How to Make Dinner Rolls

Combine a cup and a half of whole milk, a third of a cup of sugar and four tablespoons of butter, and warm it until the butter melts.

Let it cool to warm, not hot. Then sprinkle a tablespoon of active dry yeast over the top.

Too hot and you kill the yeast before it starts. Warm to the wrist is right.

Let it sit a minute, then whisk the yeast into the milk. Set it aside for about five minutes.

You are looking for a foamy, risen head on the surface. That foam is the proof that your yeast is alive.

Nothing happening after ten minutes means dead yeast or milk that was too hot. Start again rather than carrying on.

Add the salt, then start adding flour a bit at a time, whisking as you go.

Starting with a whisk rather than a dough hook incorporates the flour much faster and saves you time later. Keep going until it is too thick to whisk.

Switch to the dough hook, set the mixer to speed two, and keep adding the rest of the flour.

Scrape the bowl down as you go so the flour incorporates evenly. Add the last tablespoon or two only if the dough actually needs it.

The finished dough should be soft and slightly moist, and it will pull away from the sides while still tacky to touch.

Transfer the dough to a well-oiled bowl and cover it.

Now the trick: put a damp towel in the microwave and run it on high for a minute. That fills the microwave with warm steam. Put the covered dough in, shut the door, and leave it.

You have made a proofing box out of an appliance you already own. It works in a cold kitchen in winter, which is when you actually want to bake rolls.

When it has doubled, punch it down and turn it out.

Divide into 15 even pieces for a 9x13 dish - five across and three deep. A different pan size means a different count; 16 or 24 both work.

Cup the dough with your thumb and fingers, then roll it against the counter in the palm of your hand.

You are pulling the surface tight underneath, which is what gives you a smooth domed top instead of a wrinkled one.

Set them into a lightly oiled 9x13 dish and give them a second rise, about an hour, until visibly puffed. The same microwave trick works.

Bake until golden, then brush the tops with a tablespoon of melted butter while they are still hot.

Sprinkle kosher salt over while the butter is still wet so it sticks. That flake of salt against a sweet soft roll is the whole thing.

They are best slightly warm. They also freeze well.