Mom's Gloriously Yummy Overnight Dinner Rolls

My mother was known for her yummy rolls at our local school and at family holiday gatherings.  She made them for the school cafeteria once a week.  She prepared dough batches before she went home at the end of her work day and then did all the baking fresh the following day.  She would be pulling them hot from the oven and rushing them over to the serving line, as the other cafeteria ladies served the students their meals.  Whenever the district principals or superintendents met at our school, they would request Mom make her glorious rolls for them.  It seems hilarious for me to imagine a meeting where a bunch of older men, in all shapes and sizes, are munching down on dinner rolls instead of donuts or cookies!  

Since it was a recipe she created for school, I knew her recipe made lots of rolls when she had given it to me.  I have been looking for it for years and finally found it stuck to the back of another recipe card last month.  It has been years since I needed to make this many rolls.  I have never tried to reduce it as Mom warned me that changing any measurements other than flour could affect the consistency and taste.  So if you do not want 4 dozen rolls and are uncomfortable calculating measurements to cut the recipe in half, consider making my Grandma's Yeast Buns or Quick Dinner Rolls to get smaller batches.    Or if you want to make way ahead and freeze, try Make-Ahead Frozen rolls for less than 3 dozen rolls.'

Overnight Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:

2 packages yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 cup shortening
2 cups boiling water
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs, beaten
7 - 10 cups flour, sifted

Steps: 

1. In a large bowl - Add shortening and pour boiling water over it.  Add sugar and salt.  Blend until creamy and let cool.
2. In small bowl - Add yeast to warm water,  mix and let dissolve for about 5-10 minutes
3. Combine eggs and yeast mix into shortening bowl.
4. Add sifted flour a cup at a time.  Mix or knead in flour until dough forms and is no longer sticky.  Once dough is right texture, do not add more flour or they will come out hard instead of fluffy.  Form into a single large dough ball by rolling in the bowl or on floured wax paper.
5. Lightly oil all the inside of another large bowl.   Dump the dough ball into the new bowl and gently rub a little oil on top to keep it from sticking to wrap.  Cover with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator overnight.
6. About 3 hours before you want to bake, prepare lightly greased baking pans.
7. Remove dough from the refrigerator.  Form dough into small balls/rolls and place separately in pans allowing about 1-inch space all around to rise and eventually touch each other.   Do not handle each too much or they will not rise properly.  Set pans in a warm place and allow rolls to rise for 1 to 2 hours.
8. Bake in 400 degree preheated oven for 10 - 12 minutes until lightly browned on top.

Yields 4 dozen medium size rolls.