Fast and Fluffy Dinner Rolls

Sometimes you find those recipes that are just pure genius - totally different than the way you've made a dish before, but so fantastic that you immediately fall in love.  This roll recipe is definitely one of those.  It's made using hot milk and water, and then the rolls are shaped and popped into a warm oven.  After a quick rise, you turn the oven up and leave the rolls in there while the oven comes up to temperature.  When you pull out the rolls, magic has occurred - they're perfectly browned on top and have gotten huge and fluffy!  I was impressed at how light and fluffy the rolls were despite a short rising time, and I was really impressed at how quickly the whole recipe came together -- if you want rolls for dinner but you haven't planned ahead, this recipe is definitely the way to go!  Of course they're best right out of the oven, but the leftovers were also amazing toasted and spread with jam.

Fast and Fluffy Dinner Rolls (adapted from Jamie Cooks It Up!, original recipe here)
Makes 12 rolls

3/4 cup milk (I used 1%)
6 T butter, divided
3/4 cup very warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 to 4-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 heaping T instant yeast

1. Preheat the oven to "warm" or 170 degrees.
2. Combine the milk and 4 T of the butter in a small saucepan.  Heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is just starting to form small bubbles.
3. Add the hot milk mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer with the water, sugar, and salt.  It's fine to use water that is warmer than you would usually use for yeast dough, as you'll be adding flour first to cool things off a bit.  Stir everything together.
4. Add 2 cups of flour and mix for about a minute.  Add another 2 cups of flour along with the yeast.  Mix with a dough hook, adding more flour as needed to reach a soft consistency that just pulls away from the sides of the bowl (it will stick to the bottom).  Mix on low speed for about 5 minutes.
5. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and let sit 5 minutes.
6. While the dough is resting, spray a work surface with oil.  Then, melt the remaining 2 T butter.  Use about half the butter to generously grease a 9x13 baking pan.
7. With wet hands, turn the dough out onto the oiled work surface.  Divide into 12 pieces - a pair of kitchen shears will do this easily.  If the dough starts to stick to your hands, get them wet again and you shouldn't have too much of a problem.  Don't worry about the dough being very soft and sticky - this is the way it's meant to be!
8. Roll each piece of dough into a small ball, and place in the baking pan.
9. Put the pan into the warm oven, and let rise for 20 minutes -- do not cover with plastic wrap or anything else.
10. After 20 minutes, turn the oven up to 350.  Let the rolls bake for about 15 minutes, checking them often -- they will need more or less time depending on how quickly your oven heats up.
11. When the rolls are a nice golden brown on top, pull them out and immediately brush with the remaining melted butter.  Let cool for about 5 minutes or so, and then eat while warm!