Creamed Corn Rolls

This is what I get for gloating about my whopping two days off.  More people quit before the new hires were on the schedule, so I'm pulling 45 hour weeks in 6 days.  Everyone is, but the point is that none of us should be working that much.  Next week it should start to get a little better, unless someone else quits.

Oh, and I caught a cold.  So yeah, a couple of long weeks.  For once, I'm glad I'm not hosting Thanksgiving.  I made a big pot of Spice Soup, heavy on the ginger root.  After a week, I'm feeling mostly better, at least well enough to feed myself.  All that salt from drive-thrus and Chinese food was taking its toll.  So I threw a pot of Baked Beans in the oven and went shopping.

I didn't want to have regular cornbread with the beans, and got it into my head to have a yeast bread flavored with a can of cream-style corn.  Surprisingly few recipes exist for it, so I took the lessons of recipes that weren't exactly what I had in mind and struck out on my own.  What I ended up with does not taste heavily of corn, just as challah does not taste heavily of egg.  It's a subtle richness, not an attack.

1 15 oz can cream-style corn
2 Tb butter
1-1/2 tsp yeast
2 Tb sugar
3-4 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
more butter for brushing

1.  Warm corn, butter, and sugar to 100º.  Butter does not need to melt.  Stir in yeast and let sit until it starts to get foamy, 5 minutes.

2.  In stand mixer, combine 2 C flour and the corn mixture with the paddle.  Beat into a thick batter for 2 minutes.  Add salt and half a cup of flour and beat again.  If still too soft to knead, add another half cup of flour.

3.  Turn out dough onto a floured board and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes, adding as little flour as necessary.  Turn over in an oiled bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

4.  Punch down dough and let rest 10 minutes.  With a scale, weigh out 2 oz rolls.  Round into balls and place in greased muffin pans.  I got 12 rolls and a mini-loaf out of my batch, which would have been 16 rolls.  Allow to rise again, 45 minutes.

5.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Brush tops with melted butter and bake for 20 minutes, until lightly golden and crust has started to set.  Remove from pan as soon as they're cool enough to touch and they won't stick.  Cool on a rack thoroughly before freezing, or serve immediately.  I do recommend freezing any leftovers.  They will spoil at room temperature within a day or two because of the corn.

Makes about 16 rolls

Difficulty rating  :)