I LOVE bread and rolls. Homemade bread is my love language. And when I finally nailed this easy homemade dinner rolls recipe, I was THRILLED.
These buttery, soft dinner rolls are delicious, easy to make, and easy on your budget, too.
How to Make Soft Buttery Dinner Rolls
These may look fancy, but they're simple to make.
In fact, making your own fluffy dinner rolls from scratch is easier than you might think. And the results are definitely worth it.
These soft, fluffy homemade dinner rolls are perfect for any meal, and they'll stay nice and fresh for days. Best of all, this simple recipe only takes about an hour from start to finish.
Homemade Soft Dinner Rolls Recipe
So let's get started! Note: This recipe makes 16 buttery dinner rolls.
Dinner Rolls (Yields 16)
Prep time: 10 minutes
Rest time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes
Ingredients for homemade dinner rolls recipe
- 1 cup warm water, room temperature
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast or bread machine yeast
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 egg
- 3 ¼ cups bread flour (may substitute all-purpose flour)
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2-3 Tablespoons salted butter, melted, for brushing
How to make buttery homemade dinner rolls
In a small mixing bowl, mix together your water and yeast. Allow it to proof for five minutes.
In a large bowl, add your butter, egg, flour, sugar, and salt. Mix well. Once your yeast is done proofing, add it in. And then mix again.
Transfer your dough to a lightly floured flat surface.
Using the dough hook in your stand mixer, or your hands, need for about five minutes until your dough ball is round and soft.
Cut your dough ball into 16 equal pieces. Roll into small balls and set aside.
Pinch the bottom of your roll to make your role stay together (see process picture).
Allow your rolls to sit and rise in a warm place for an additional 30 minutes. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap.
While your rolls are rising, heat oven to 375°F.
Transfer your rolls (pinch side down) to a greased cookie or baking sheet. You may need one large cookie sheet, or two small cookie sheets.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Once out of the oven, brush with your melted butter and let cool on a wire rack.
While all-purpose flour will work in a pinch, bread flour or cake flour will create the softest homemade rolls. If you have neither on hand, you can use a combination of all-purpose and wheat flour. This will help to create soft fluffy rolls.
How to keep dinner rolls soft
There are a few tricks to keeping dinner rolls soft.
The first is to use a soft flour, like cake flour, which will help to keep them fluffy. You can also use a little bit of sugar in the dough, which will help to keep them soft. Also, don't use too much flour.
Finally, you can brush the tops of the rolls with softened butter right before baking to keep them soft. This will add a bit of flavor and help to keep them soft.
This is a great recipe for holiday meals like Easter, Thanksgiving dinner, or Christmas dinner. It's also a nice side dish for a main dish with lots of liquid, like a soup or stew.
Add cinnamon and sugar for fast cinnamon rolls.
And by the way, if you love bread as much as I do, check out my favorite sandwich bread recipe. We love homemade bread and I bake it several times a week.
Or if you're on the hunt for a sweet dinner roll recipe, try my condensed milk dinner rolls - so good!
How to freeze homemade dough for rolls
Oh yes, you can freeze your homemade bread and dinner rolls dough. Just shape it into a smooth ball then place it in a large freezer back.
These dinner rolls are a great option to serve with soups and stews.
Or bake up a batch to serve alongside your favorite summer dinner party recipes.
Remember to remove all the air so it doesn't get freezer burned.
Recipe
Easy Homemade Dinner Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water room temperature
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast or bread machine yeast
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 egg
- 3 ¼ cups bread flour may substitute all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2-3 tablespoons salted butter melted, for brushing
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, mix together your water and yeast. Allow it to proof for five minutes.
- Any large bowl adds your butter, egg, flour, sugar, and salt. Mix well. Once your yeast is done proofing, add that in. Mix again.
- Transfer your dough to a lightly floured flat surface.
- Using the dough hook in your stand mixer, or your hands, need for about five minutes until your dough ball is round and soft.
- Cut your dough ball into 16 equal pieces. Roll into small balls and set aside.
- Pinch the bottom of your roll to make your role stay together (see process picture).
- Allow your rolls to sit and rise in a warm place for an additional 30 minutes. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap.
- While your rolls are rising, heat the oven to 375°F.
- Transfer your rolls (pinch side down) to a greased cookie or baking sheet. You may need one large cookie sheet or two small cookie sheets.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Once out of the oven, brush with your melted butter and let cool on a wire rack.