Soft Pillows Slathered in Butter

After a long hard Monday in the office, kids at school, and all the running around done and back home for the night - fresh bread seemed like the treat we needed. I didn't have any tubes of biscuits and you can only set plain wheat bread in front of them for so long without getting eye rolls.
I found this one hour dinner roll recipe. I've done one hour recipes before and hockey pucks aren't really my thing. I thought I'd give this a shot with my fancy NutraMill Mixer. I raced home after work to get the dough made and rising. I went to get the kids and got them formed into balls, although not very even, but it worked. When I took the towel off the top to toss them in the oven - I was impressed. They were pillowy and big! Maybe I should have divided them into more than 12. Recently I made another recipe that promised to be pillowy soft, that was a fail, these? Were so good. Day one of my back on the healthy eating band wagon and I was stuffing myself with fresh homemade dinner rolls with butter slathered all over. Yum - so good.
So I guess I found a recipe for dinner rolls that works for us – Yay!

1-Hour Soft and Buttery Dinner Rolls
1 cup water
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon active-dry yeast*
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
extra melted butter, for brushing on top

Prep your oven and baking dish. Heat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray, and set aside.
Heat the liquids. In a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup, stir together the water and melted butter, then add in the milk and honey and stir until combined. Microwave the mixture for 1 minute and give it a stir. Continue microwaving the mixture in 15 second intervals, until it reaches 110°F (it will be warm but not hot to the touch) and the butter is completely melted.
Add yeast. Pour the liquid mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer. Then sprinkle the yeast evenly on top, give it a quick stir with a fork to combine, and let the yeast activate for 5 minutes until it is foamy.
Add dry ingredients. Add in 3 1/2 cups of flour (not all of the flour) and the salt.
Mix. (See alternate instructions in the notes below for how to knead the dough by hand.) Use the dough-hook to mix in the dry ingredients on medium-low speed until combined. If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, add in 1/4 cup more flour at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is only slightly sticky to the touch. (Only use up to 4 cups of flour total.) Continue mixing on low speed for 4-5 minutes until the dough is smooth. Then form the dough into a ball with your hands and transfer it to a greased bowl.
Let the dough rise. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or paper towel, and let it rise briefly for 15 minutes.
Form the rolls. Gently punch the dough down and divide into 15 equal-sized pieces. Form each piece into a ball and place the dough balls in the greased baking dish. Cover the dish again with a damp towel or paper towel and let the dough balls rise for an additional 15-20 minutes.
Bake. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes, or until the rolls are lightly golden brown on top and cooked through.
Brush with more butter. Transfer the baking dish to a wire cooling rack and brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter.
Serve warm. Then serve warm and enjoy!