Jordan Rolls Southern Family Recipe

Hot from the oven, Jordan Rolls

This is my personal roll recipe, that I serve whenever an occasion calls for them. They are pretty easy as far as yeast breads go and I hope your family will enjoy them as much as mine does. I especially like to make them whenever I bake a ham, using the leftover rolls and ham to make little sandwiches with the next day.

ingredients

Recipe Ingredients:

  • All purpose flour
  • Sugar
  • Salt
  • Yeast
  • Vegetable shortening
  • Two eggs
  • Melted butter

You’re also going to need some hot water and aren’t we fortunate to be able to just go get that out of the sink?

Lots of folks don’t have such luxuries.

yeast

What Kind of Yeast Should I Use?

I don’t like to use packets of yeast because I have the patience of a nervous lizard so I use the jar yeast which can be purchased beside the packets.

This way I just measure it out. The back of the jar will tell you how many teaspoons equal a packet. In this case I’m going to use four and a half teaspoons.

I’m going to just put the packet measurements at the bottom, though, because that is what most people use.

This little jar will keep forever if you put it in your fridge but I usually go through a few each year – at least.

combine salt, flour, and yeast

Measure your sugar, salt, 2 cups flour, and yeast into a bowl.

cut in shortening

Cut in shortening with a long tined fork.

You can use a fancy pastry cutter if you want to but that’s just one more thing to clutter up my kitchen so I got rid of it years ago.

After you get your shortening cut up in there real good, add your eggs.

add eggs

Like so.

Flash was on in this picture so if it looks a little whiter that is why.

beat eggs

Beat up your eggs a bit.

I know they didn’t do anything to ya but sometimes things like this happen with no provocation.

Those eggs were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Beat ’em!

mix in eggs

And mix them up in there.

add melted butter

Now we add our melted butter.  You want to melt this and then give it time to cool so that it isn’t too hot.

A Good Rule of Thumb For The Liquid Ingredients

The thing about yeast breads that is most tricky to folks is getting their liquid ingredients the right temperature. A good rule of thumb that has always served me well has been to make sure liquids are about the temperature as baby’s bath water. Yes, I stick my finger in the melted butter, it doesn’t hurt anyone.

If it’s as warm as a baby’s bath water, but not hot, then it is a great temperature.

add flour

Add the remaining flour.

add in water

and the water, again making sure the water is the temperature of baby’s bath water.

If you don’t know what temperature a baby’s bath water is then you could always go borrow a dirty baby, I suppose…

combine to make doughStir that up good.

It’s going to look like a lumpy blob when you’re done.

cover and let rise

Cover that with a towel and let it sit for twenty minutes.

risen dough

After twenty minutes, it’s going to look like an even bigger lumpy blob.

This is good. You have done well, grasshopper.

turn onto floured surface

Now we need to flour a surface and pour our blob out onto it.

I just put out a sheet of waxed paper to save cleanup and sprinkle a good bit of flour over it so my dough doesn’t stick.

knead dough

You need to knead..

~pauses and reads that again~ That just looks funny…

How To Knead Dough

Okay, so you need to knead your dough a time or two and what I do is just put some flour on your hands, press the dough into a ball, and then smoosh it out with the heel of your hand. Then put it into a ball again and smoosh it out again with the heel of your hand.

Then wonder what crazy person decided to call that part of your hand a heel because that makes no sense at all to me.

From here there are two ways you can go with these rolls.

Okay so in reality there are countless ways you can go with this but I am going to show you the two ways that I use.

I’ll start with my favorite and the less maintenance one.

My favorite Method for Rolls #1

shape dough into rectangle

After kneading your dough two or three times, shape it into a rectangle.

If this doesn’t look like a perfect rectangle to you then squint your eyes until it does…

cut into strips with pizza cutter

Cut into strips with a pizza cutter.

cut crosswise to form squares

And then cut cross wise.

I like this method best because it’s easy and ends up yielding larger and smaller rolls which seem to suit company better anyway.

prepare pan

Spray one 9×13 pan with cooking spray.

arrange rolls in prepared pan

Arrange in pan and spray tops lightly with cooking spray.

Cover with towel and let rise for twenty minutes.

~~~~~~~~

METHOD 2 For Jordan Rolls

Method 2 roll dough into circle

Pat your dough out into a circle, about twelve inches in diameter.

cut dough into wedges

With a pizza cutter, cut the circle into sixteen pieces.

prepare pan

Spray two 9×13 inch pans with cooking spray.

roll wedges to form crescent rolls

Roll each triangle up beginning on the big end and rolling towards the point.

roll to form crescents

Like so.

space apart on pans

Space them out a bit and put them in two 9×13 pans.

spray lightly with cooking spray

I spray the tops lightly with more cooking spray to have prettier rolls when they are done baking and to help prevent them from sticking in the next step.

cover with towels and let rise

Cover with a towel and place in a warm place for another twenty minutes.

note: My oven is not on in this pic.

After twenty minutes, preheat oven (without rolls in it) to 350.

Bake for about twenty five minutes. Brush with melted butter or margarine when done.

bake rolls

Method #1

bake crescents

Method #2

They both look mighty good to me.  Imagine breaking them apart and adding some butter inside and just watch it melt as you take a bite.

Jordan Rolls

This is my personal roll recipe, that I serve whenever an occasion calls for them. They are pretty easy as far as yeast breads go and I hope your family will enjoy them as much as mine does. I especially like to make them whenever I bake a ham, using the leftover rolls and ham to make little sandwiches with the next day.
Prep Time: 50 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: rolls
Servings: 4
Calories: 196kcal

Ingredients

  • 1/2 C solid vegetable shortening
  • 1/2 C Sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 pkg fast acting yeast**
  • 5 C all purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 stick butter melted (plus more for brushing baked rolls with)
  • 1 1/2 C warm water like a baby’s bath temperature, this is key with working with yeast

Instructions

  • Place sugar, salt, 2 cups of flour, and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Cut in shortening with a long tined fork.
  • Add eggs, beating lightly with fork before stirring them in. Add remaining flour, melted butter, and water. Stir together well. Mixture will look like a big old lumpy blob.
  • Cover with a dish towel and let sit in a warm place for twenty minutes.
  • After 20 minutes, turn out onto a floured surface. Sprinkle flour over the top and knead three or four times.
  • Pat out into a square that is about 3/4 inch thick (or see method #2 above). Cut into squares with a pizza cutter.
  • Place in greased 9×13 pan and cover with towel. Let rise another 20 minutes. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until tops are golden.
  • Brush hot rolls with additional melted butter.

Notes

**Note: I use a fast acting or "rapid rise" yeast. It is perfectly alright to use regular yeast, your rolls will just need longer to rise.

Nutrition

Calories: 196kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

 

You may also like these rolls recipes:

Spoon Rolls Southern Style

Ten Minute Rolls

Pizza Rolls! Who wants the weekend off from cooking??

Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls Quick and Easy

 

“Strength comes from the inside,

but must be fed on the outside to be able to grow.”

-Richard Manintveld

Submitted by his loving wife, Deidra. Submit your quote here. Gain motivation and encouragement here as well.

 

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263 Comments

  1. The perfect recipe (and detailed instructions) for my first time making rolls from scratch. Delicious & easy recipe…thank you!

  2. Hi Christy~ I made the Jordan rolls for supper last night, and I was super excited they turned out great! I tried my Nana’s recipe for yeast rolls 4 years ago, and did not successfully master the recipe. They turned out flat everytime. I didn’t have the warm as a baby’s bath water tip!
    I gave up on yeast rolls, and tried making biscuits. I perfected the biscuit recipe I use, so I never bothered with yeast rolls. I wanted to conquer my “fear of yeast” so decided to try my hand at the Jordan rolls. Last night, my 5-yr old son told me “Good job Mama, these rolls are the best!”

    Thank your for sharing your family recipe. I used the pizza cutter method, and loved how easy it was!

  3. Would love to make these rolls but there is only 2 of us. Will it work if I make half the recipe?
    Thanks!

  4. Do you think I could substitute butter for the shortening? Hope to not have to go to the store 2 days before Christmas.

  5. I made your rolls for our Thanksgiving dinner.My youngest daughter,youngest son and granddaughter helped.We had a dough ball rolling party,rolled out small balls and put 3 each in muffin cups to make cloverleaf rolls.Flour everywhere but Fun!!They are raising nicely now and we shall soon bake them.
    Thanks for an awesome way to have family time!
    Happy Thanksgiving!

  6. Que the Hallelujah Chorus. I have been cooking since I was 9 yrs old and never attempted yeast rolls. Rave reviews at my house. My family loved them and so do I. I had the Slow Cooker Turkey breast, some boxed stuffing, and baked sweet potato or tater if you are from Alabama. Since I work nights Sunday night is my night off so I usually cook a big supper. Who needs big nights out on the town, give me a good meal and my family and i’m content.

  7. I commented here yesterday about a disappointing experience with the Jordan rolls. Apparently nothing but glowing reviews are allowed to stay on this site because the comment has now disappeared. I’ll know better next time to not waste my time commenting.
    P. Frederick

    1. I’m not sure where you’re looking hon, because your previous comment is located directly above this one. I came to reply to your comment and offer some tips and explanation of the texture of the rolls but I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume you’d rather just have an opportunity to vent.
      Hope things get better for you soon.
      Gratefully,
      Christy

      1. Christy….. When I wrote the second comment, the original one was NOT showing on the page. After I submitted the second one, it was back on the page. I was not venting, I was just wondering why only “happy and gushing” comments were on the page. I would welcome your suggestions but if you prefer not to offer any, I am sure I will survive without your Jordan rolls. I’m over 50 and have been fine without them. If my original comment was visible when I returned to the page, I would not have written the second one. My bad (as they say) and I hope things get better for you too.

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