Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Buttery with the perfect balance of sweetness and saltiness.
Texture: Soft, fluffy, and tender with a golden brown exterior.
Ease: If you’re not familiar with making homemade bread, this roll recipe is a great place to start!
Pros: Easy, relatively quick, delicious, perfect for Thanksgiving or a special dinner.
Cons: None.
Would I make this again? Absolutely!
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These Ultimate Dinner Rolls are the most delicious dinner rolls you and your family will ever try!
If you’re new to baking with yeast, or have previously felt intimidated by baking with yeast, this is the perfect recipe to conquer those fears! If you don’t believe me, just check out reader Jen’s sweet comment below:
Reader Love
I’m known for not being able to bake with yeast. This recipe changed that. I cant wait to try more of your recipes! Thank you!!
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I originally developed this recipe in 2013 after testing tons of tweaks on dinner rolls for my Ultimate Dinner Roll Guide post here. I learned exactly what made homemade dinner rolls fluffy or hard, tender or crusty, and compiled my favorite tweaks to create this recipe for Ultimate Dinner Rolls!
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These rolls will become the star of your Thanksgiving dinner table, Easter brunch, and Sunday night family dinners!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make the Ultimate Dinner Rolls
Top Tips for Fluffy, Soft Dinner Rolls
- Avoid adding too much extra flour to the dough. This dough is enriched with milk, butter, and sugar. These ingredients slow down gluten development and can make the dough a little sticky. Your instinct might be to add extra flour – but any extra flour will create a denser, tougher roll instead of the light, fluffy, soft dinner roll we want. If you find the dough tricky to handle, dampen your hands lightly with water instead of adding extra flour.
- Measure your flour correctly. I highly recommend using a digital kitchen scale for accuracy, but if you don’t have one, be sure to use the spoon and level method to ensure you’re not accidentally compacting too much flour in your measuring cups.
- Don’t skip the sugar. There’s just a touch in these dinner rolls, to help make the rolls tender and golden brown. Learn more about sugar’s role in baking here (spoiler alert: it does SO much more than simply sweetening!)
Do I Have to Use Bread Flour?
Bread flour has a higher level of protein content than all-purpose flour, which helps create tall dinner rolls with a nice chewy, fluffy texture. If you don’t have bread flour, use the same amount of all-purpose flour – but your rolls may just be slightly shorter and less chewy, and may take longer to knead and rise.
Which Yeast Is Best to Use For Dinner Rolls?
- This dinner roll recipe utilizes a shortcut ingredient: instant yeast, also called rapid-rise or quick-rise yeast.
- One of the three should be available at most grocery stores or you can buy my all-time favorite yeast on Amazon.
- These types of yeast are specifically formulated to allow you to skip proofing (aka the step where you combine the yeast with warm liquid for 5 minutes). You can add instant yeast directly in with all of the ingredients.
- If you don’t have or can’t find instant yeast, you can easily use active dry yeast instead. Add it right in with the dry ingredients like instant yeast – just know the dough will take about 20% more time to rise.
- Or, to speed up that rise time slightly, simply combine it with the warm water and milk called for in the recipe and allow it to proof for 5 minutes before adding to the bowl with the other ingredients.
What Type of Milk Should I Use?
Whole milk produces the absolute best flavor and texture. I don’t recommend using non-dairy or low-fat milk unless you absolutely must.
What Type of Salt for Dinner Rolls?
I recommend using fine sea salt inside the dinner rolls, and I also love sprinkling flaky sea salt on top of the freshly baked and buttered rolls, for even more flavor. Learn more about different types of salt in baking here.
Can I Knead the Dough By Hand?
Yes! I call for a stand mixer to make easy work of kneading this dough, but you can also knead by hand. Be sure to knead the dough until the dough is smooth and elastic, for rolls that hold their shape and bake up nice and fluffy. You can see my full tutorial on how to knead dough here.
How to Tell When Dough Is Risen
- After kneading, shape the dough into a ball.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled mixing bowl, turning the dough to oil the top so it doesn’t dry out.
- I like to snap a picture of the dough before rising so I can compare it later.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen 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; warmer temperatures will mean a shorter rising time.
- The dough is done rising when it’s about doubled in size and passes the “ripe” test: gently stick two fingers in the risen dough up to the second knuckle and 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 passes this test.
- The same finger test can be done again when the rolls are shaped before baking. Here’s what my dough looked like before and after rising:
How to Shape Bread Rolls
- Once the dough has risen, press it down to gently deflate.
- Place the dough on a clean surface (not a floured surface).
- Use a bench scraper to section the dough into 12 equal pieces. Don’t worry if they’re not perfectly equal in size. However, if you’re a perfectionist, you can weigh the entire mass of dough, divide that number by 12, and then portion each piece perfectly by weight.
- As you’re shaping each piece of dough, pinch the dough into one central point to create a tight ball, then roll it on your work surface. This will help the rolls rise beautifully. Don’t flour your work surface when shaping the rolls because you want some resistance to roll them into taut balls.
- If you’re more of a visual learner, check out my How to Shape Dinner Rolls video to see me shape these rolls.
You can also get creative with shaping this dinner roll recipe! Check out my article for 5 Ways to Shape Bread Rolls here.
What Type of Pan for Dinner Rolls?
This recipe was written to use a 9×13-inch baking pan. While I usually prefer metal baking pans over glass or ceramic (metal conducts heat more efficiently), I actually prefer the table presentation ceramic pans offer when making dinner rolls – especially for a holiday or special celebration! Also, because ceramic (and glass) conduct heat more slowly than metal, it helps these rolls stay soft in the centers.
How to Make Dinner Rolls Ahead of Time
Most yeasted doughs can be made ahead of time and baked off later by simply chilling the dough. Refrigerating basically stunts the rise time and can actually allow more flavor to develop!
For this dinner roll recipe, here’s my recommended method:
- Make the dough, allow it to rise once, and shape into rolls.
- Once the rolls are shaped, cover the pan well with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
- When ready to bake, bring to room temperature as the oven preheats before baking as the recipe directs.
- If the rolls haven’t doubled in size yet, allow to sit at room temperature until they do.
- 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 before serving.
If you need to prep these rolls further in advance, see the freezing instructions just below.
How to Freeze Dinner Rolls
- Freeze the dough after it has risen for the first time and been shaped into rolls.
- Place the rolls in a baking dish, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and store flat in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- When ready to bake, loosen the plastic wrap and thaw to room temperature.
- Let rise until an indentation made with your finger into the dough remains.
- Proceed with the recipe as written.
To freeze the baked dinner rolls, place them inside an airtight container and freeze for up to one month. Thaw to room temperature before reheating and serving.
Ultimate Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (59 grams) lukewarm water (100 to 110°F)
- 1 cup (237 grams) warm milk (100 to 110°F)
- 1 tablespoon (14 grams) unsalted butter, melted plus more for greasing
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) instant yeast
- 4 1/2 cups (572 grams) bread flour
For egg wash & finishing
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- Melted butter
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Combine the water, milk, 1 tablespoon of the melted butter, eggs, sugar, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 2 cups (254 grams) of the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a rough, shaggy mass. Attach the dough hook to the mixer, turn to medium-low speed, and gradually add the remaining flour, kneading until a mass of dough begins to form. Continue kneading on medium-high speed for 4 to 5 minutes until a soft, smooth ball of dough is formed. The dough should feel elastic and slightly tacky to the touch.
- Lightly spray a large clean bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl lightly with plastic wrap. Let rise for about 1 hour to 90 minutes at room temperature or until the dough is big, puffy, and about doubled in size.
- Grease a 9×13-inch or similarly shaped baking pan with butter. Gently deflate the dough. Use a bench scraper, knife, or pizza wheel to divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and place in the prepared pan. Lightly cover the dough with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise for about 1 hour, or until about doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Brush the rolls gently with the beaten egg. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with flaky salt. Serve warm. Store leftovers in an airtight container or ziptop bag for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
This recipe was originally published in 2013 and has been updated with new photos and more baking tips. Photos by Joanie Simon.
Hi, Tessa. Just wondering if i could use whole wheat flour instead of normal bread flour for this recipe ? and would it be possible to skip the butter ? Im planning to serve this to a friend who is having health issue. Thank you so much.
All whole wheat flour would be pretty dense. I’d do half all-purpose, half whole-wheat if possible. The butter helps to tenderize the dough and brown the rolls as they bake. You can leave it out but it won’t be the same. If it’s a dairy thing you can use dairy-free butter substitute.
am i able to use regular baker’s yeast i don’t want to get a whole pack of instant yeast just for one recipe.
Sure, it’ll just take longer to rise.
Hey Tessa. Do you think I could freeze the rolls after they have risen? Or place the rolls a good distance apart on a cookie sheet and flash freeze them to then place them in a bag? I’d love to hear your thoughts. These rolls look so freaking delicious and I cannot wait to try them.
I think flash freezing the risen rolls would work best! Defrost overnight in the fridge, then let them come to room temperature before baking as the recipe directs. I’ve also actually frozen these rolls completely baked and reheated in a 350°F oven for 7 to 10 minutes with success. Happy baking!
I stumbled upon this page when seeking a new dinner roll recipe. In the time it’s taken these rolls to complete their first rise, I’ve managed to repin a good 20-30 of your recipes! This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship. (And a new pant size.)
After having a tried-and-true recipe for dinner rolls, i decided to try these for Easter. My other recipe took longer and was a bit more involved. This simple recipe was WONDERFUL. I do not have a mixer so I kneaded the dough about 6-8 minutes. I also made them the night before, put in the fridge and let stand before i baked them. Delicious! I love that they made 15 rolls, a perfect serving for us. They will move to the top of my list!
Lynne, thank you so much for your kind words about the recipe!! I’m so happy they made it to your Easter table. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Second time’s a charm! I made these today, and they came out great. Ingredients are everything sometimes.
Glad to hear that!
I made these for Thanksgiving, and they were delicious! I had never made rolls from scratch before, so I was thrilled that they turned out like they were supposed to. 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! 🙂
Ohmygosh, I was watching Chelsea Lately on DVR and totally had her name in my head, so sorry Tessa! Oh lordy.
Haha no worries! I love Chelsea Lately! I’m so happy you enjoyed the rolls 🙂
Chelsea, I made these rolls for Thanksgiving yesterday and they were PERFECT and so easy to make! Thanks girl!
Made these for Thanksgiving today, they turned out great fluffy and delicious everyone loved them, they were so easy to make especially after watching the tutorial. thanks for sharing this recipe.
I made these today for Thanksgiving. Came out very tasty, although a little dense. I’m not sure the dough rose enough, since it didn’t appear to double in size in 1 hour like yours seems to do in the video. I’ll definitely try them again soon!
Just a follow-up: I’ve made these every year for Thanksgiving dinner over the past 10 years! They’re always great and a family favorite.
These look amazing and simple! 🙂 I’d like to make them tomorrow night for Thanksgiving… will they keep overnight in the fridge from fresh??
Thanks! I’m not sure what you mean by “from fresh” but you can either complete the recipe through shaping the dough into rolls, let the unbaked rolls rise in the fridge overnight then bake off when you’re ready or you can simply bake the rolls tomorrow, underbaking slightly, then reheat in the oven until golden and warm on Thanksgiving.