Soft Butter Rolls

How to Make Soft Butter Dinner Rolls

How to use instant yeast

This recipe utilizes a short cut ingredient: instant yeast. It’s also called rapid rise or quick rise yeast. These types of yeast are specifically created to allow you add the yeast directly into the mix with all of the ingredients without a need for proofing.

Can I use active dry yeast instead of instant yeast?

If you don’t have or can’t find instant yeast, you can easily use active dry yeast instead. Simply combine it with the warm liquid called for in the recipe and allow it to proof for 5 minutes before adding into the bowl with the other ingredients.

How do I make soft and fluffy dinner rolls?

The exact amount of flour you’ll need will depend on your kitchen environment and even the brand of flour you’re using. Things like humidity and altitude can affect your dough. You may not need all the flour called for in the recipe. You may need a little more. Add it in gradually just until the dough comes together.

I’d always rather have a sticky dough than add too much extra flour and create dense, tough, or dry bread. As the dough rises the flour will continue to absorb extra moisture and it won’t be quite as sticky when you go to shape the rolls anyways!

Can I knead the dough by hand?

Be sure to knead the dough properly to get rolls that hold their shape and bake up nice and fluffy. I call for a stand mixer to make easy work of kneading in this recipe, but you can also knead by hand. You can see my full tutorial on how to knead dough here.

How do I know when dough is done rising?

After kneading, shape the dough into a ball. Place in a lightly oiled mixing bowl. I like to use glass so I can see how much it’s rising. The dough should be turned over to oil the top so that it doesn’t dry out. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap, foil, or a clean towel. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free location. Ideal rise temperatures are between 80°F and 90°F. Lower temperatures will require more rising time.

The dough is done rising when it’s about doubled in size and passed the “ripe” test. Gently stick two fingers in the risen dough up to the second knuckle and then take them out. If the finger marks remain the dough is ready for shaping into balls. If not, cover and let the dough rise longer until it is.

The same finger test can be done again when the rolls are shaped and getting ready for baking.

How to Stuff Dinner Rolls with BUTTER

Divide the dough into 15 equal pieces. You can do this perfectly by weighing the mass of dough then dividing that amount by 15.

Flatten a piece of dough with your hands and place a ball of the frozen butter on it. Pinch and wrap the dough around the butter and seal completely by pinching hard with your fingers. Roll into a smooth ball. Repeat with remaining dough. Place shaped dough in prepared baking pan.

Lightly cover the dough with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise for 1 hour, or until about doubled in size. If some of the rolls show cracks or splits as they rise, don’t worry. They should still bake up just fine.

How to Bake Golden Brown Dinner Rolls

I like to use a metal baking pan for this recipe. If you use glass or ceramic you’ll likely need to increase the baking time. Your rolls may not get as golden in a glass or ceramic pan. The egg wash brushed on top helps to create rolls that are deeply golden in color and shiny in appearance. Don’t skip this step! Sprinkling with the sea salt just before baking also enhances both the look and taste of these rolls.

How to Make Dinner Rolls Ahead of Time

For this recipe, I like to make the dough all the way through the first rise and shaping the rolls. Once the rolls are stuffed and shaped, cover them and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Bring to room temperature. This will depend on the warmth of your kitchen but will take a minimum of 90 minutes typically. If the rolls haven’t doubled in size yet, allow to sit at room temperature until they do.

Refrigerating basically stunts the rise time and can actually allow more flavor to develop!

The rolls are best served the day they’re baked. However, you can easily reheat the rolls briefly in the oven or toaster oven at 300°F until warmed through to refresh.