Averie Cooks

0 To an oval 6-quart slow cooker or similar (5-quart or 7-quart are fine, but don't go smaller/round, and bigger is unnecessary), place a piece of parchment paper and I like to spray my parchment with cooking spray, although it's optional. Set aside momentarily.
1 To a 2-cup glass measuring cup or similar, add the water (warm water from the tap is fine, no need to warm it more) and sprinkle the yeast on top and add the sugar. Allow it to rest for about 10 minutes, during which time it should turn foamy and creamy. This is called 'proofing' the yeast, or proving that it's alive. While not technically necessary when using instant dry yeast, I always do it to make sure my yeast is good. Tips – The water should be warm, but not too hot because you don't want to kill the yeast which can happen if it's too hot. Water that feels nicely hot to wash your hands in is what you're looking for. If the yeast does not turn foamy and creamy, it means it's dead or not active, and you would need to start over. Don't use it because your bread will never rise!
2 While waiting for the yeast to proof, to a large mixing bowl, add the flour, melted butter, and salt.
3 Add the yeasty water mixture to the flour mixture, and using a wooden spoon, stir to combine and form a dough.  Dough Tips – Bread dough by its very nature is sticky and tacky and in general, the less flour you add, the lighter and more airy the finished bread or rolls will be. However, if your dough is so wet and sloppy that it's just not coming together and it's sticking very badly to the spoon and the bowl, sprinkle a couple tablespoons of flour, stir more, and repeat as necessary until it's firm enough to take shape so you'll be able to handle it. 
4 Form 12 equally sized balls of dough. Tips - Flour your hands a bit to make this easier and less sticky. Don't make more or less balls, do as indicated. 
5 Place the dough balls into the slow cooker and cover the top with a damp towel to rest for 10 minutes. This is the first and only rise. 
6 Remove the towel and cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook on HIGH for about 1 ½ hours, or until the center of the rolls are cooked through. Cooking Tips - If your rolls appear to be cooking too quickly on one side (some slow cookers heat faster on one side and cook unevenly), simply rotate the slow cooker insert halfway through the cooking time. Cooking time can vary dramatically based on the heat output of your machine. Some are much more potent than others, and things will cook faster in a 7-quart and slower in a 5-quart, in general, based on fullness and surface area. Because slow cookers vary a ton in their heat output, the cook time of 1 1/2 hours is an estimate only, and you should slow cook your rolls as long as necessary, even if that mean 2 or 2 1/2+ hours. Also, if your kitchen is warm or cold, the type of flour you used, the density of your dough, will all affect cooking duration.The rolls are done when the crust has set, and the interior is cooked through. In general, I would err on the side of more cooking, and not less. You don't want to bite into one and find that it's raw. You cannot put it back! Baking does not work that way so I like to be extra certain it's done. You can try to insert a long wooden skewer in it, and if it comes out gooey at all, it's not done.  RESIST the urge to keep checking on your rolls because every time you lift the lid of your slow cooker, heat escapes, and it unnecessarily slows down the cooking process. Check after an hour or so, but be mindful.
7 Allow the rolls to cool before serving.  You can serve them with butter, honey, jam, jelly, etc.
8 Optionally, if you’d like a more browned crust, you can place the rolls on a parchment lined baking sheet, preheat your oven to broil, brush the crust with a bit of melted butter, and place it under the broiler for 1-2 minutes. BE VERY CAREFUL if you are doing this! Bread is delicate and can go from fine to burnt to a crisp in less than 30 seconds under a 500F+ degrees broiler so make sure to stand in front of your oven and watch it the entire time, like a hawk, so you don't burn it.