Jordan Rolls – And Why Interruptions Are The Key To My Success
I’m gonna start out by telling y’all that it is probably not a good idea for me to post today. My normally scattered mind is even more so, thinking on a million different things as I race to finish up my book. I’m trying to make sure my heart is in every story and that I haven’t overlooked a single cherished recipe. My hands are shaking when I stop typing because my heart and nerves say “Go! Go! Go! One more…tell them one more!”.
It’s a race to share my love for you and the wonderful upbringing I have been fortunate enough to have and I want to make sure I eek out every bit of it that I can. Like when an old friend is about to leave and you have to give them that last, urgent hug where you squeeze just a little bit tighter in hopes that they’ll feel how much you mean it. When all is said and done I hope you’ll all read this book and know how very important you have all been in the process of writing it, and I hope you’ll be able to feel how grateful I am and how very much you mean to me.
That said, I’m gonna try to get through this post with the proper instructions, the links where they should be, and not overlook any glaringly obvious details!
But before we get to that, my little soap box has been feeling awfully neglected as of late and so I promised it I’d take it out and dust it off a bit….
~clears throat, stands up straight, and grasps her right lapel as she prepares to address the audience~
I’m often asked how I do it all. How I have time to maintain a home, take care of my kids, keep a blog going, answer emails, write a book, and still manage to put supper on the table at night. The funny thing is that every time someone asks me how I do it, like most of us, I can’t help but wonder the same thing myself.
The course of writing this book was probably one of the most stressful times in my life to date. Juggling everything has become increasingly difficult and I had to send out a few S.O.S. calls to friends and family members – bless them for answering.
One particular day last week, as my deadline was drawing close, I found myself dreading my daughter coming home from preschool. It had been a very productive morning and I caught myself thinking “She’s going to be here soon. She’s going to interrupt me all afternoon and I won’t get a single thing more accomplished on the book.” I could feel the stress building and I huffed in frustration “Why can I not just have a day without interruptions?”
At that moment, I experienced an epiphany. In the midst of the churning inside, it hit me right in the pit of my stomach just what those interruptions were and more importantly, what my life would be without them.
A day without interruptions would be a day without my kids, my family, and friends. A day without interruptions would be a day without emails from the wonderful people who read Southern Plate and take time to let me know that I’ve somehow managed to speak my heart in a way that has touched theirs.
Sometimes it’s a phone call from my mother in the middle of a blog post. I’m so fortunate to still have her in my life and to count her as my dearest friend. Sometimes it’s a little face peeping around the computer screen who has a habit of starting every single sentence with the world “Mama” and I’m reminded that my greatest dream has come true in that I am a mother to two beautiful children.
In that moment, I saw interruptions in an entirely new light. Not as annoyances, but as blessings, God’s way of checking in with us and reminding us to take a moment to appreciate the things that really matter.
How do I do it all?
After that one moment I can tell you without a doubt that the secret to any success I may have and anything I may achieve is owed entirely to the multitude of interruptions in my life.
As you go about your day, checking off your growing to do list and wondering how you are going to fit it all into the waking hours, I hope you are as fortunate as I am to have the wonderful interruptions that make it all worthwhile.
~steps down and takes a deep breath~ I feel better now. ~grins~
And now for the recipe. This is my personal roll recipe, that I serve whenever an occasion calls for them. They are pretty easy as far as yeast breads go and I hope your family will enjoy them as much as mine does. I especially like to make them whenever I bake a ham, using the leftover rolls and ham to make little sandwiches with the next day.
You’ll need: All purpose flour, sugar, salt, yeast, vegetable shortening, two eggs, and melted butter or margarine.
You’re also going to need some hot water and aren’t we fortunate to be able to just go get that out of the sink?
Lots of folks don’t have such luxuries.
I don’t like to use packets of yeast because I have the patience of a nervous lizard so I use the jar yeast which can be purchased beside the packets.
This way I just measure it out. The back of the jar will tell you how many teaspoons equal a packet. In this case I’m going to use four and a half teaspoons.
I’m going to just put the packet measurements at the bottom, though, because that is what most people use.
This little jar will keep forever if you put it in your fridge but I usually go through a few each year – at least.
Measure your sugar, salt, 2 cups flour, and yeast into a bowl.
Cut in shortening with a long tined fork.
You can use a fancy pastry cutter if you want to but that’s just one more thing to clutter up my kitchen so I got rid of it years ago.
After you get your shortening cut up in there real good, add your eggs.
Like so.
Flash was on in this picture so if it looks a little whiter that is why.
Beat up your eggs a bit.
I know they didn’t do anything to ya but sometimes things like this happen with no provocation.
Those eggs were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Beat ‘em!
And mix them up in there.
Now we add our melted butter or margarine. You want to melt this and then give it time to cool so that it isn’t too hot.
The thing about yeast breads that is most tricky to folks is getting their liquid ingredients the right temperature. A good rule of thumb that has always served me well has been to make sure liquids are about the temperature as baby’s bath water. Yes, I stick my finger in the melted margarine, it doesn’t hurt anyone.
If it’s as warm as a baby’s bath water, but not hot, then it is a great temperature.
Add the remaining flour.
and the water, again making sure the water is the temperature of baby’s bath water.
If you don’t know what temperature a baby’s bath water is then you could always go borrow a dirty baby, I suppose…
Stir that up good.
It’s going to look like a lumpy blob when you’re done.
Cover that with a towel and let it sit for twenty minutes.
After twenty minutes, it’s going to look like an even bigger lumpy blob.
This is good. You have done well, grasshopper.
Now we need to flour a surface and pour our blob out onto it.
I just put out a sheet of waxed paper to save cleanup and sprinkle a good bit of flour over it so my dough doesn’t stick.
You need to knead..
~pauses and reads that again~ That just looks funny…
Okay, so you need to knead your dough a time or two and what I do is just put some flour on your hands, press the dough into a ball, and then smoosh it out with the heel of your hand. Then put it into a ball again and smoosh it out again with the heel of your hand.
Then wonder what crazy person decided to call that part of your hand a heel because that makes no sense at all to me.
I know, I’m in rare form today but if you think this is bad, you should see me when I’m caffeinated.
From here there are two ways you can go with these rolls.
Okay so in reality there are countless ways you can go with this but I am going to show you the two ways that I use.
I’ll start with my favorite and the less maintenance one.
My favorite Method #1
After kneading your dough two or three times, shape it into a rectangle.
If this doesn’t look like a perfect rectangle to you then squint your eyes until it does…
Cut into strips with a pizza cutter.
And then cut cross wise.
I like this method best because it’s easy and ends up yielding larger and smaller rolls which seem to suit company better anyway.
Spray one 9×13 pan with cooking spray.
Arrange in pan and spray tops lightly with cooking spray.
Cover with towel and let rise for twenty minutes.
~~~~~~~~
METHOD 2
Pat your dough out into a circle, about twelve inches in diameter.
With a pizza cutter, cut the circle into sixteen pieces.
Spray two 9×13 inch pans with cooking spray.
Roll each triangle up beginning on the big end and rolling towards the point.
Like so.
Space them out a bit and put them in two 9×13 pans.
I spray the tops lightly with more cooking spray to have prettier rolls when they are done baking and to help prevent them from sticking in the next step.
Cover with a towel and place in a warm place for another twenty minutes.
note: My oven is not on in this pic.
Another note: Terri gave me this dish towel when she came to visit Bountiful this past summer. Ain’t it purty?
After twenty minutes, preheat oven (without rolls in it) to 350.
Bake for about twenty five minutes. Brush with melted butter or margarine when done.
Method #1
Method #2
My mother in law, Linda, myself, and Mama just before Christmas day dinner at Bountiful.
We had sweet potato casserole, fresh corn, Mac and Cheese (for Katy), sweet and sour green beans, baked ham, Jordan rolls, and Mama’s Velvet cake. I think the best dinners are served out of mismatched dishes around a family table. Keeps the focus where it needs to be anyway.
Ingredients
- 1/2 C solid vegetable shortening
- 1/2 C Sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 pkg fast acting yeast**
- 5 C all purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 stick butter or margarine, melted (plus more for brushing baked rolls with)
- 1 1/2 C warm water (like a baby’s bath temperature, this is key with working with yeast)
Instructions
- Place sugar, salt, 2 cups of flour, and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Cut in shortening with a long tined fork.
- Add eggs, beating lightly with fork before stirring them in. Add remaining flour, melted butter, and water. Stir together well. Mixture will look like a big old lumpy blob.
- Cover with a dish towel and let sit in a warm place for twenty minutes.
- After 20 minutes, turn out onto a floured surface. Sprinkle flour over the top and knead three or four times.
- Pat out into a square that is about 3/4 inch thick (or see method #2 above). Cut into squares with a pizza cutter.
- Place in greased 9×13 pan and cover with towel. Let rise another 20 minutes. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until tops are golden.
- Brush hot rolls with additional melted butter.
**Note: I use a fast acting or “rapid rise” yeast. It is perfectly alright to use regular yeast, your rolls will just need longer to rise.
“Strength comes from the inside,
but must be fed on the outside to be able to grow.”
-Richard Manintveld
Submitted by his loving wife, Deidra. Submit your quote here. Gain motivation and encouragement here as well.
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on Jan 25 2010. Filed under Breads.
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I can’t wait to try these. I have always had a thing for good yeast rolls. Guess it reminds me of the smell of yeast rolls cooking in the school lunch room back in the day when the food was made from scratch. Remember watching the lunchroom ladies, snapping pole beans early in the morning to have for lunch. But the rolls, were the best. I have never used the bottled yeast but I am going to try it. I love the picture of you, mom and MIL. There is nothing more sacred than seeing southern women in the kitchen with our aprons on and our best baked dishes. Wish I had some right now.
[...] and get your noodles cooking and rolls a browning! I am using brown and serve rolls for this but Jordan Rolls go great, too, if you want to make [...]
I have never been able to make good rolls…….until now and yippie they work! These are so good and buttery and yummy! thanks
[...] This recipe is from Southern Plate. [...]
Would like to try this rolls . . . however, have never had a bit of luck with rolls rising well in my house. I have wanted to set them in the oven but have no clue. You showed yours sitting in your oven covered with a towel but said the oven wasn’t on. Did you warm it first? I have heard of people sitting rolls in the oven and putting a pan of hot water down on another rack. What do you do to make the environment in the oven warm?
Not Christy here, but I thought I’d let you know when I put rolls or bread in my oven to rise, I either turn the oven on for just a couple minutes and then shut it off before I put the rolls in, or I turn my oven light on. If it’s especially cold (we’re in central Illinois, and I don’t like to open up a frightening utility bill, so I don’t keep the house quite as warm as I’d like to!), I sometimes do both. Hope this helps!
When I’m ready to let dough rise I place it in a cold oven along with a 2 qt saucepan that is full of water that I’ve boiled. This has always worked like a charm for me! When the dough is almost fully risen I remove the dough and the saucepan from the oven and then proceed to preheat the oven at that point.
Can I make cinnamon rolls with this dough? What about glaze? Thanks!
Karen
These are so easy and verrry tasty! I have been waiting for just the day to make them, today was it. Home from work due to the 8 inches of snow that has fallen here in southcentral Oklahoma!
My first try at baking with yeast……this recipe is AWESOME!!!! Thank you so much Christy. You and your Mama know some good stuff…I’m so happy I found your web site.
I am so happy you found us too Sandy and am really happy the rolls turned out great for you on your first try using yeast!!
Christy…..I can’t stay away from those rolls!!! I’m in heaven!!!
LOL, so glad you are enjoying them!!
There are just the two of us now, so can you scale this recipe down? My husband loves biscuits and these will be perfect if I can just make enough for just 2 to 6 people.
Just made 1/2 recipe of these rolls and they came out perfect – baked them in a 11 x 7 pan.
I am so glad to hear that you liked them Deborah!!!
I made these rolls last weekend and they were awesome! What is so interesting about them also is the name–Jordan Rolls–My great grandmother was a Jordan–but according to my grandmother they pronounced it jerdan! Maybe we’re related!
I am so glad you enjoyed the rolls Martha. We just might be, you never know!
My great grandmother was also a Jordan and it was pronounced Jerdan. It was my Dad’s middle name and 2 of my grandchildren have it as middle names in his honor.( but they pronounce it Jordan)
I am going to try these rolls this weekend.
[...] Jordan Rolls [...]
I tried these today, and they were very easy to make. I thought they might be a little sweeter and denser, but they still had good flavor, and I think I might try to use them when I make sliders. has anyone tried making them with bread flour?
I do think I am going to have these with milk and vanilla sugar for a snack after the kids go to bed. My mouth is watering thinking about it.
I hope you enjoy your snack Kelley!!
[...] from start to finish and not thinking about the bread until we’re about ready to eat. While Jordan rolls are one of my favorite breads to serve at meals, followed by my Mama’s Hoe Cake at a close [...]
Christy, (or some other Southern Plate family member), please help! I am obviously doing something wrong here…I have made these rolls twice and had trouble both times. Pretty embarassing for an experienced yeast-bread baker! Both times this roll dough has turned out more of the consistency of thick cake batter than a soft dough. The first time I thought I had measured incorrectly–too much water or too little flour–so the second time I was very careful. However, I achieved the same results and still had to add quite a bit more flour. Has anyone else experienced this? Is the water measurement really supposed to be 1 1/2 cups and not just 1/2 C or 1 C? Advice, please!!! I know these rolls are quite tasty from everyone’s comments, and I’d love to make a successful batch!
Hi, what a great site!! I got this recipe from the countrycook and just have them in the oven now, I am so excited to see how they turn out and am glad I visited this site. Great work:)
[...] Hahn Crawford Corn Casserole, Jordan Rolls, Chicken Stew and Taco Pizza. Those are our favorites and most requested at our [...]
Love your site and cookbook. I will be trying your Jordan Rolls for the first time today! We are having “Chicken Planks” (a big hit) rice, pintos and these rolls. I have read through the comments and I think I am ready but wanted to ask if there is a way to make some of the steps ahead of time and then bake rolls at suppertime? Thanks for any help with this! Have a great day!
I tried this recipe today……not sure what went wrong! I am on my second batch trying to get them right. I have very dense, thick rolls. The flavor is okay, but the texture is really heavy. Can someone tell me what I’m doing wrong? I followed the recipe to the letter…..except for checking temp on butter. Would that make a difference? If butter was too hot? Help!!!
Not Christy here,but I think that I can help. Temperature is very important when working with yeast. All ingredients should be room temperature. Too hot or too cold will kill the yeast. Follow the temperature guide on the yeast.
Follow the temperature guide on the yeast for the water temp. Use an instant read thermometer for accuracy.
[...] You can go to http://www.southernplate.com/2010/01/jordan-rolls-and-why-interruptions-are-the-key-to-success.html [...]
My finished piece looks like the photo, but they were heavy like biscuits. Not my idea of a “roll”– especially when made with yeast!
love your downhome attitude and foods, but i hate it when you show a recipe and forget to put “print here”, you don’t do it that often but then i have to write it down, and i am a bit lazy, lol, so glad you are doing so great,
You can “copy and paste” in a Word document and then you won’t have to copy it down.
I don’t have enough regular flour can I use self rising flour?
You can *but* they are going to rise differently and the texture won’t be the same. It’s much easier to substitute plain flour for self rising than to go the other way around but you can sure try it! You might come up with another culinary creation!
Also, they will likely be a bit too salty. If it were me, I think I’d make the ten minute rolls that call for self rising and hold off on the yeast bread until I had all purpose, and I normally just say go with what ya got so thats saying something! lol
Thank you. I love your recipes
Yes I finally made the Jordan Rolls and they were easy to make. Didnot realize they made so many. Can u freeze the dough to make later? Very good i love yeast rolls and these were the first that came out right. My hubby loved them too.
[...] Jordan Rolls [...]
[...] of those, followed by her special macaroni and cheese, MeMe’s Mashed Potatoes, Green beans, Rolls, and often dessert of one of her pecan pies or a special cake. The ham bone and scraps were then [...]
Christy, I made these Friday for supper. They were great and easy. I always believed you had to knead, knead, knead. I did substitute some whole wheat flour for the white. Will definitely make these again.
Hi Christy~ I would love to try this recipe. Can you please let me know how many teaspoons/tablespoons of yeast you use. I don’t ever buy the packets. I use yeast from the jar.
Thanks!
~Peggy
Christy,
Are these similar in taste to Quincy’s yeast rolls?
Since I started reading your blog, I have wondered why these were called Jordan rolls. I knew your name was Christy Jordan but it was not until you said Brady’s full name that it hit me! Jordan rolls because your family’s name is Jordan! hahaha…it only took me a few months to figure that out. lol.for some reason I kept thinking it was a biblical reference or something. wow…and this from a woman who graduated Magna cum laude from TWU. lol
Can you make these and freeze them before baking, then take them out when ready to use and thaw and bake?? Will they taste as good??
I’ve never tried it but I hope to get around to it soon and I’ll let you know! Meanwhile, if you beat me to it let me know!
Gratefully,
Christy
These rolls are on their second rising and fixing to go in the oven!
My 16yr old daughter made these to go with our dinner tonight. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! These are amazing. Definately going in my recipe binder. Thank you so much for all the goodies you post.
[...] Jordan Rolls (Cookbook p.16) [...]
will this dough keep in the fridge, only 2 of us, if i make the whole thing, i would eat thewhole thing at one time !! lol
these sound really good. sue
Oh my! I just gotta tell ya! And, hope you will forgive me for “messin’ with” your recipe! I make this garlic pull-apart bread… we all love it… I have several people ask for it and the recipe all the time… but… the bread is a little tough and dry. Soooooo… I got this idea that your rolls are so soft and yummy that I would substitute your dough for the original! Oh my word! We just ate it for lunch with our soup today! It was perfect!!!!!! I will NEVER go back!!! I can’t wait to try it for cinnamon pull-aparts!!!!
)
Love Jordan rolls too – your recipe for garlic pull-apart Jordan rolls sound good – plz share!
I would like your galic pull apart measurement addition. And your cinnamon one too!
I made these rolls tonight and served them with your Senate Bean Soup recipe for my me and my husband. Both recipes were excellent! My husband especially liked the rolls. Thanks for these delicious recipes. I plan on freezing the leftovers.
[...] Jordan Rolls [...]
Do you mix yeast with water first, then add sugar, salt, flour??
those rolls look FABULOUS my husband and I go NUTs for yeast rolls …I can hardly wait to make these
Oh boy! I should have filmed myself making these. You guys would have cracked up! I’m proof that not all Southern women know how to cook LOL
Hey, we all start somewhere and if anyone tells you they were born knowing how to cook or they have always “just known”, look for their nose to grow immediately after
[...] – My all time favorite Southern Plate recipe are the Jordan Rolls. First because my son’s name is Jordan and secondly, these are tasty and so easy to make. I [...]
Christy, thank you for so many delicious recipes. I plan to make these Jordan Rolls soon, as well as the 10 minute rolls. Yesterday I made the Microwave Chicken Tortilla Cassarole. It is delicious!!!!!
I am so glad to hear that you are enjoying the recipes Janel. I hope you like the rolls, they are always a favorite with my family!
Dear Christy: A brief note. . I have made these rolls now several times. I have also made your cinnamon rolls with the yeast recipe. I love the recipe.. Now, I have tried making only half the recipe one night, refrigerating the other half and making cinnamon rolls the next day. Wonderful, easy to make and form. Thank you for all your hard work. Pam
Oh Wow, thank you so much for sharing Pam!!!
Hello-
I made these last night but it seemed like I had too much dough for one 9×13 pan. The rolls took longer to cook and were bulging out the top. Should I have used more than one pan? Thanks!
Hello-
I made these last night but it seemed like I had a lot of dough for one 9×13 pan. The rolls took longer to cook and were bulging out the top. Should I have used more than one pan? Thanks!
Christy – These look sooo good! I love rolls, but I’m not much of a bread-from-scratch baker. I have never used shortening in my life – is this absolutely necessary? Is there a substitution? Happy Easter!
(),,()
=(o)=
Love these rolls…I made them for our Easter dinner and I got rave reviews from everyone. Thank you, Christy…Hope your day was wonderful!
We had a great and blessed day Sue, I hope you did as well!! I am so glad to hear that you got rave reviews on the rolls!!!
I made these for Easter as well and we loved them!
I have made a LOT of rolls over my many years and love making bread. Its just therapeutic! These are to DIE for!! I may never use another recipe! I personally found that using about 4 1/2 C of flour and letting the dough be a little stickier created the fluffiest rolls. I made a double batch that lasted 3 days and they were just as light, fluffy and moist on day 3 as day 1.
Since they have just a hint of sweetness, I also use it for cinnamon rolls and they are awesome!! One other thing I “experimented” with is to replace half the water with pineapple juice. They reminded me of Hawaiian rolls. Thanks for such a versatile and delicious recipe!!
These rolls are absolutely delicious! I’ve gotta tell ya, since there are only 2 of us for most meals, I decided to freeze the leftovers… They are just as good taken from the freezer and heated in the microwave when needed