How to Make Granny's Homemade White Bread & Rolls

My Tennessee Granny's scrumptious homemade egg bread and roll recipe is a family heirloom easy enough for even beginning cooks to master.

Granny had a mountain-man husband and ten kids to feed through WWI and the Great Depression. When there was nothing else to put on the table for her family, there were always loaves of crusty, golden brown bread and pans of big, fluffy rolls still warm from the oven to fill the void. The sweet aroma of yeasty bread met her family at the front gate, gave them a loving hug, and comforted them through even the toughest times. Since Granny could neither read nor write, three generations of cooks learned her secret to fabulous bread under her watchful eye as soon as we were old enough to stand on a chair and knead dough. Fearing the secrets would be lost after Granny's death, Aunt Sarah wrote this recipe and the instructions to serve future generations. Granny's basic bread dough recipe yields either 2 big loaves of bread (3 cottage loaves) or two big pans of dinner rolls or cinnamon rolls. Enjoy this mouth-watering goodness!

Ingredients:

• 3 Packets Active Dry Yeast
• 2 C. warm water
• 1 Whole egg
• 2 Egg yolks
• 3 Tsp. salt
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Can Evaporated Milk
• 3 Tbsp. shortening or lard
• 8-10 C. sifted all-purpose white flour or bread flour
  

* Sift the flour, twice, into a large bowl & set aside. Sprinkle a small handful of the sifted flour on your table or counter where you intend to knead the dough.

* Pour 2 cups of very warm tap water into a large mixing bowl. Stir in 3 packets of dry yeast & allow to stand 5 minutes to soften. Add eggs, salt, sugar, & shortening to the yeast mixture with a whisk. Mixture will be slightly lumpy due to the solid shortening.

* With a whisk, blend 1/3 of your sifted flour (approx. 3 cups) into the liquid mixture, a little at a time, until smooth.

* Add 1 can of undiluted evaporated milk and whisk smooth.

* Using a large wooden spoon, begin adding the remaining sifted flour, 1/2 cup at a time, reserving about 1 1/2 cups flour for kneading the dough in the next step. Dough should be quite sticky at this point, but should begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl as you stir.