This is my way of making fluffy, light and buttery dinner rolls. My recipe is EASY and quick to prep, and the rolls turn out absolutely beautiful.
This is how I make my homemade dinner rolls – with an easy dough that’s quick to put together, and with the perfect result!
The dough is very soft, just like when making Cinnamon Rolls – this makes the rolls turn out wonderfully soft and fluffy, and you can either brush them with regular butter or with garlic butter after baking for a more savory variety.
These are best eaten warm slathered in butter (or Honey Butter!), but they keep for a day in case you have leftovers. We make them for every holiday – Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, you name it! They are perfect to make sliders with, too.
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Yeast: If using organic yeast, the dough may need more time to rise. Instant yeast can be used in place of the active yeast, the dough will rise faster.
- Milk: I prefer whole milk, but any milk can be used.
- Sugar: The sugar helps the yeast to grow and helps with the soft texture of the rolls, it doesn’t make the rolls overly sweet. You can reduce it to 1 tablespoon if you’re concerned about too much sweetness.
- Flour: I have made these with 2 cups whole wheat flour and 2 cups white flour before, they are a little denser and need a bit longer to rise. But they’re still very soft and fluffy! I don’t know if they work with gluten free flour, but if you try, please let me know!
- Egg: If you can’t have eggs or don’t have any on hand, you can instead brush the rolls with half-and-half or with milk. They will not get as shiny or browned, but they’ll still be perfectly pretty and delicious.
How to make homemade dinner rolls – step by step
First, you’ll need to “bloom” the yeast. Just stir it into warm water and leave it until bubbles appear. Do NOT use hot water, it should be just lukewarm, or the yeast will die (1).
While the yeast sits, combine the milk, melted butter and sugar. Once the yeast is bubbly, add it to the milk mixture and combine well (2).
Add this yeast mixture to 4 cups of flour, add salt (3) and then knead the dough until it’s soft and very pliable (4). Let the dough sit under a clean tea towel in a warm spot until it has doubled in size (5).
Once the dough is ready, punch it down (6) divide it into 12 equal pieces (7) and shape each into a roll. Place in a 9×13 inch dish (8) and let rise until puffy, then brush with egg wash (9) and bake. I like to brush these with melted butter right as they come out of the oven for some extra decadence (10).
Just don’t burn your fingers when you try to pull a still-too-hot roll from the dish (been there, done that – too many times to count!).
Recipe tips
- Water temperature: Make sure the water you use doesn’t exceed 115°F. Otherwise it will kill off the yeast and your dough will not rise. Also, there’s no need to heat up the milk.
- Flour amount: Make sure to measure your flour correctly (spoon it into a measuring cup until heaping full, then level with a knife). If you add too much flour, your rolls will not turn out soft/fluffy but crumbly like a biscuit.
- Kneading: Knead the dough long enough. It’s hard to overwork yeast dough, so don’t worry about that. With yeast doughs, under-kneading is generally worse than kneading for a little bit too long. It should feel smooth and elastic, and you should be able to pull it a little without it tearing.
- Shaping the rolls: I pinch the dough at the bottom and then roll it in the hollow of my hand on the countertop. Watch the video to see how I shape my rolls to make them look nicely rounded.
- Baking: Make sure to not undertake the rolls, or they’ll sink back and turn out dense. The internal temperature of bread should be around 200°F, so if you have a kitchen thermometer you can check that way.
Freezer instructions
To make these rolls ahead and freeze, I like to freeze the dough, not the baked rolls (they taste much better that way).
- knead the dough as directed in the recipe, then let it rest for just 15 minutes.
- shape into rolls and freeze spaced apart on a lined baking sheet for a couple of hours. Once solid, transfer them to a freezer bag and label with the name and use-by date (use within 3 months) before placing in the freezer.
- to bake, place the rolls in a greased 9×11 pan and let them thaw and rise for 4-6 hours (depends a lot on your altitude and room temperature). Then egg wash and bake as directed!
More homemade bread recipes
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
Easy Homemade Dinner Rolls
Recipe details
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- 9×11 Inch Baking Dish
Ingredients
For the rolls:
- 1 envelope active dried yeast see notes below!
- ½ cup water about room temperature warm, see notes
- 1 cup milk whole milk or 2% preferred
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 4 cups all-purpose flour or more if needed; spooned and levelled! (too much flour will yield a dense, biscuit-like texture)
- ½ tablespoon salt
For brushing:
- 1 egg for egg wash
- melted butter to brush on the hot rolls
Instructions
- Activate yeast and combine liquid ingredients:Whisk the yeast into the warm water in a small bowl and set aside until bubbles start to appear on the surface. In the meantime, whisk together the milk, melted butter and sugar. Add the activated yeast mixture and whisk until combined.
- Make dough:Add the flour and salt to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment. Add the milk mixture, then knead on medium-low speed for 5-6 minutes, or until you have a smooth ball of dough. Add an extra tablespoon of flour if your dough feels too sticky!
- Rise:Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. Punch down, then divide dough into 12 equal pieces; shape into balls. Place in greased 9×11 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise at room temperature until big and puffed up, about 20-30 minutes.
- Bake:Heat the oven to 375°F. Beat the egg and egg wash the top of the rolls (you will most likely not use the entire egg; don't add too much or you'll have scrambled eggs on top of your rolls). Bake for around 20 minutes or until done. Brush with additional melted butter right as they come out of the oven, if you like. Remove from the pan and serve warm.
Notes
Ingredient Notes:
Yeast: If using organic yeast, the dough may need more time to rise. Instant yeast can be used in place of the active yeast, the dough will rise faster. If you’re concerned about your yeast not activating, stir the 2 tablespoons of sugar into the water and yeast mixture to move things along. Sugar: The sugar helps the yeast to grow and helps with the soft texture of the rolls, it doesn’t make the rolls overly sweet. You can reduce it to 1 tablespoon if you’re concerned about too much sweetness. Flour: I have made these with 2 cups whole wheat flour and 2 cups white flour before, they are a little denser and need a bit longer to rise. But they’re still very soft and fluffy! Egg: If you can’t have eggs or don’t have any on hand, you can instead brush the rolls with half-and-half or with milk. They will not get as shiny or browned, but they’ll still be perfectly pretty and delicious.Baking Tips:
Water temperature: Make sure the water you use doesn’t exceed 115°F. Otherwise it will kill off the yeast and your dough will not rise. Also, there’s no need to heat up the milk. Flour amount: Make sure to measure your flour correctly (spoon it into a measuring cup until heaping full, then level with a knife). If you add too much flour, your rolls will not turn out soft/fluffy but crumbly like a biscuit. Kneading: Knead the dough long enough. It’s hard to overwork yeast dough, so don’t worry about that. With yeast doughs, under-kneading is generally worse than kneading for a little bit too long. It should feel smooth and elastic, and you should be able to pull it a little without it tearing. Shaping the rolls: I pinch the dough at the bottom and then roll it in the hollow of my hand on the countertop. Watch the video to see how I shape my rolls to make them look nicely rounded. Baking: Make sure to not undertake the rolls, or they’ll sink back and turn out dense. The internal temperature of bread should be around 200°F, so if you have a kitchen thermometer you can check that way.Freezer Instructions:
To make these rolls ahead and freeze, I like to freeze the dough, not the baked rolls (they taste much better that way).- knead the dough as directed in the recipe, then let it rest for just 15 minutes.
- shape into rolls and freeze spaced apart on a lined baking sheet for a couple of hours. Once solid, transfer them to a freezer bag and label with the name and use-by date (use within 3 months) before placing in the freezer.
- to bake, place the rolls in a greased 9×11 pan and let them thaw and rise for 4-6 hours (depends a lot on your altitude and room temperature). Then egg wash and bake as directed!
shannon says
this was my first time making homemade rolls at home and it was so easy to follow this recipe! i would add a bit more salt then the recipe calls for otherwise they were light and fluffy!
Ariel says
I tried a different yeast roll recipe before this one and the others were dense, these are absolute perfection and I ate almost the whole pan myself
Maxx says
this was my first ever time making any type of homemade bread, and they came out absolutely amazing!!! they were a little dense, but I chalked that up to me not kneading the dough long enough lol
Karen L says
The recipe was straightforward and the roll were delicious. Thank you!
Elizabeth VanderVeen says
This bread recipe is so yummy, versatile, and easy! I’ve used it to make small rolls and bigger hamburger buns for French onion sandwiches. I do wish the measurements were by weight but still the bread is delicious. I love to brush garlic or honey butter after baking.
Maddie Chafin says
These rolls are absolutely amazing! Has anyone tried making the dough into loaves instead of rolls?
C. Fiona says
Amazing. Thank you. My family loved them and they ate them without jelly so I know they were good.
Sara Simmons says
I have never made any kind of homemade bread before. This will be my first one. I see the rising time is one hour on the counter. I have a PROOF setting on my airfryer to speed up that process. The auto setting for this is 90 degrees for 30 min. Would you recommend I use this setting? I can change the time and/or temp if needed.
Nora says
Sara, I often use the proof setting when I’m pressed for time! It works quite well. You have to be attentive though and make sure you don’t overproof the dough. I would check after 20 mins and after 30 mins – once it’s doubled in size and puffy, stop the proofing. Bread purists will also say they can taste a difference between fast-proofed bread and slower proofed bread. I haven’t found this to be an issue in my regular people home 😉
Ann Ruscoe says
Turned out great! Soft and squishy. Crispy on top. Perfect for the beef stew tonight 😃😃
Brittany says
Wow!! By far the best dinner roll recipe I’ve tried!! Didn’t use quite as much flour due to the climate I live in, but oh my word!! So fluffy, so light, and amazingly delicious!!
Bette Neiman says
I’ve made these over and over again. My family loves them and requests them al.ost nightly. They are so easy to make, and so simple to follow the easy directions. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Rosalie Purvis says
Easy step-by-step information to follow came out great.
Laura says
These were so simple and turned out amazing! Made the perfect roll to go with our dinner tonight. Will definitely be making these again and again.
Marlys says
What does untake mean? Should it read underbake?
Britne says
Made these for the first time a few months ago. I’ve made them several times since! All of my family members request me to bring these to gatherings. Fan favorite.
Sandy says
I’m a bread maker, but haven’t attempted rolls but a few times. My husband had a hankering for dinner rolls and this recipe was pretty straight forward. These were fluffy and tender! We will make these again
Samantha says
I just got a stand mixer so this is my first time making rolls. I will absolutely be using this recipe in the future. Very simple to follow and the pictures helped a lot for reference points throughout (I tend to constantly question if things are looking the way they should). I can’t wait to use them for breakfast sliders tomorrow!
Sarah says
These rolls are absolutely delicious! I upped the salt to 1 tablespoon based on other reviews that they were a bit bland, and they came out just perfect! I will make these again and again, thank you so much for the recipe.
Savannah says
Have been looking for years for the perfect roll recipe, and this is it! So very good, made the recipe exactly as written, easy to follow instructions. Will never use another roll recipe except this one!
Kim R. says
This is a great recipe! My son and I made them today! They were so good with Christmas dinner. We made ours kind of big (about the size of a hamburger bun) and we are thinking that we may use them for sandwiches or even a hamburger! If you are concerned about the degree of difficulty, please don’t be. Give them a try, they are super easy to make! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Dorrita from Bermuda says
I made them today. They’re good and soft. I added a whipped egg. My oven temperature was 325 degrees. This was my first try making rolls
Wendy says
Made these rolls today and they turned out fantastic! The recipe was easy to follow and the dough is so forgiving. Thank you for the recipe.
Linda says
These rolls turn out amazing…every time
Faith says
This is the perfect recipe! How would you store them after baking them?
Nora says
Faith, for a day or two, I keep them on the counter covered with a clean tea towel. I do recommend eating them quickly though, they do taste best fresh.
Pietra says
This is my 1st time making fresh dinner rolls and they were so lite and delicious. I will definitely make them again and again, it was actually enjoyable to make and serve them.
Chandler Bordeaux says
I made a quadruple recipe of this for Thanksgiving and everyone loved them!!! Raved about them the whole time. Thank you so much for posting this recipe!!!