If the rest of your menu fails, at least you'll have Ella Beesley's Refrigerator Rolls, writes Anne Byrn. Rinne Allen Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

For many years, I didn’t bake yeast rolls, nor did my mother. We didn’t need to, because Ella Beesley, my mother’s dear friend in Nashville, baked better “pocket-book rolls” than anyone. The

Southern version of Parker House rolls, they were folded in the middle and light as a feather and yet wickedly rich, “flip-flopped” through melted butter, as Beesley used to say, before

being placed side by side in the pan. Every holiday, in the last-minute countdown to dinner, my mother or I would point out to each other that if the rest of the menu failed, it would be OK,

Beesley had quite a brisk roll business going. She baked and wrapped them in foil, first placing a sheet of waxed paper on top of them because she didn’t like them to touch the foil, then

sealed and stashed them in her basement freezer. The recipe had been handed down from her mother, Mary Priestly Cox of Huntington, in West Tennessee, and she guesses it was her mother’s

recipe before that. “There’s nothing better than a hot roll,” she says. For my family, there’s nothing better than Beesley’s rolls. Note: For these, you'll want to plan ahead. The soft dough

must be refrigerated overnight so it is easier to work with. —Anne Byrn

Makes 6 to 7 dozen rolls

Prep: 25 to 30 minutes

Rise: 2 to 2½ hours for 2 rises, plus overnight in fridge

Bake: 18 to 22 minutes 

Ingredients

kosher salt1 heaping teaspoon baking powder1 teaspoon baking soda8 tablespoons salted butter, for brushing (or add ¼ teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter)Parchment paper for lining the pan

Directions

Pour the milk into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat it just until tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Place the sugar in a large bowl and cut the shortening into it with two knives, so the pieces of shortening are smaller and it’s easier for the milk to melt them. Pour the hot milk over the

sugar and shortening and stir to melt. Check the temperature of the mixture with an instant-read thermometer and let it cool to 125°Fahrenheit or lower. Stir in the yeast to dissolve.