? regarding freezing bread dough
 

I have a great recipe for oatmeal dinner rolls (posted on here already somewhere). My family all comes to our house for Thanksgiving. Since we're a pretty good size group, and all homemade bread lovers, that means I have to have ALOT of dinner rolls ready on Thanksgiving day.

So I'd like to make the dough up ahead of time, and maybe even have it formed into the rolls. But at what point do you freeze them? And when you get them back out, what do you do?

This recipe calls for making the dough, the letting it double in size (about 2-3 hours), punch it down, let it rest 10 minutes, then form the dough balls. Let them double in size (about 1/2 hour) and then bake.

I'm thinking after I form the dough balls, I should be able to freeze them and then take them out Thanksgiving Day, thaw them out, let them double in size and bake them.

Sound right to you? Have any of you actually done this before? When I lived in Kentucky and worked at a children's home, the cook there used to make a week's worth of rolls on Saturday and then just pull out what she needed each day. But I'm not sure how she did it. I just know it CAN be done :)

Re: ? regarding freezing bread dough
 

Did she make the same recipe as yours?

I have a sour dough recipe that I make. I seem to remember freezing them after they rose the first time and let them thaw with enough time to rise again.

My sister said her didn't rise after freezing. So I guess it depends on the recipe.

My suggestions is test a batch and see what works.

Re: ? regarding freezing bread dough
 

Thanks, Esther. No, we don't have the same recipe. Unfortunately, there is no way for me to get her recipe anymore either. That was over 25 years ago.

I think you're right. I'll try it and see what happens.

Re: ? regarding freezing bread dough
 

Can I freeze dough and then bake it later?

Yes. We recommend increasing the yeast by 1/3 in any dough that you will be freezing.


For rolls, form them as you normally would. If you are baking them the next morning, simply cover them with plastic wrap and let them rise in the refrigerator overnight. If you are planning to bake them two or more days later, freeze them. Place the shaped rolls in a greased pan (disposable aluminum pans are fine), wrap them inside two plastic bags and then place them in the freezer. Let them thaw in the refrigerator for 12 hours before moving them to a warm place to rise. The second rise should take about 2 hours.

Re: ? regarding freezing bread dough
 

Thank you, Pressing-On. I'll give it a try your way first of all. I hadn't considered increasing the yeast. Interesting!