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!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: Easy, relatively quick, delicious dinner rolls, perfect for Thanksgiving or a special dinner.
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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!
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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.
More Side Dish Recipes You’ll Love:
Ultimate Dinner Rolls
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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
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This recipe was originally published in 2013 and has been updated with new photos and more baking tips. Photos by Joanie Simon.
I was looking for something I could make that was not too hard, satisfying for lots of people’s tastes, and fun to do. Your recipe filled the bill! Thanks so much. I really enjoyed the texture, handling the dough, forming the rolls, and then presenting the results to my family and to members of a class I teach. The aroma was the best advertisement! I want to work on the subtle skills that enhance flavor and texture, but my first try was a success.
Woohoo, Lindsey! Happy to hear that 🙂 And you’re so right, there’s nothing like the aroma of baking bread.
I was looking for something I could make that was not too hard, satisfying for lots of people’s tastes, and fun to do. Your recipe filled the bill! Thanks so much. I really enjoyed the texture, handling the dough, forming the rolls, and then presenting the results to my family and to members of a class I teach. The aroma was the best advertisement! I want to work on the subtle skills that enhance flavor and texture, but try was a success.
Saw this recipe last week and thought to try it. Made these twice so far and they are awesome. Easy to make and my family loves them. I’m also checking out your other bread recipes that I can try. Thanks for the recipe and great video tutorial.
I made these for thanksgiving today – EPIC!!! So excited they turned out exactly like yours. I was worried because I just used All Purpose Flour – but they still turned out amazing.
Thank you so much for a great recipe
I havent made your rolls yet but I watched your video and they look easy and yummy! Im considering adding them to my Thanksgiving dinner but I would have to change one thing. I never buy bread flour, instead I keep some wheat gluten in my freezer and add to my plain flour whenever I make bread or rolls. That is the difference between plain flour and bread flour… bread flour has more gluten for a higher rise than when you use plain flour. Thanks for the wonderful recipe and your teaching video. Im sure it will help those who are afraid of yeast dough to try making it.
I tried your recipe it was really good. Thanks. I made the dough have it refridgerated overnight and bake it the next day. Texture was really good spongy and chewy.
I MADE THESE ROLLS FOR DINNER TONIGHT AND THEY WERE AMAZING.
Thank you!! Best recipe ever, so soft and fluffy. I love them. THANK YOU.
I’ve made these three times now and they look beautiful but turn out dense. Any suggestions? I follow your recipe exactly every time and I’m stumped!
Dense bread is usually due to the flour being over-measured. If you live in a very dry climate you may need to reduce the flour but for best results always weigh the flour. If you don’t have a scale use the spoon and level method detailed here: https://handletheheat.com/ultimate-guide-measuring/
Another cause of dense bread is not allowing it enough time to rise. Always use the visual indication in a recipe for how the bread should look when it’s risen. You can also replace half the bread flour with all-purpose flour to create a lighter texture too. Hope that helps!
Made these, flavored with garlic butter…10 stars!!!!!
I made the dinner roll once with bread flour and once with ap flour they same to good both ways . I also made them into hamburger buns and turned out great I weigh them out at 4 oz balls and pressed them down to make them round they also turned out great thank you for your recipes al
i just made these, but I knew I was in trouble after I finished mixing in the remaining bread flour. My dough wasn’t soft and fluffy like yours in the video. I did measure the flour as well as weigh it out. My dough looked like I had used too much flour. Any suggestions?
Hi Tessa! I made these a couple of weeks ago and they were wonderful! I was wondering if I could use this recipe and stuff them with some pepperoni and mozzarella cheese to make Pepperoni and Chesse Rolls?