Happy Thanksgiving! Now Rise, Dammit

So, bread. Yeah, yeast and I have not been friends much. I've not had a good feel for it. My mom used to bake when I was very small, before I learned to cook on my own - so I never gained any confidence in working with it. Add to that, the first few tries with baking haven't worked all that well. (For example, this is a photo of the whole wheat loaf that I made about a year ago.)

If you can tell, it didn't raise well, and was pretty dense, though tasty. It made for some delicious toast, and a few nice croutons.

So, I decided to try this recipe: http://dailywaffle.com/2011/10/14/milk-bread-yeast-rolls-yeah-i-made-this/ It's a milk bread roll recipe and seeing that it's Turkey Day tomorrow and I'm responsible for said turkey, I thought I'd add in rolls for fun.

(This photo is in the final rise)
Here are my changes to the recipe: Instead of 5 TBSP butter, I did a whole stick. Why? Um. I forgot and just melted the entire stick and stuck it in. I actually didn't realize that until just now when I was reviewing the recipe. I also forgot about having to do the egg wash a second time so I am off to do that. More photos in a few moments. I don't have silpat at home, so I used parchment paper.

I'm not so sure if there are hot spots in my oven, so 7 minutes into baking I turned the pan. They looked AMAZING and I nearly stopped the baking, but I didn't. I am waiting for the next 3 minutes to go and grab these from the oven. I don't know if I'll be able to restrain myself and wait till they are cool to eat one.

Yeah, I couldn't wait.

Things I might try differently: I believe you can make this into a sandwich loaf, and next time I will definitely try it. I'll also keep the extra butter - the dough was beautifully elastic, and butter is awesome. Next, I think I'll add a bit more salt and will increase it by 1/2 tsp till it tastes right or doesn't rise. I don't know why, but I think it needs a bit more oomph. Finally, I think I'll let them cool before eating them. I kinda burnt my mouth a little.

I hope you try this recipe. I think it's a beautiful one to use.