West Virginia Refrigerator Rolls

A Link to the Past

When the clock falls back and the temperature drops, recipes from our childhood seem to hit the spot. This recipe fits into this category, even though I am mining my husband’s past rather than my own.

The story of West Virginia Refrigerator Rolls goes back to John’s childhood in Minnesota. In 1959 my mother-in-law Eileen read a newspaper article about Eleanor Townley of West Virginia who was staying in a Minneapolis hotel while her daughter was being treated for polio at the University of Minnesota. Eileen reached out to Eleanor and invited her to stay in their home.  During this time Eileen was hosting a luncheon for a group of women from her church.  Eileen was a woman of many gifts, but total confidence in the kitchen was not one of them.  Eleanor assured her that the luncheon would be a success, and proceeded to share the magic of West Virginia Refrigerator Rolls. My mother-in-law’s Minnesota hot dish was more than adequate, but the rolls were the hit of the event. 

Years later, John kindly offered to make the rolls the first time that I was in charge of hosting a Thanksgiving dinner. Little did I realize what I was setting myself up for. As the smell of the turkey wafted through the kitchen, everyone’s focus was on whether or not the rolls were properly rising. When dinner was served, it mattered not how many side dishes I had prepared or whether or not the mashed potatoes were creamy. The rolls were the star of the dinner. I can still picture some of the guests, dinner finished, chairs pushed away from the table eating one last roll.

Yield: 3 dozen rolls

Ingredients

1/3 cup shortening (Crisco)

1 T. salt

1/2 cup sugar + 1 t.

1 cup boiling water

2 eggs

2 cups milk

2 packages yeast

8 cups unbleached white flour

Directions

Place shortening, salt, sugar and boiling water in a large mixing bowl. Stir. In a smaller separate, bowl beat the eggs with a fork. Add the milk to the smaller bowl. Place the yeast, teaspoon of sugar and just enough warm water to create a paste-like substance in a third small bowl. Pour yeast mixture into the bowl with the eggs, milk and sugar.  Stir. Stir the water, salt and sugar mixture in the large bowl again. Combine everything into the large bowl.  Stir. Begin to add flour one cup at a time.  Fold flour in using an electric hand mixer with dough hooks attached. When all the flour has been added the dough should not be too sticky.  Scoop up dough and set to the side. Wash the large bowl and grease the inside with Crisco. Return dough to the large bowl. Lightly grease the top of the dough. Place a dinner plate on top of the bowl.  The bowl should be large enough so that the plate is not touching the dough.

Place the bowl in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning the dough should have risen enough to levitate the plate.  Grease muffin tins. About two hours before your meal, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Lightly flour a cutting board.  To make cloverleaf rolls, form dough into three balls of the same size that will fit snugly into each cup of the muffin tin. Cover the muffin tin with a tea towel, place in a warm spot and tuck the tea towel around the tin to keep the warmth in.  Allow to rise for about an hour.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.  Serve hot with butter.

It is not necessary to bake all the rolls at once. Extra dough may be kept in the refrigerator or frozen for future use.  I will post a photo after John makes the rolls for our Thanksgiving dinner this year.