French Bread Rolls/Buns

This recipe is from My Kitchen Cafe and it's great! A really really great roll for sandwiches. Last night we had them with sloppy joes and they were the perfect texture and had a backseat kind of flavor so you taste the sandwich filling rather than the bread. I think I might try to flatten the dough balls a little when forming to use them as hamburger buns as well.

French Bread Rolls/Buns

4 cups flour (give or take 1/4 cup)
2 1/4 teaspoons SAF or other instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups hot tap water
2 tablespoons canola oil

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine 2 cups flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Mix a little just to combine. Add hot water and canola oil. Mix. Add flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, until dough pulls away from sides of bowl when mixed (I used about 3 3/4 cups total). Dough should be soft and smooth but still feel a little sticky to the touch. Knead with dough hook for 5 minutes on medium high speed (or by hand for 8-10 minutes). Lightly oil or grease a large bowl. Form dough into a smooth ball and place in bowl. Cover and allow to raise for about 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Punch down dough and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces and form each into a ball. Place on a greased baking sheet (I use a stoneware jelly roll pan) and allow to raise for about 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 15-20 minutes. You may need to cover the tops of rolls with foil and allow to cook on the bottom rack for the last 5 minutes to allow bottoms to bake.

*You can also make pull-apart rolls with these by baking in a 9x13 baking dish - you might need to adjust the baking time - pull-apart rolls take longer to bake through.