Legendary Lion House Rolls and Honey Butter
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One bad thing about not living in Utah is that I never get to eat these AMAZING ROLLS! They are my favorite! I went to a friend’s house the other day here in Missouri and I smelled them cooking. I really thought I was in heaven! These rolls are made in a restaruant called The Lion House Restaurant. It is famous for its legendary rolls and home cooked meals. While at the Lion House not only can you enjoy home-style rolls but also breads, pies, and desserts made fresh everyday at the Lion House bakery.
I own one of the Lion House cookbooks called Lion House Entertaining… but I have always been too afraid to try to make them. My friend gave me her helpful hints and I decided to give them a try.
LION HOUSE DINNER ROLLS
2 TBL yeast
2 cups warm water
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 tsp salt
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
1 egg
5-6 cups flour (*I usually have to use a little more than 6 cups here in Missouri because of the humidity.)
Dissolve yeast in water. Add all ingredients except 3-4 cups of flour in a bread mixer. Mix until smooth. Gradually add the remaining flour. Don’t knead. (Mix for about 30 seconds after last cup of flour.) Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about an hour (My friend raises hers in the oven for quicker rising–Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 1 minute, then turn off the oven and put in the dough).
Punch down dough. Flour (she always uses oil) a surface and dump dough onto it. Divide dough into three equal sections. Roll each section into a circle (about 12 inches in diameter) and cut each circle into 12 slices (like a pizza). Roll each slice from biggest end to smallest end (like a croissant) and place on a greased cookie sheet (they can all fit on one large cookie sheet). Cover and let rise until doubled.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. (I’ve found that in my oven, they need to cook at 375 degrees so they don’t burn on top. And I always rub them with butter as soon as they’re out of the oven.)
Honey Butter
1/2 cup softened butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg yolk
1 cup honey
Whip butter; add vanilla and egg yolk. Gradually whip in honey until light and fluffy. – Makes 1 1/2 cups
These rolls are big! And this recipe makes a lot of them. I froze half and kept the other half for later.
Also please note… eat them on an empty stomach because you can’t have just one.
Happy Baking!












I have always wanted to try these and now I am going to do it! Thanks for the tips- I am going to use them!!
Love you!
This looks awesome! I want to make these for sure! Thanks for the recipe!
These look great! Did you use active yeast or instant yeast? Thanks!
I’m trying these tonight with Mannicotti and putting garlic butter on instead, hopefully they will be good
I second Kristin’s comment above. DId you use Instant or Regular yeast? What is the conversion for Instant if I need it?
Thanks
I used active yeast.
and I don’t know what the conversion would be for regular. Sorry.
You said that you froze half. Did you freeze them before cooking them or freeze them after you cooked them?:)
I froze them after I cooked them!
It’s hard for me to mix things by hand so I bought a KitchenAid stand mixer, do you think it would be ok to use the mixer?
These look delicious! I am in charge of the rolls this year. Last year I posted the Lionhouse Raspberry butter recipe, I’ve provided a link if you don’t have that one yet. http://www.lifeshouldcostless.com/2011/11/raspberry-butter-lionhouse-recipe.html
Made them! Not as fluffy yeasty as I was hoping so the search continues! And I used my stand mixer…
There is no conversion from regular yeast to fast-rise. Use the same amount.
When substituting fast-rise yeast you use the same amount as regular yeast. There is no conversion needed.
Just made these yesterday. They were the most average rolls imaginable. Just takes like white bread in a roll form. The search for a good dinner roll continues…
could we make bread also from this?? thanks
We have only used it for rolls. Let us know if you make bread out of it. The rolls are delicious, so the bread would be heavenly if it works!!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe… Lion House Rolls are the best! Just a quick question though, when turning the dough out onto a floured surface, you said your friend “always uses oil”. Do you mean to oil the surface instead of flouring the surface?