Purity Basic Rolls

I made this recipe for several reasons. I got this new cookbook from my sister-in-law, who was giving away a lot of books for charity, one of them was called The New Purity Cook Book: The Complete Guide to Canadian Cooking, and so I snatched it, and several other cookbooks she pointed out. Purity brand flour was made by Maple Leaf Mills Ltd.; my sister-in-law has the earlier version of the cookbook, and leafing through it, it seems to have a number of recipes that look good. The second reason, is that we were to bring some bread to the Boxing Day meal at my brother's as one of our contributions. Lastly, we wanted to make bao zi, Chinese steamed buns with sweet red bean paste, and we needed some dough for the bun. This recipe turned out pretty good, the buns were good and tasty, and the dough worked fairly well with the bao zi.

Purity Basic Rolls
1-1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup lukewarm water (100F)
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 egg, beaten
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 to 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
melted butter, for brushing

Scald milk. Pour scalded milk into a large bowl and add sugar, salt and shortening, stirring until shortening dissolves. Cool to lukewarm.

Meanwhile, dissolve one teaspoon sugar in lukewarm water. Sprinkle yeast over this. Let stand for 10 minutes. Stir briskly with a fork.

Add softened yeast to lukewarm milk mixture, then add beaten egg, stirring to combine.

Beat in three cups of flour vigorously by hand or with electric mixer.

Then gradually beat in with a spoon the additional flour. Work in last of flour with a rotating motion of the hand.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead 8 to 10 minutes. Shape into a smooth ball and place in a greased bowl, rotating dough to grease surface. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 1-1/2 hours).

Punch down and divide in 4. Shape each piece into a cylinder about 1-1/2" in diameter. Cut each cylinder into 8 equal pieces. Shape each piece of dough into a ball. Place 16 balls, almost touching in a greased 8 or 9-inch square pan. Brush with melted butter. Cover with greased wax paper and a damp cloth and let rise until doubled (about 3/4 hour). Bake at 375F for 25 to 30 minutes.