Amish Dinner Rolls

I really like reading about the Amish people - their traditions, ways of life, baking methods, etc. I find their recipes to be simple, though sometimes pretty high on the butter/sugar content.  {I take this in stride, uh hum.}  There are great food traditions to be discovered in the Amish people and several good books out there. I got this lovely pan of rolls from the Amish Friends Cookbook by Wanda Brunstetter.

So these rolls are awesome.  They have a great, hard crust on the outside and the insides are so soft and delicious. I love them and make them for special occasions.  Or for Fridays.  Because they're always special.  They are not  hard to make, but they do take a bit of time; most of it is not hands on - just waiting for the yeast to work its magic.

2 packets dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 to 3.5 cups flour, divided

Preheat oven to 375.
Dissolve yeast in warm water.  Add sugar, salt, egg, butter and 1 cup flour; mix well.
Stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough and mix well (2 to 2.5 more cups)
Shape dough into ball and grease dough, turning to grease all sides. Cover and let rise until doubled (this step takes about 70 minutes or so).  Punch dough down and shape into balls; put balls into your baking pan.  Let balls rise for 30 minutes or longer.

Bake *8-12 minutes; yields about 12 rolls.

*Note: if your rolls are touching (as mine are), you will need to adjust baking time to 20-25 minutes.