening greased bowl, orating the dough in the bowl to grease it too. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place until it's doubled in size, 60 to 80 minutes. Punch the dough down, turn it over, and let it rise again until nearly double, 25 to 30 minutes.

3. Turn the dough back out onto the floured work surface and knead it tenderly for 15 seconds -- just to knock the air out. Cover the dough and let it rest for 5 minutes. Now shape the dough into whatever shape you want. I like a classic round roll. I fit 13 balls of dough -- somewhere between a golf ball and a tennis ball in size -- in a greased 9-inch round cake pan. This recipe makes 2 pans. But other roll shapes will work just as well.

4. Cover the shaped rolls and allow them to rise a final time, until they puff up nicely; 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425°F. Bake the rolls for 12 to 18 minutes.