Buttermilk Rolls

makes 36-48 rolls

adapted from melskitchencafe.com

3 cups buttermilk at room temperature

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon bread machine or rapid rise yeast

1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons salt

½ cup potato flakes

5 cups all-purpose flour, more or less

1/2 cup oil or melted butter

1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix the buttermilk, flour and yeast together thoroughly in a large mixing bowl. Let stand at room temperature until double in size, about 2 hours. Add sugar, eggs, salt, potato flakes, flour, oil, and baking soda. Mix well and knead for 7-10 minutes.  Shape the dough into rolls. I either do crescent shapes (roll a third or a fourth of the dough into a 12-14" circle and cut into triangles. Start at wide end and roll up to point.) or cloverleaf (roll dough into small balls, about 3/4-inch in diameter and place three balls in each cup of a greased muffin tin).

Brush rolls with oil or melted butter and cover lightly with plastic wrap.  Let rolls rise until double in size. Bake at 375* for 12-15 minutes.

I like to make the full batch and freeze them in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then put them in a sealed bag.  They keep for a while in the freezer and taste just as good when thawed and warmed in the oven.