Grandma Hutch's Ice Box Rolls

I grew up eating these rolls of my Grandma Hutch's. She often made them at Thanksgiving and I remember very clearly using them to sop up gravy and mashed potatoes. My Grandma Hutch was an excellent baker so anything that came out of her oven was delicious. 

There are many things I love about this recipe - the fact that it is from my Grandma and has been handed down to her daughters (my aunts) and now to me. The fact that they are called "Ice Box" rolls because you must refrigerate them overnight before letting them rise. 

And I also love that this recipe allows you can to make three separate things: dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, or pizza dough. I think this recipe is a wonderful example of how inventive and creative women in my Grandmother's generation were!  They couldn't run to the store for pre-made pizza dough or rolls in a can or frozen cinnamon rolls...they made all of that from scratch. I have now made all three and I like the cinnamon rolls the best but my husband  votes for the dinner rolls with a dab of melted butter on top. 

Grandma Hutch's Ice Box Rolls
From My Grandma
Printable Version
Ingredients

1 tablespoon Crisco

¼ cup sugar

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ cup hot water

1 egg

4 cups sifted flour

1 package yeast

Directions

Put Crisco, sugar & salt in bowl.  Add hot water.  Stir to mix and melt Crisco and dissolve the sugar and salt.  Add 2 cups of flour and yeast and stir.  

Add beaten egg and mix well.  

Add the last 2 cups of flour, mix well.  Cover and place in refrigerator overnight.

For Dinner Rolls:  For rolls, shape & put in greased pan to let rise for 3 hours.  Bake @ 425 degrees for 17 minutes. 

For cinnamon Rolls:  Can be made into cinnamon rolls too!  Roll out dough, spread with margarine, brown sugar, sprinkle with cinnamon & nuts if you like. 

Roll up as a jelly roll, cut and place in greased pan with a little margarine & brown sugar in the bottom of the pan which will make a caramelized topping on the rolls.   Let rise for 3 hours, bake at 425 degrees for 17 minutes.  After removing from oven, immediately flip out onto wax paper to cool.

 

For Pizza Dough:  Use as is, roll out and place in pizza pan, no need to rise. Grease the bottom of the pan before placing the dough on it. Top with sauce and your favorite pizza ingredients. Bake at 425 for 17 minutes or until cheese is golden and bubbly.