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Minnesota Rolls
Rub one-half table-spoon of lard into one quart of flour, make a 'well in the middle, put in one-half cup baker's yeast-or one cup of home-made-two tea spoons sugar, one-half pint cold boiled milk; do not stir, but let stand over night; in the morning knead well, after dinner knead again, cut out, put in pans, and let rise until tea time. Bake in a quick oven.- Mrs. Judge West, Bellefontaine.
A long, cool, three-stage dough: an overnight sponge, two kneadings across the day, and a final rise timed to the evening meal. The instruction that matters most is the one that looks like a mistake — do not stir. The liquid, yeast and sugar sit in the well and ferment slowly overnight, drawing in flour from the sides on their own.
- A quart of flourDry goods were measured by volume: a quart is 4 cups, reckoned at roughly 1 lb in the period (nearer 500 g by modern cup weights). The half-pint of milk is 1 cup, but the half-cup to cup of liquid yeast adds to that, so judge the dough as you knead rather than assuming it will want more liquid.
- "Baker's yeast" versus homemadeMeasured by the half-cup, the baker's yeast here was a wet or liquid yeast bought from a baker, not anything like a modern dry yeast; homemade yeast was typically a hop-and-potato ferment of variable strength, which may be why twice as much is specified. If substituting instant yeast, use only about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon, given how long this dough is meant to ferment.
- Cold boiled milkScalding killed off souring organisms and enzymes in raw milk, and the milk was then cooled so it would not kill the yeast. Pasteurized milk needs no boiling; just make sure it is cool, not tepid, since this dough is meant to ferment slowly overnight.
- No saltThe recipe omits it entirely, which is not unusual in nineteenth-century bread receipts. Add about 1 1/2 teaspoons at the morning kneading -- without it the rolls taste flat, and salt also slows fermentation to something nearer this recipe's leisurely schedule.
- The day's timetable"After dinner" means after the midday meal, and "tea time" is the light evening meal around five or six. So: mix at bedtime, knead mid-morning, knead again early afternoon, shape, and bake in the late afternoon. The dough spends 18 hours or so in total, which is where the flavor comes from.
- A quick ovenUsually reckoned around 400-425F. Small rolls want the heat high so they set and brown before the crumb dries out; 12 to 15 minutes should do it.
- LardHalf a tablespoon in a pound of flour is a very light enrichment, enough to soften the crumb rather than make a rich roll. Butter or shortening substitutes directly, rubbed in with the fingertips as for pastry.
- YieldAbout 16 to 18 rolls, cut with a biscuit cutter and set close together in the pan so they rise upward and pull apart at the table.
Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping (1877) was assembled from contributions by Ohio housewives, many of them credited by name and town, and Mrs. Judge West of Bellefontaine is typical of the book's roster as much as anything else. The name "Minnesota Rolls" may have little to do with the recipe's origin; regional and place-name titles were a common way of distinguishing one household's roll from the dozen others in the same chapter — though it is worth noting that the 1877 edition was itself published in Minneapolis. The method itself is older than the name: a well of flour with the leaven poured into the center, left undisturbed overnight, is often described as a cool-kitchen technique of the era, when yeast was unreliable and the stove went out at bedtime. The three-part schedule tells you something about the working day too — a cook who is in and out of the kitchen from before breakfast until tea can afford to knead a dough twice between other tasks.