Posted Oct 28, 2018, Updated Nov 01, 2024 No holiday is complete in my house without these homemade dinner rolls – I make them for every special occasion – Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc. These fluffy dinner rolls are easy to make and turn out perfectly every single time. Every bite is the perfect combination of sweet, buttery & salty, and they are soft and fluffy but still substantial and so moist. It took me years of testing and tasting to finally land on this recipe for the best dinner rolls ever. I promise you will love them as much as we do!
Dinner Rolls Recipe Ingredients & Substitutions
An important note is that all the ingredients (especially the butter, milk and egg) need to be room temperature.
Whole Milk. I suggest whole, 2% or half and half for the best rolls. All-purpose flour. I don’t recommend substitutions. Try these whole wheat dinner rolls if you’d like to use whole wheat flour.. Granulated sugar. white or organic cane sugar are the best choices. You could replace the sugar with honey, if desired. Salted Butter. unsalted butter is a great choice.
How to Make Dinner Rolls
Let’s walk through this dinner rolls recipe step-by-step, and don’t forget to watch the video.
Make the Dough
A common question when it comes to making dinner rolls is, “how do you make dinner roll dough?” Well, we will walk through the process together. And trust me, this recipe yields the softest, smoothest dough that’s very easy to work with! Begin by proofing the yeast. Mix water, sugar and yeast together and then let it sit for 5-10 minutes until foamy. Then, add the milk, butter and egg and stir to combine. Next, add 3 cups of the flour and the salt and mix until the dough forms a loose ball. It’s important to being with 3 cups of flour so you don’t add too much. So start with 3 cups and gradually knead in more as needed. Add flour 1 TBS at a time until a slightly tacky ball forms. It should easily form into a ball but should not feel too dry. Then, form the dough into a ball.
First Rise
This recipe has two rises. One with the dough in a large ball, and another after the dough has been divided into rolls. Put the dough in an oiled bowl and cover the bowl with a damp tea towel. Let it rise until it has doubled in size.
How to make dough rise faster:
To help the dinner roll dough rise faster simply boil some water and put it in a bowl or measuring dish next to the bread that’s rising. Cover the bread and the vessel containing the boiling water with a damp towel and let the magic happen. This creates a warm, moist environment that yeast loves. I also recommend putting the dough/boiling water/damp cloth apparatus in your oven with the lights turned on. This creates a warm moist environment that the yeast loves, which speeds up the rising process. Once the dough has doubled in size, flour your hands and punch the dough down to remove the gas. In order to ensure that all your rolls are exactly the same size, so they baked evenly, I highly recommend weighing the dough. Start by weighing the entire batch of dough, then divide its weight divide by 12. Remember that answer (write it down) and make sure it is the weight of each dough ball. This particular batch of dough weighed 35 oz, so each dough ball weighed approximately 2.9 oz. If you don’t have a food scale (I recommend getting one) you will have to use your own judgement/feeling to make the rolls as close to equal in size as possible. Once you have all your math done (phew), weigh out the dough and make each portion into a smooth ball. It’s helpful to do this step on a well floured surface with floured hands.
Second Rise
As you form the rolls, place them in a 9×13″ baking pan, spaced evenly apart. I suggest using parchment paper to line the baking dish to ensure that the rolls are easy to remove from the pan to serve. Once the homemade dinner rolls are formed and placed in the baking sheet, let them rise again until they are doubled in size (30-60 minutes). Be sure not to let the damp towel touch the tops of the rolls, otherwise the dough might stick to the towel, resulting a quite a mess. The unbaked dinner rolls will touch. As you see in the photo below (and the video), the rolls will touch each other after they have risen. That is good and results in extraordinarily moist dinner rolls.
Bake the Dinner Rolls
While the dough is rising a second time, preheat your oven. After the dough is risen fully, bake in the preheated oven until the tops are golden brown and the rolls sound hollow when you gently hit them with a wooden spoon. Or, until the internal temperature is 190 degrees F in an instant read thermometer.
Butter & Salt the Tops
As soon as the dinner rolls are removed from the oven, brush them with melted butter and add a sprinkle of coarse or flaky sea salt. This is the final touch that makes the rolls extra special.
Serve
I recommend serving these homemade dinner rolls fresh from the oven. In order to do this, I will often prepare the rolls in advance and “slow” the rise by storing them in the fridge until I’m ready to bake. They stand alone perfectly because they are just that good. Or you can make a batch of cinnamon honey butter to spread on top – we almost always do this. They also make amazing leftover turkey & cranberry sandwiches after Thanksgiving or ham and cheese sliders using leftover ham!
Store
Store leftover homemade dinner rolls in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Or, you can freeze baked rolls in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to 2 months. If you make and love our recipes, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along with us on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so we can see your creations!
