Friday, September 23, 2011

Cheese Rolls!

We went to the circus last night.  WOW!  I can’t believe what people do for entertainment’s sake.  It was insanely fun and crazy! 

I tried ‘real’ kettle corn at the circus, too.  Again… WOW!  I’m pretty sure I ate half the bag myself.  The other half was split amongst the other eight people.  I can’t be sure that I ate half all on my own.  I was too engrossed in the show to realize that I was actually eating it at all.  The only thing I’m sure of is that the bag (they are giant bags by the way) was on my lap the majority of the time and that there was a distinctly happy sweet yet salty flavor in my mouth for the duration of the first half of the show. 

Before I knew it, the bag was empty.  Whoops!

And then my sister bought cotton candy.  I can’t resist cotton candy.  Straight shot of sugar… I’m addicted!  Darn her! 

Then after the show, my bio dad (he actually bought all our tickets and the kettle corn) decided that each kid needed a ‘souvenir’.  They all chose snow cones in large tiger cups.  As if they needed any more sugar.  Ah well, what can I say?

The whole experience and atmosphere of the circus really put me in the mood for carnival/fair food.  Is that weird? 

But that’s not what this post is about.  We’re talking about cheese rolls! 

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My high school cafeteria had the best cheese rolls in the entire world.  They were like gigantic cinnamon rolls (except take out the cinnamon roll filling because I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t go well with cheese… gross!) but with CHEESE!  My friend and I would run to the cafeteria between classes to buy them just about every day.  We would also grab a condiment cup full of ranch dressing to dip them in.  They were divine! 

My mouth is watering just thinking of those days.  Mmmmm! 

So a while back, as I was watching a daytime show here in Utah called Good Things Utah, they had someone on from a certain school district in our area to demonstrate the making of CHEESE ROLLS!  She said they made them for every school in that district and it just so happened to be the district I was in. 

You can’t even begin to imagine my joy and excitement!  This was it… I could enjoy my high school love all over again.  I printed the recipe and it sat…

But just the other day, I decided to give it a go. 

I looked at the recipe and I was sure that I was smarter than the recipe.  It didn’t call for any rising of the dough. It’s a yeast bread, it has to rise.

Uh, yeah, so apparently I’m not a rocket scientist.  Don’t let it rise.  It does it’s own rising in the oven. 

They were just as delicious as I remember but I made them about half the size.  Seriously, the ones at the school were gigantic! 

Hope you’ve got a lot of cheese on hand… here we go!

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**Preheat your oven to 350*

First you’ll need 1/4 c. warm water (baby bath warm), some yeast and some sugar.  Stir together. 

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See that?  THAT is some happy yeast!

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Combine the rest of the warm water, sugar and shortening in a large bowl.

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Add yeast mixture and stir. 

Add flour one cup at a time until dough is soft but not sticky.  It should pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Roll it out like cinnamon rolls on floured surface (I used half the dough). 

Sprinkle cheese.

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Roll it up like a cinnamon roll.

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Cut into pieces about 1 – 1 1/2 inches thick.  (I use the dental floss method to cut it.  Just grab a piece of dental floss a bit longer than you might use for your teeth, slide the dental floss underneath, cross your floss {switch hands} so it’s an X shape.  Pull… you should have a perfect slice without smooshing your rolls.)

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Place in greased pan and do not let rise!  I made that mistake with the first batch

Put in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. 

I ended up having to reroll the second pan because I had let it rise also.  I gathered up all the rolls and rolled it out again with my rolling pin… cheese and all. 

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So, maybe the cheese was a little displaced but look how yummy they look! 

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Cheese Rolls

1/2 c. sugar

2 T yeast

4 c. warm water

1/3 c. shortening

1 T. salt

9 c. flour

4 c. cheddar cheese

 

Preheat oven to 350*

Mix 1 T. of the sugar with 1/4 c. of the warm water and the yeast.  Let it get bubbly for a few minutes. 

In a large bowl, combine the remainder of the warm water, sugar, shortening and salt.  Add yeast mixture and stir. 

Add flour one cup at a time until it is soft but not sticky and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  You may have to use your hands. 

Roll out into a long rectangle like you would for cinnamon rolls.  Sprinkle cheese on top, roll it up (long sides), cut into pieces and place on baking sheet or in baking pan. 

**optional – you can brush the tops with an egg wash if you’d like

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. 

 

Hope you enjoy them!  We sure did!

 

 

 

 

15 comments:

Jill said...

Those look so good! My mouth was watering just reading the recipe!!! I am definitely going to be making those! Thanks for the recipe.
Jill
twoyellowbirdsdecor.blogspot.com

kelly said...

wow, those really look delicious! perfect for the cooler weather!

Grumpy Grateful Mom said...

Glad you a fun at the circus! My husband's work sells Kettle Korn. He's not allowed to bring it home anymore--too addictive. And I must have been deprived as a child--I never had cheese rolls. Those look delicious!!!

Mary Bearden said...

Wow, those really look good! I have not had cheese rolls since 1988. My mom used to make them all the time. She died in 1988 and that was the last time I ever had another meal that tasted as good as hers. I am a new follower thru GFC and RSS Reader. I would love a follow back on both of those when you can. Thanks so very much and have a great day!

Mary@http://www.mmbearcupoftea.com

Kim McCallie said...

I've never had a cheese roll before, but they look delicious! I'll bet they are good with ranch dressing or marinara. Thanks for sharing on Sweet Indulgences Sunday.

Michelle @ Thrifty 101 said...

These look yummy! I'd love for you to link up at DIY Thrifty Thursday at http://thrifty101.blogspot.com/2011/09/diy-thrifty-thursday-35.html

Hope to see you soon!
Michelle
www.thrifty101.blogspot.com

Catalina said...

These rolls look so good! I'm a big cheese lover so this is something for me :) I wish I could taste one or two (or twelve?), yum!

Nikki said...

These look delicious! My mom makes some like this! Thanks so much for linking up to Tuesday Talent Show! I would love to have you stop by and link up again tomorrow with more great projects!
-Nikki
http://chef-n-training.blogspot.com/

Kylee said...

Hey my high school had these two but they had cheese dip is their a recipe for that????

Brooke said...

Hmm, we didn't have a cheese dip. I loved mine dipped in ranch.

Amber said...

I was just dreaming about these! I can't wait to try the recipe, thankyouthankyou for posting! :D

Emily said...

These were heaven! They did remind me of eating these in highschool! The recipe was great and easy. Thanks for sharing. I posted about them on my blog here:
www.mycrazybliss.com/2013/02/recipe-round-up.html

Brooke said...

I am so glad you enjoyed them. We really like them.

Miranda said...

I too went to a school in Utah that served amazing cheese rolls. It has been 15 years since I graduated and I kid you not, I still have dreams about them. I will have to try this recipe!

Brooke said...

I think you will LOVE them! It is the exact recipe. I graduated 15 years ago as well. Graduated in '98?