Step 1

Place the yeast and 2 teaspoons of the sugar in a medium bowl, then pour in water. Leave for 5 minutes until it froths.

Step 2

Place flour, remaining sugar and salt in a bowl. Mix to combine.

Step 3

Make a well in the centre. Add milk, butter, eggs and pour in the yeast liquid, including all froth.

Step 4

Mix until combined with wooden spoon - it will be like a thick muffin batter. Not pourable, but thick and sticky.

Step 5

Leave dough in the bowl, cover with a wet (clean) tea towel and place in a warm place (25C/77F+) to rise for around 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until almost tripled in volume. See Note 4 for how I do this (you will laugh - but it works every time!). Dough surface should be bubbly (see video or photos in post).

Step 6

Line a 31.5 x 23.5 cm / 9 x 13" tray with baking paper with overhang.

Step 7

Remove tea towel and punch dough to deflate, then mix briefly in the bowl to get rid of the bubbles in the dough.

Step 8

Dust work surface with flour, scrape dough on work surface. Dust top of dough then shape into a log. Cut log into 4 pieces, then cut each piece into 3 pieces (12 in total).

Step 9

Take one piece and press down with palm, then use your fingers to gather into a ball, flip (so smooth side is up) then roll the dough briefly to form a ball. This stretches the dough on one side and that's how I get a nice smooth surface on my roll. (For this step, use as much flour as needed to handle dough and avoid piercing inside into the wet dough)

Step 10

Place the ball with the smooth side up on the tray. Repeat with remaining dough. Line them up 3 x 4.

Step 11

Spray surface of rolls (or cling wrap) with oil (any), then place cling wrap over the tray.

Step 12

Return tray to warm place and leave for 30 - 45 min, until the dough has risen by about 75% (less than double in size).

Step 13

Partway through Rise #2, preheat oven to 200C/390F (standard) or 180C/350F (fan/convection).

Step 14

Bake for 15 - 18 minutes, or until the surface is a golden brown and the roll in the centre sounds hollow when tapped. The surface colour is the best test for this recipe.

Step 15

Remove rolls from oven. Brush with melted butter.

Step 16

Use overhang to lift rolls onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool to warm before serving.