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Copycat Rhodes Rolls: Soft, Fluffy, and Freezer-Friendly!
If you’ve ever enjoyed the warm, buttery goodness of Rhodes rolls, you’ll love this easy copycat recipe that captures all that deliciousness right in your own kitchen. These homemade rolls are a staple at my house, I make them at least three times a week for my kids lunches. They’re not only simple to make but also freezer-friendly, allowing you to enjoy fresh-baked rolls anytime you want. Let’s dive into this recipe that’s sure to become a family favorite!
Why You’ll Love These Rolls
- Soft and Fluffy: With the perfect balance of ingredients, these rolls are incredibly soft and fluffy, just like the Rhodes originals.
- Customizable: You can add your favorite herbs or cheeses to personalize your rolls.
- Freezer-Friendly: Shape the rolls, freeze them, and bake them fresh whenever you crave them!
The Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup warm water
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup warm milk
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 ½ to 4 cups flour
Instructions
- Proof the Yeast: In a mixing bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes until it becomes bubbly and frothy.
- Prepare the Milk and Butter: In a microwave-safe container, warm the milk for 30-60 seconds. Slice the butter and add it to the warm milk, allowing it to soften and melt.
- Mix the Dough: To the yeast mixture, add 3 ½ cups of flour. Start mixing, then pour in the warm milk and melted butter. Add the salt and continue kneading.
- Adjust Flour as Needed: Gradually add the remaining ½ cup of flour until the dough is just slightly sticky. You may not need the entire amount, so keep an eye on the consistency.
- Knead the Dough: Knead the dough for about 4-6 minutes on medium speed until it is smooth and elastic.
- First Rise: Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes, or until it doubles in size.
- Shape the Rolls: Punch down the risen dough and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a roll and place them on a greased 13×9 baking pan. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel.
- Second Rise: Allow the rolls to rise for another 30-45 minutes, or until they double in size.
- Bake: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Bake the rolls for 18-20 minutes, or until they are golden brown on top.
Freezing Instructions
If you’d like to save some rolls for later, here’s how to freeze them:
- After shaping: Place the rolls on a greased baking pan and cover them tightly with plastic wrap.
- Freeze: Once frozen, you can transfer the rolls to a freezer bag for longer storage.
- To Bake from Frozen: When you’re ready to enjoy them, take the frozen rolls and place them on a greased 13×9 baking pan. Let them rise for 4-6 hours or until doubled in size. Then, bake as directed.
Tips for Success
- Warmth is Key: Ensure your water and milk are warm but not too hot, as high temperatures can kill the yeast.
- Don’t Rush the Rises: Giving your dough time to rise is crucial for achieving fluffy rolls.
- Experiment with Flavors: Feel free to add herbs like rosemary or garlic powder for an extra layer of flavor!
Whether you bake them fresh for dinner or prepare them in advance to pop in the oven later, you’ll love how simple and delicious homemade rolls can be. So gather your ingredients and start baking—your kitchen (and your taste buds) will thank you! Enjoy!
Disneyland Bengal BBQ (copycat)
If you hang around our family, or this blog, long enough you will have no trouble figuring out that we are Disneyland fans. Let me think of a stronger term…fanatics. We love Disneyland. We have often talked about how Disneyland takes us to another land and it’s the land of our childhood. Raising six kids with Disney movies and trips to sunny California (thank you soccer and baseball trips), we have created more than a few memories inside the park.
I remember on one trip, we had been inside the park so often and had completely satiated our need to ride the rides. One morning at the hotel my oldest pulled out a map of Disneyland. He tore the map into “lands”. The family brainstormed a game we could play together. In the end, we all put our names in a hat and drew out teams. Two people per team. The rules were a simple game of hide-and-seek. Once we had our teams, each team drew a folded “land” from the torn-up map. Each team had to start in their land, ride one ride and then they could move about the park in any manner they chose. If you found another team you took a photo of the team and sent it to the group. That team was then “out”. The last team standing received some prize and I don’t think any of us could tell you what the prize was.
I’ll never forget hiding behind a large tree near The Haunted Mansion with Michael and us both looking at our phones only to see a photo of our backsides as we hid behind the tree. We had come out of hiding long enough to stand in a line to get a pass of all passes during the year of a million dreams. We knew the risks. We accepted them and we paid the price. If I’m not mistaken, Tod and Keven won The Game that day. In all fairness, Tod had his wallet and he and Keven got new shirts and hats to go full incognito.
I don’t know when our tradition of stopping at The Bengal Barbeque started, but it was around this time. Often, now, you will hear one of us say “hey, I am stopping at The Bengal BBQ for a banyan, I will catch up to you”. Just as often that person is followed by several others to grab a skewer of meaty and saucy deliciousness. We all have our favorites. So much so that Lacey stopped at Town Hall and requested the recipe.
Earlier this week we celebrated Katey’s birthday. For a family who is on a Disneyland Diet (due to Covid-19), it seemed appropriate to celebrate in Bengal Barbeque style. Lacey has made a few adjustments to the recipe because that is what we do. It was delicious! As we reminisced about Disneyland and Katey we played music from the Tiki Room and Indiana Jones and hoped that some of those present would be able to use their season passes soon.
Here’s to family memories, holding out hope, great memories still to be had, season passes, and a family who is always game to be a child again. Oh—and to the creation of The Game which will stand in Balser history forever.
Hope you have fun whipping up these magical skewers and don’t forget to turn on the tiki music.
Chieftain Chicken Skewers
Ingredients
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 T. red wine vinegar
- 1 C. ketchup
- 1/2 C. crushed pineapple
- 1/2 C. brown sugar
- 1/2 C. soy sauce
- 1/4 C. orange juice concentrate
- 3 T. water
Directions
- Simmer cloves in red wine vinegar for 5-10 minutes
- Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes
- Brush on grilled or baked chicken skewers
Bengal Beef Skewers
Ingredients
- 1 C. teriyaki sauce
- 1 C. soy sauce
- 1 T. red wine vinegar
- 1 C. brown sugar
- 1/2 C. sherry cooking wine
- 2 whole bay leaves
- 1 T. ground black pepper
- 2 T. fresh ginger
- 1 T. fresh garlic
Directions
- Add all ingredients to a sauce pot and simmer 5-8 minutes
- Brush over sirloin steak skewers
Banyan Beef Skewers
Ingredients
- 1 C. soy sauce
- 1 1/2 C. water
- 1 T. ground black pepper
- 3 T. sesame oil
- 1 t. ground red pepper
- 1/2 t. cayenne pepper
- 1 t. fresh garlic
- 1 T. corn starch
Directions
- Mix all ingredients except corn starch, and bring to a boil
- Add enough water to the corn starch to make a bit of a paste, add it to the boiling mixture and remove from the heat once it is thickened.
- Brush over sirloin baked or grilled steak skewers
The Best Ever Chocolate Cake {Magleby’s Copycat Recipe}
The only non-negotiable about my wedding reception was the cake. Flowers, reception location, table linen colors? All were a little up in the air. But the cake had to be a layered Magleby’s chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. If you’ve ever had a slice of rich, delicious, fudgy, cake from Magleby’s you understand why its the cake I wanted to be eating in slices out of the freezer for weeks after the big day. My mom even packed up some for me to take on our road trip honeymoon. It’s just that good.
This homemade version is just as delicious and can be whipped up quickly in a casual 13 x 9 pan or easily made into rounds for a decadent, {dare I say wedding worthy?} dessert.
From a bakers perspective, one of my favorite things about this cake is the lovely, flat cake surface it creates. It doesn’t sink in the middle like many homemade cake recipes, and it doesn’t mound up in the center like so many boxed cakes either. The flat surface perfect for frosting! And it makes layering a dream because there is no need for trimming the cakes before frosting and stacking.
Be sure to cool completely before frosting, and enjoy a cake so delicious, its worth hauling on your honeymoon.
Ingredients
- FOR THE CAKE:
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup cocoa
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- FOR THE FROSTING:
- 1/2 c. butter
- 1/4 c. baking cocoa
- 5 T. milk
- 1 T. vanilla
- 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9×13″ pan
- In a small sauce pan heat butter until melted on medium heat. Add water and cocoa powder and whisk until smooth, then bring to a slight simmer then set aside to cool.
- In a separate bowl combine flour, granulated sugar, and salt.
- Add cooled chocolate mixture and stir until just combined and smooth.
- In a small separate bowl add eggs, baking soda, baking powder, brown sugar and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Pour the egg mixture into the batter and gently stir until combined.
- Fold the sour cream into the batter gently. Don’t over mix.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan & bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out with only a few crumbs.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
- FOR THE FROSTING*****
- Add butter, cocoa, milk, and vanilla to a sauce pan and bring to a simmer.
- Once all the butter is melted and mixture is smooth remove from heat and beat in powdered sugar.
*****If you’re making a layered cake be sure to double the frosting recipe so there’s enough for in between the layers
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Sunday breakfasts are a favorite for me and my family. Depending on our church schedule, I usually end up with extra time to bake something extra delicious. This past Sunday morning called for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins.
As I gathered my ingredients to make these delicious fall muffins, I realized I was about one cup short of chocolate chips. Seeing as how I had refilled my chocolate chip canister earlier this week, I imagine that more than one pair of little hands found their way into the jar. Luckily, we had about a dozen fun-sized Hershey bars leftover from recent activity. So my girls and I chopped those up to mix in and saved the 1/4 cup of chocolate chips for sprinkling on top. Adaptability is the name of the game around here! The chopped-up chocolate chunks were delicious in this recipe and many other substitutions would work just as well. I’m thinking about trying white chocolate or cinnamon chips but you could easily omit the chips completely and have pure pumpkin muffins.
Here’s hoping you have extra time this week for extra delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 C flour
- 1 t. baking soda
- 2 t. pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 t. salt
- 1/4 c. milk
- 1/2 c. vegetable oil
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1/2 c. light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 c. canned pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs
- 1 c. chocolate chips (reserve a few for topping the muffins)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425 and line a 12 count muffin tin and a 6 count muffin tin with paper or silicone tin liners.
- Mix flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
- In another bowl mix milk, oil, sugars, pumpkin puree, and eggs until well blended.
- Add wet ingredients to the dry and mix gently, only until just combined.
- Add chocolate chips and gently stir until incorporated.
- Fill tins almost all the way full* and bake for 5 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 and continue baking another 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
*because this is such a heavy batter as long as you leave about 1/4″ space from the top of the liner the muffins will puff up, not over the edges
The Mystery of the Missing Donuts: Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts
When September rolls around here in Utah sometimes it doesn’t feel like the ushering in of Autumn. We’ve been known to have temperatures well into the 90’s, or early freezes and snow flurries depending on the year. Sometimes all you have is the word, September to remind you that the seasons are changing. But a pumpkin spiced donut helps too.
We first whipped up a batch of these on September 1st, just to make sure we kicked off fall right. They were worth waking up extra early on a Tuesday morning to make sure my first grader had cinnamon sugar in the corners of her mouth as she skipped off to school. I guess mandatory masks have their plus sides.
We only waited a few days for another batch, a breezy Saturday morning where you could almost smell the leaves changing colors. We savored the first batch, eating all six before they cooled, and I left the remaining on the kitchen counter. We had a few to take to grandmas and a few for later. I knew the donuts wouldn’t make it through the day but I was surprised after loading the girls up the car to find the plate completely empty. No donuts for later, and none to share at grandmas house.
I began a frantic search for the eight missing donuts, after interrogating each child and deciding the two-year-old was the likeliest culprit. We searched in cabinets, toy baskets, garbage bins, anywhere we thought those stubby two-year-old arms could easily reach. After a half-hour of searching not a single donut turned up. We couldn’t even find cinnamon sugar evidence anywhere. With no real evidence, we came to the conclusion that she fed them one by one to Rico, our Great Pyrenees. In fact, the lack of evidence is what led us to that conclusion, it was all licked up, every last crumb.
Trying to find the humor while living my own “who stole the cookies from the cookie jar” moment would’ve been easier if these pumpkin spice donuts weren’t so perfectly delicious. Thankfully, enough time has passed now, and enough batches of donuts have been eaten in the meantime, that we can laugh about it now. And whenever I have a half dozen of these lovelies baking in the oven without fail Rico appears at the door, looking extra drooly and expectant. I can’t blame him.
**You will need a donut pan! Don’t have one? I’d suggest you invest! I bought mine at King Arthur Flour. Don’t want to buy one? I saw a great tutorial on how to make your own here
Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts
Ingredients
- 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree
- 3/4 c. brown sugar
- 1/3 c. vegetable oil
- 1/3 c. buttermilk
- 4 T. melted butter
- 3 eggs
- 3 1/4 c. flour
- 1/2 t. salt
- 2 1/2 t. baking powder
- 1/4 t. baking soda
- 2 t. pumpkin pie spice
- CINNAMON SUGAR COATING
- 3/4 c melted butter
- 3 t. cinnamon
- 3/4 c sugar
Directions
- Mix the pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter.
- In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix only until combined. Over mixing will make the donuts tough and dense.
- Spoon the batter into a large piping bag, or a ziplock bag with a corner snipped off.
- Pipe the batter into a greased donut pan, filling them about 3/4 full
- Bake at 350 F for 18-25 minutes (depending on your oven) or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Remove onto a cooling rack
- For the cinnamon sugar coating, mix cinnamon and sugar together,
- Dip both sides of the donut in melted butter and then in the cinnamon sugar mixture.