I don’t have many fond memo­ries of school cafe­te­ria lun­ches. There are two main rea­sons for that. One, my mom packed my lunch most of the time, and two, when I did par­take in what was on the menu, it was pret­ty abys­mal. There was one shin­ing excep­tion, however: the rolls.

To this day, I can prac­ti­cally smell and taste those soft, fluf­fy won­ders. Sure, some peo­ple may trea­sure the memory of home­made rolls lovingly baked by mothers or grand­mo­thers. My mom, however, has always been more of a cake baker than a bread baker, so the ele­men­tary school rolls have by default and affec­tion lived on in my memo­ries.

That should help explain why when I say these Pillowy Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls remind me of what I had back then, it is the ulti­mate com­pli­ment.

The rolls bake beau­ti­fully into each other, which con­tri­butes both height and an attrac­tive pull-apart appea­rance. Even better, the dough comes toge­ther quickly and easily in a stand mixer, with only one rela­tively short rise after they’ve been shaped.

The rolls bake beau­ti­fully into each other, which con­tri­butes both height and an attrac­tive pull-apart appear­ance. Even better, the dough comes toge­ther quickly and easily in a stand mixer, with only one rela­tively short rise after they’ve been shaped.

Using about 2 1/2 table­spoons (48 grams) of dough for each roll, shape each por­tion (lightly flour your palms bet­ween each shap­ing, if neces­sary) into a smooth 1 3/4-inch ball. To encour­age the best rise, try to form a “glu­ten cloak” by pul­ling the top of the dough down and around each ball before pinch­ing and seal­ing around the bot­tom. Place the rolls on the pre­pa­red pan, spacing them about 3/4 inch apart in four rows of six. Cover with a clean kit­chen towel and let rise for 45 minutes. The rolls will look puffy and will almost be touch­ing, but most of the ris­ing will take place during bak­ing.