Honey Butter Dinner Rolls (Bread Machine)

I wasn't even planning to bake yesterday, let alone bake bread, let alone try a new recipe, but when I looked over the Secret Recipe Club reveal, I found these Honey Yeast Rolls over at The Pajama Chef.  Then I realized that if I got started right now, we could be enjoying those rolls with dinner.

Of course, I changed things up a bit.  First, I made the dough in the bread machine.  The other change I made had to do with Sarah's comment that the rolls were "dense" in texture.  She got 12 rolls out of a recipe that contains 4 cups of flour.  That didn't seem like much, and I wondered if adding some vital gluten to the dough would help things along.

I'm pretty sure the gluten was the key here; the dough was beautifully elastic and they baked up nice and airy. I wound up with 2 dozen small rolls, but dinner rolls ARE supposed to be small.  With the honey butter on top, they are deliciously sweet.

Here's the recipe as I made it:

Honey Butter Dinner Rolls
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1 cup warm water
1/4 cup honey
3 TBL vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/4 tsp salt
4 cups bread flour
2 TBL vital gluten
1 scant TBL active dry yeast
olive oil for the bread pan
1 TBL melted butter
1 TBL honey

Add first 8 ingredients to your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer.  Use the dough cycle.
When dough is finished, remove to a floured surface.  Knead lightly, then cover with a tea towel and allow to rest about 10 minutes.
Brush a 9X13 baking pan with olive oil, making sure to oil the sides as well.  Divide the dough in half, and keep dividing each piece in half until you have about 2 dozen rolls.  You can shape into balls or leave them square/rectangular.  Place in the prepared pan.  Cover with the tea towel and allow to rise for about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Combine melted butter and honey and brush over the rolls.
Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.  If your rolls are tightly packed in the pan, bake a bit longer.

A certain child who lives in this house has declared these the "best rolls ever!"