Homemade dinner rolls! Make the best soft and fluffy dinner rolls with this easy recipe! These yummy rolls are so simple to make.
My family can't get enough homemade bread! Homemade bread is just one of those things that can't be beat.
The smell alone is enough to bring even my pickiest kid to the table. But a lot of people find working with yeast and making homemade dinner rolls to be intimidating.
So, let's fix that!
I've included step-by-step photos, tips, and plenty of notes to help you make amazing dinner rolls.
How to make dinner rolls (from scratch)
Begin by mixing 3 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, salt, milk, butter, and egg in a mixing bowl until combined. Continue adding flour until a soft dough forms.
The dough should cling to the dough hook and clear the sides of the bowl, and the dough should feel soft and slightly sticky but shouldn't come off on your fingers when you pinch it.
After kneading, cover the dough and let it rise.
After the dough rises, divide the dough into 24 pieces. There are notes just below the recipe that explain how I divide the dough.
Place the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Cover, and let the rolls rise.
Once the rolls have risen the second time, bake the rolls. If the rolls brown too quickly, tent the rolls with aluminum foil.
The rolls should be golden brown. Once the rolls have finished baking, brush the hot rolls with melted butter before serving.
Tips
- Temperature: Temperature is important when working with yeast. The milk should be warm, but it shouldn't be hot. If it's too hot, it can kill the yeast.
- Using a kitchen thermometer is the best way to check the temperature of the milk. There're about $10, and you can use a kitchen thermometer for a variety of cooking and baking tasks.
- Butter and eggs: the butter and egg should be at room temperature. Otherwise, if they're cold, they can bring down the temp of the dough and cause the rolls to rise more slowly.
- Yeast: Using fresh yeast is key! Old yeast can lead to a dough that doesn't rise.
- Flour: A range in flour measurements is given. You only need to use enough flour to form a smooth, slightly sticky dough.
Recipe FAQs
You can make the dough by hand. I recommend adding an additional minute or two to the kneading time if mixing by hand.
You can! If using active dry yeast, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm milk in a small bowl. Let it stand for 5 minutes, or until foamy. If the yeast doesn't foam, start over, or the rolls won't rise.
You can! Make the rolls through step 9. Place them in a freezer-safe container, and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Let the rolls thaw and rise through the second rise before baking. I recommend increasing the amount of yeast by 20% to help with the yeast die-off in the freezer.
Storage
The rolls should be store, covered, at room temperature. These rolls should keep for up to 3 days.
More dinner roll recipes!
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Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 4 -5 cups all purpose flour divided
- 2 tablespoons instant yeast
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups warm milk¹ about 105-110 F
- 6 tablespoons butter at room temperature
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
Instructions
- Grease a rimmed 9x13-inch baking dish. Set aside.
- Combine 3 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, salt, warm milk, 6 tablespoons butter, and egg in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Mix on low using the dough hook until the ingredients are combined.
- Continue adding flour, ¼ cup at a time, until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and clings to the dough hook. The dough should feel smooth and slightly sticky but shouldn't come off on your fingers if you pinch it.
- Increase speed continue to knead on low for 2 minutes.
- Cover the bowl.
- Let the dough rise for 30 minutes in a warm, draft-free spot.
- Uncover, and deflate the dough by punching down.
- Divide dough to form 24 rolls.²
- Place rolls onto prepared baking pan.
- Cover, and let rolls rise for an additional 30 minutes in a warm draft-free place.
- Toward the end of the rising time, preheat oven to 375 F.
- Bake the rolls for 12-15 minutes, or until light golden brown.³
- Remove rolls and brush with the 2 tablespoons melted butter.
Video
Notes
- Anything from skim to whole milk will work. Whole milk will give you a richer roll.
- I divide the dough in half. Then, I divide each half in half to form 4 pieces. I then divide each of the 4 pieces in half again to form 8 equal pieces. Each of those pieces I divide into 3 rolls to form 24 rolls.
- If the rolls are browning too quickly, tent the rolls with foil.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
Originally published 4/18/19. Updated with a video and new tips and answers 11/18/19.
Pat
These are delicious!! Would this recipe work for a loaf?
Kate
Thank you! I haven't tried making the roll dough as a loaf. If you try it, I'd love to hear how it turns out!
Rachel Thompson
I want to freeze these. Do I do that between risings?
Kate
To freeze the rolls, make the rolls through step 9. Place them in a freezer-safe container, and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Let the rolls thaw and rise through the second rise before baking. I recommend increasing the amount of yeast by 20% to help with the yeast die-off in the freezer.