These Yeast Dinner Rolls are easy to make and are soft, buttery, and absolutely delicious, with an irresistible tender texture in every bite.
Yeast Dinner Rolls are the perfect Bread Recipe to serve alongside your favorite meals. Try my Homemade Crescent Rolls or Parker House Rolls for more delicious varieties!
Why You’ll Love These Rolls?
- The perfect dinner roll- wonderfully soft, flaky, and rich with butter flavor.
- Simple from-scratch recipe to impress your guests.
Sabrina’s Yeast Dinner Rolls Recipe
Yeast Dinner Rolls are the perfect addition to any mealtime! These rolls are like a warm hug on your taste buds. They’re buttery, soft, and oh-so-flaky, making them an instant hit at family gatherings and parties. The best part? This recipe is a breeze, so whether you’re a kitchen pro or just getting started, you’ll nail it. Prep them ahead to serve with weeknight dinners or serve them along with a holiday meal. No matter what the occasion, you can’t go wrong with a basket of soft, fluffy rolls to share.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
Yeast Dinner Rolls:
- 1 cup whole milk , warm (110-115 degrees – warm to the touch)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened, divided
- 2 packets active dry yeast , (¼ ounce)
- 4 cups flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Before Baking:
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
Instructions
- In a stand mixer add the warm milk, sugar and butter, until it melts.
- Add in yeast, stir until dissolved.
- Add in flour, egg and salt.
- Mix with beater attachment on low speed until flour is combined.
- Switch to dough hook and knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
- Remove beater, cover bowl with clean kitchen towel and let rise for 45 minutes.
- Cut dough into 12 pieces and roll into balls.
- Brush 9×13 inch baking pan with melted butter and place the dough balls into the pan.
- Cover with clean kitchen towel and let rise for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Mix the 1 tablespoon milk and 1 egg well and brush over the rolls.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.
Notes
- Click on the yield amount to slide and change the number of servings and the recipe will automatically update!
- Click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.
- To convert measurements to grams, click on the Metric option next to Ingredients in the recipe card.
Nutrition
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Sabrina’s Tips
Both beginning and experienced bakers can keep these helpful hints in mind to achieve perfectly fluffy dinner rolls. Make sure to heat your milk to between 110 and 115 degrees before combining it with the butter, sugar, and yeast. Warm liquid helps to re-hydrate and wake up the yeast for your dough to rise. Be sure not to make the milk too hot, or it can kill the yeast. Additionally, after splitting the dough into rolls, you’ll let them rise a second time; this is called proofing. To ensure the dough is perfectly proofed, gently poke one roll to make an indentation. Well-proofed rolls will slowly spring back after being poked. If it bounces back too quickly, that’s a sign the rolls are under proofed.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
This recipe is perfect if you like buttery, slightly sweet bread. I’m talking warm milk, sugar, and a hint of butter for that delightful sweetness, and active dry yeast for the fluffy factor. These rolls go nicely with all your dishes, making them the go-to for any occasion. Even if you’re new to baking, these rolls are easy to make and turn out beautifully. Follow the step-by-step instructions for rolls from scratch made simple. You can do all the kneading in the stand mixer, then double-proof the bread dough before baking to golden brown perfection and enjoying. Bake them up and watch them disappear!
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm Whole Milk: Milk acts as the key liquid ingredient in this dinner roll recipe. Heat the milk so it’s warm to the touch before adding it to the stand mixer. Using milk instead of water enriches the bread dough with the fat from the milk to make the homemade rolls tender and sweet. Include a tablespoon of milk for the egg wash.
- ¼ cup Sugar: You’ll also add a little sugar to the dough mixture. Let the sugar dissolve into the milk mixture along with the yeast for smooth, sweet bread dough.
- 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter: Let the butter soften at room temperature before adding it to the recipe so that it can easily melt into the milk. The fat from the butter flavors the dough and inhibits gluten development so that the rolls remain softer and less chewy.
- 2 packets Active Dry Yeast: Active yeast is the leavening agent to make the dinner rolls rise. Because you’re using active yeast, not instant yeast, it needs to rehydrate in the milk mixture before adding the dry ingredients.
- 4 cups Flour: After rehydrating yeast, you can mix the flour into the wet ingredients. All-purpose flour or bread flour are your best options for this recipe.
- 2 + 1 large Eggs: Due to the fat in the yolk, adding eggs helps the dough to rise higher for ultra-soft dinner rolls. One egg is for the egg wash.
Can this be made ahead of time?
To make fresh dinner rolls the night before, mix the dough ingredients and do the first rise time as usual. After rolling the dough into balls, place them on a baking sheet and cover them in greased plastic wrap. Then place the pan in the fridge overnight. The refrigerator will slow the rising process. When ready to bake, take the pan from the fridge and let the dough come to room temperature. Then bake for 18-20 minutes as usual.
Serving Ideas
- Dinner: Fluffy, sweet dinner rolls are the perfect addition to practically any meal. Serve them on the side of meat dishes like Classic Pot Roast and Braised Pork Roast. Homemade rolls are also perfect for dipping in soups like Chicken Noodle Soup or Butternut Squash Soup. They will also be the perfect side dish to go with your favorite dinner recipes like Marinated Flank Steak, Spatchcock Chicken, and Herb Crusted Pork Loin.
- Spreads: Yeast Dinner Rolls are even more delicious when served with a pat of melty butter. Add extra flavor by spreading flavored butter like garlic butter, herb butter, Blue Cheese Butter, or honey butter inside a warm dinner roll.
How to Store
- Store: If you have any leftover rolls, you can keep them fresh to enjoy later in the week. Wait for the rolls to cool, then put them in a plastic bag or another covered container to keep them from drying out. Kept sealed, they can stay good at room temperature for 3-5 days.
- Reheat: To reheat homemade Dinner Rolls, wrap them in foil and place them in a 350-degree oven for about 5 minutes.
- Freeze: You can also place the rolls in a freezer bag and keep them in the freezer. Frozen rolls will stay good for up to 3 months. Let the rolls defrost, then reheat in the oven to serve.
Frequent Questions
If you’re hosting a dinner party and bake rolls in advance, you can keep them warm so they taste perfectly fresh when you serve them. To do this, create your own bread warmer by adding dried beans to a kitchen towel. Wrap them tightly and heat them in the microwave. Place the hot pouch in your bread basket with the rolls over top. Then cover with a clean kitchen towel to keep the heat inside.
No worries! You can mix and knead the dough by hand. Keep kneading the bread dough until it becomes smooth and elastic but not too sticky. It should be naturally pulling away from the sides of the mixing bowl as it kneads.
You can substitute instant yeast for active dry yeast, but there’s no need to dissolve it in warm milk. Simply mix it with your dry ingredients directly.
If your rolls turned out dense, it may be due to over-kneading the dough or not letting it rise long enough. Make sure to knead until it’s smooth, and allow it to rise until doubled in size for light and fluffy rolls.
Variations
- Gluten-Free Rolls: To make this recipe for a gluten-free diet, swap out the regular wheat flour for your favorite brand of gluten-free flour. Add a teaspoon of xanthan gum to add some structure to the gluten-free rolls.
- Herb and Garlic: Try adding garlic powder, chopped rosemary, parsley, and onion powder to the bread dough. You can also sprinkle fresh herbs over the buttery rolls before baking.
- Honey Yeast Rolls: For a sweetened honey flavor, add 1 teaspoon of honey along with the sugar in this dinner roll recipe.
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Photos used in previous version of post:
The rolls came out soft and fluffy but bland. Is there anyway to fix that. These have been the softest rolls I’ve made. Going to try and tweak rise time or salt for flavor
Spreads: Yeast Dinner Rolls are even more delicious when served with a pat of melty butter. Add extra flavor by spreading flavored butter like garlic butter, herb butter, Blue Cheese Butter, or honey butter inside a warm dinner roll.
So glad they were soft and fluffy. How about adding poppy or sesame seeds?
What is the amount of fresh yeast to use?
2 packets, 1/4 oz.