I absolutely love a good dinner roll. I spent the first 6 years of my marriage perfecting and creating the Best Dinner Roll Recipe. The perfect dinner roll is soft and fluffy like a great big puffy pillow. They're a little buttery and not too sweet! Though this recipe can be easily adjusted to be more sweet. I like to use my bread machine to make this dough, but you can use a stand mixer or even just your hands for kneading.
All of the best things in life take time. These are not a 30 minute roll. Believe me when I tell you the texture and flavor or well worth the extra effort. They take about 2 hours (maybe a little longer the first time) from start to finish, with about 30 minutes of that being active time.
Try dipping this in our delicious Gumbo Recipe! Or our Turkish Shepherd Salad! Yum!
How To Make The Best Dinner Roll Recipe:
I always always always proof my yeast when making bread dough. Not only does this prevent me from having to throw away ingredients when my bread doesn't rise properly, but I find that I get a better rise overall. To proof your yeast, simply mix together the warm water, yeast and a teaspoon of sugar in a liquid measuring cup (making sure you have plenty of room for the yeast to grow) and let it stand for 5 minutes. The water should be 110-115* F. After 5 minutes, it should start to foam.
While the yeast proofs, put the milk, butter, sugar and salt into a microwave safe bowl. Put in the microwave for one minute, then stir. If the butter still hasn't melted after stirring, return to the microwave for another 30 seconds. It's important not to get this mixture too hot, or it will cook the egg. Once the butter is just melted, whisk in the egg. Pour liquid into the bowl of a bread maker or stand mixer. Start with 3 ½ cups of flour and put on top of liquid. Bread flour is better, but all-purpose works great! Pour the proofed yeast on top of the flour and start kneading/ press start on the dough setting on the bread maker.
Knead for 5 minutes or so, then check for texture. It should be quite sticky at this point, only just pulling away from the edges of the bowl. See pictures below:
Knead another 10 minutes. As it finishes kneading, the dough should be stretchy and soft. See pictures below:
Cover the dough (or leave in bread maker) and let rise for one hour. Until about doubled in size.
Forming the Rolls
Punch down the dough. It will be stretchy and smooth and elastic-y. It will also be sticky to work with. Spray your hands with a non stick spray when the dough starts to feel sticky.
I like to use a kitchen scale and make my rolls about 55 grams each. I don't worry about them being a gram or 2 off. It's fine not to weigh your dough as long as you're careful to keep them close in size so that they cook evenly.
Form the dough into little mini rectangular rolls, tucking any stray ends into the underside to create a smooth exterior. See pictures below:
Place the rolls on a parchment lined baking sheet about ½" apart.
Preheat oven to 375* F. After forming all the rolls, brush the tops lightly with water to keep them from drying out. Allow to rise for 20 minutes. Then bake for 18-23 minutes, until golden brown. Upon removal from the oven, get a cold stick of salted butter and rub over the tops to butter them. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Tips & Tricks
Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze leftovers
Reheat in the microwave for 8 seconds
For a yummy meal, try with one of our flavorful soups!
Best Dinner Roll Recipe
Ingredients
Dough:
- ½ cup warm water 110-115* F
- 1 packet or 2 ¼ teaspoons yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 6 tablespoons butter sliced into 6 or more pieces
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 egg
- 3 ½- 4 cups bread flour all-purpose works too!
Instructions
- To Make the dough
Proof the yeast:
- Combine warm water, yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Make sure the yeast has plenty of space to grow. If it is not growing and foaming, repeat this step.
Make the rest of the dough:
- Put milk, butter pieces, sugar and salt in microwave safe bowl.
- Microwave on high for 60 seconds. Stir. If butter doesn't melt while stirring, return to microwave for additional 30 seconds. Be careful not to get it to hot, or it will cook the egg!
- Whisk egg into liquid mixture and pour into bowl of bread maker or stand mixer with dough hook.
- Add 3 ½ cups flour, pour proofed yeast on top.
- Knead for 5 minutes then check dough. It should be sticky and pulling slightly away from the edges. Add more flour if necessary, but be careful not to add too much!
- Knead an additional 10 minutes. Dough should be soft, stretchy and elastic
- Let rise one hour until doubled.
Forming the rolls:
- Punch down the dough. It will be stretchy and smooth and elastic-y. It will also be sticky to work with. Spray your hands with a non stick spray when the dough starts to feel sticky.
- I like to use a kitchen scale and make my rolls about 55 grams each. I don't worry about them being a gram or 2 off. It's fine not to weigh your dough as long as you're careful to keep them close in size so that they cook evenly.
- Form the dough into little mini rectangular rolls, tucking any stray ends into the underside to create a smooth exterior.
- Place the rolls on a parchment lined baking sheet about ½" or slightly less apart.
- Preheat oven to 375* F. After forming all the rolls, brush the tops lightly with water to keep them from drying out. Allow to rise for 20 minutes. Then bake for 18-23 minutes, until golden brown.
- Upon removal from the oven, get a cold stick of salted butter and rub over the tops to butter them. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Nicole
These are so soft and yummy.
Jed
These rolls are so delicious!
Briana Winegardner
These rolls are so good! I made these for Thanksgiving with my future in law’s and the family loved them. Definitely will make them again.
Shadi Hasanzadenemati
This was such a hit! Thank you for this awesome recipe.
Gail Montero
These rolls are dinner-perfect and fluffy-licious! Love that it's so doable, too!
JCW
Yum, these were so soft and fluffy. Great flavor. The fluffiness is like a cloud or puffy pillow! Will make again.
Andrea
Made these rolls last night as a side for my soup. They were simple to make and were so soft and fluffy. My family loved them!
Nicole
These rolls are sooo fluffy and soft. Thanks for the clear directions on the texture of the dough, it was very helpful!