Is there anything better than warm bread smeared with melty butter? Thousands of people across the country have fallen in love with these dinner rolls, and for good reason- they truly are THE BEST! They are beginner friendly, so if you’re nervous about working with yeast, don’t be. This recipe makes two full pans of rolls and will definitely fill a standard Kitchenaid mixer to the absolute brim, so feel free to cut it in half if you are feeding a smaller crowd.
Ingredient Notes
- Milk – Whole milk is best. You can use 2% in a pinch, but avoid 1% or skim.
- Yeast – This recipe calls for active dry yeast. I have not tried using rapid rise yeast, where the first rise is replaced by a 10 minute rest of the dough. If you feel like experimenting feel free to give it a try, just know it hasn’t been tested for this particular recipe. If you’re nervous about working with yeast, check out this post on tips for working with yeast dough.
- Eggs – You’ll notice the recipe calls for beaten eggs. Why should you beat your eggs first? Same reason you should combine your dry ingredients before adding them to moist ingredients when making cookies and cakes–it ensures everything is well-mixed and can be evenly-distributed through your dough or batter. If you add the whole eggs, your dough may not be as consistent.
How to Make the World’s Best Dinner Rolls
Ready? Awesome. You’ll need whole milk, all-purpose flour, yeast, sugar, salt, butter, and eggs. Nothing fancy.
- Combine milk, sugar, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until butter melts. It’s salty. It’s sweet. Yum.
sugar butter and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until butter melts. It’s salty. It’s sweet. Yum.
butter and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until butter melts. It’s salty. It’s sweet. Yum.
and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until butter melts.
2. Remove from heat. Allow to cool to lukewarm. I usually rub some ice cubes along the sides of the pan or pop the entire pan in a sink full of ice cubes to cool the mixture down because this step can take forever. This step is really important because if the mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast.
3. While the milk mixture is cooling, dissolve the yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes or until the yeast is very bubbly and the mixture has risen significantly.
Before:
10 minutes later:
If the yeast hasn’t bubbled, you’ll need to repeat this step–moving on with yeast that hasn’t been activated properly will only end in heartache.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups of flour and milk mixture.
Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Add yeast mixture and beat on high for 3 minutes.
5. Crack your eggs and give them a good whisking (this little heart whisk is one of my favorite tools for jobs like this). Add to dough mixture and mix until well combined.
6. Stir in as much remaining flour as needed to make a soft dough.
8. Punch down dough. Lightly flour your work surface
and turn dough out onto surface.
Divide in half.
9. Spray 2 9×13 glass pans with cooking spray. Roll first portion of dough into a rectangle and then cut it into 12 equal-sized pieces.
I like to use a pizza cutter because it has a blade on each side (a plastic bowl scraper is also fantastic), so it cuts right through dough without sticking to the blade. This dough should be very easy to work with, almost like playdough. Shape each piece into a ball and place in prepared pan. Repeat with remaining dough in the second pan.
Cover with a clean cloth and allow to rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes. When dough has about 15-20 minutes to go (depending on your oven), preheat oven to 375.
10. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden-brown.
When done, remove from oven. Rub a stick of cold butter over the tops of the rolls. You must now eat one. Now. While it’s hot. Then pop the rest into a bowl and no one will ever know that you cheated.
P.S. Using this cinnamon roll filling or these cinnamon or orange roll fillings, this dough makes fabulous cinnamon or orange rolls. Just bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
Related Recipes
Short on time? These One-Hour Dinner Rolls are on the table in a flash.
These French Rolls or this Easy No Knead Overnight Artisan Bread are other great alternatives to traditional rolls.
For Sweet rolls, check out these Overnight Cinnamon Rolls or Everyday Cinnamon Rolls.
FAQs
- Can I make these ahead and freeze? While I do think rolls are best fresh and hot the day you make them, you can in fact prepare these ahead of time. Make dough through the roll-shaping step. Place your shaped rolls on parchment paper in a single layer and place in freezer. Once frozen solid you can place them in a bag together. When ready to cook, leave at room temperature, lightly covered with a piece of plastic wrap sprayed with non-stick spray. They will need to defrost and then also have time to rise (think store-bought rhodes rolls) so you will want to leave plenty of time for that (I’m guessing 3-5 hours). You can also cook the rolls, cool completely, and then freeze immediately.
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World’s Best Dinner Rolls
- Total Time: 2 1/2 hours
- Yield: 24 rolls
Description
These reader favorite dinner rolls are soft and fluffy. Perfect for holiday dinners!
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole milk (if you’re in a pinch, you can use 2%, but whole is best. Don’t use 1% or skim)
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
- 1/3 cup (5 1/3 tablespoons) butter
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 packages active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp.)
- 2/3 cup warm (105-115-degree) water
- 8–9 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 beaten eggs
Instructions
- Combine milk, 1/2 cup sugar, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat. Allow to cool to lukewarm. I usually rub some ice cubes along the sides of the pan or pop the entire pan in a sink full of ice cubes to cool the mixture down because this step can take forever. This step is really important because if the mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast.
- While the milk mixture is cooling, dissolve the yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes. If the yeast hasn’t bubbled, you’ll need to repeat this step–moving on with yeast that hasn’t been activated properly will only end in heartache.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups flour and milk mixture. Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Add yeast mixture and beat on high for 3 minutes.
- Add beaten eggs.
- Stir in as much remaining flour as needed to make a soft dough. This dough should be very soft–it will be coming away from the sides of the bowl, but it will still stick to your finger when you touch it. Don’t worry, it will firm up during the rising process. Part of what makes these rolls so good is that they’re so soft and light; if you add too much flour, they will be heavy and dense. Place the bowl in a warm place and cover with a clean towel; allow to rise 1 hour.
- Punch down dough. Lightly flour your work surface and turn dough out onto surface. Divide in half.
- Spray 2 9×13 glass pans with cooking spray. Roll first portion of dough into a rectangle and then cut it into 12 equal-sized pieces. I like to use a pizza cutter because it has a blade on each side, so it cuts right through dough without sticking to the blade. This dough should be very easy to work with, almost like playdough. Shape each piece into a ball and place in prepared pan. Repeat with remaining dough in the second pan.
- Cover with a clean cloth and allow to rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes. When dough has about 15-20 minutes to go (depending on your oven), preheat oven to 375.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden-brown.
- When done, remove from oven. Rub a stick of cold butter over the tops of the rolls.
Notes
- MAKING AHEAD: We have received tons of comments and emails asking about making these rolls ahead, or freezing the dough, etc. Note that we have never before tried any of these methods so we can’t give you an answer for sure. You can try freezing the dough after they have been shaped (but before the second rise) and you can certainly try cooking and cooling completely and then freezing. Just keep in mind we only make these fresh and eat them hot from the pan so that’s all the info we can give you.
- Prep Time: about 2 hours
- Cook Time: 15-18 minutes
Questions & Reviews
I made these for our Easter dinner and they were fantastic!! I featured them and the link to the recipe on my blog http://sassy-classyme.blogspot.com/2010/04/happy-easter.html
These are amazing!!! I didn't have any whole milk so I used buttermilk. The flavor of these rolls are great, but I must have used too much flour as they are a bit too heavy but still really good. The kids wont stop eating them!
Until this year I never made anything with yeast but LOVE all things bread. But your breadsticks looked so tempting and my new food processor had a dough hook so I braved up and tried them and they were delicious. So with my new found courage I decided to give these a shot and whatdaya know? Yum again. These remind me of the delicous rolls my mom used to make for Thanksgiving (and I missed terribly this year being on the other side of the country). My mom makes her rolls(well forms the dough) early and then freezes them, pulls them out to rise Thanksgiving day and bakes them. Do you think that might work for this recipe?
These are waiting to go into the oven. I made them the first time for Thanksgiving and my husband and parents lovingly refer to them as "the Thanksgiving rolls". They're basically famous! 😀
This roll recipe looks amazing, thank you for sharing. I can't wait to try it. Just one question, I have been making amazingly yummy whole wheat bread for a LONG time and the only yeast I ever use is the SAF yeast, the kind you just sprinkle over the dough mixture and it doesn't require activation before hand. Do you know if this would work in your roll recipe? I am just curious since I am one of those that is afraid of yeast and hope I don't fail the recipe after all the work that has been done to make a perfect bread loaf or roll. thank you so much. so, glad I found your great site.
I made these last night to compliment our Christmas dinner and we almost ate more rolls then dinner. In fact, we ate so many of these yummy buns that no one had room for dessert! Suffice it so say we LOVED them.
The best part? I made the other half of the dough into cinnamon rolls which I am about to pop into the oven for a Boxing day treat.
I made them as directed with the exception of using 1 c. half-n-half and 1 c. skim milk (because we didn't have whole).
Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Wow… let these rise twice as long living in lovely Denver and they are incredible. I'm a huge fan!
Too funny, our longtime family (rolled up roll) recipe is almost identical except our has 1 cup milk. I ran out of White Flour, so I used 3 cups white and 3 1/2 of Whole Wheat. They turned out great!!!
My husband's aunt was hosting our families Thanksgiving dinner this year — serving 50 people. I was asked to bring the rolls.
My wonderful husband bought me my very first KitchenAid 5 quart mixer, which I absolutely treasure (my birthday was 3-days ago, but it arrived a little early. Since, I normally use a breadmachine to mix my dough, I knew I was in for a challenge.
I searched online for a good dinner roll recipe, checked my KitchenAid recipe book and my bread book. I tried five other dinner roll recipes — they were total crap, I was reduced to tears and on the verge of giving up, when my husband found your recipe!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. This recipe was a God sent. Everyone complimented me on the rolls and the meal was a total success. I will treasure this recipe always.
~Annette
http://ReliableAnswers.com/Kitchen/
Yeah, Kate, these ARE the world's best dinner rolls! Now if I can just keep my family and their gubby mitts off them until tomorrow, Thanksgiving will be perfect! Great recipe!
Susie–I've never tried rising these in the fridge overnight, and if it were me, I definitely wouldn't risk it on Thanksgiving! 🙂 If it were me, I'd either get up super early on T-day make them OR make them the night before and store them in the fridge overnight; you could even slightly underbake them and then pop the in the oven for a few more minutes the next day.
Hope that helps! 🙂
Quick question…I want to make these for Thanksgiving, can I make them the night before and put them in the oven and bake them the next day? Or would it ruin them to have the dough sit in the fridge overnight?
Thanks for the easy directions on these rolls- I made them this past weekend and everyone raved about them! I will definitely be making these again for Thanksgiving!
I made these yesterday with part whole wheat flour. 4 cups whole wheat, 3 cups white, to be exact. They came out beautifully, though they were a little on the dry side the second day. I think whole wheat flour soaks up more moisture than white, and I added a little too much. Next time I'll try making the dough slightly wetter and see if that helps. They tasted so good and my kids devoured them.
I did it!!! The rolls turned out perfectly. I have not had the best of luck with yeast recipes lately but I made these for dinner last night and they were perfect. Your directions were very easy to follow. I might volunteer to make the rolls for Thanksgiving dinner (along with your sweet potato casserole dish- that was a HUGE hit last year and I've been counting down the months to make that again).
Chris–Yep, just use your dough hook! 🙂
Do you mix in a kitchenaid with the dough hook? Sorry if that is a dumb question I have never made any bread or rolls and really want to try!
Well I made rolls for the first time using this recipe and I was pretty proud of myself! I think they were pretty darn delicious. However, my husband said they weren't as good as his mother's but I wonder if it has more to do with tradition than anything else?
Thanks Kate, always nice to be remembered 😉 I tried the flax seed substitute and the rolls were fantastic so apparently it works. In case anyone wants the substitute instructions, you just use 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoon water to replace each egg. Thanks for sharing an amazing recipe, yet again.
Dana, if they come out dense, there are a couple of things you can do:
–Be sure to go easy on the flour–it's easy to overdo it and it's really hard to know how much to add in this recipe because you want it softer than usual when you're done kneading.
–Let the yeast "bloom" a little longer–maybe 15 minutes or so
–Let the rolls rise a little longer, particularly in the 2nd rise
–Try using 1% or 2% milk. The whole milk adds a richness and flavor that I really love, but when I've used lower-fat milk in the past, the rolls come out a little lighter (although I also find them a little more dry with not as much flavor).
Hope that helps! 🙂
I tried these a couple of nights ago and they turned out wonderfully. A couple of things I found was that 1. the rolls are really big. Next time I will split them further and make more quantity wise.
Also, I kind of feel like they are a bit dense in the flour department, in taste. Does anyone know why or how to remedy this? Am I using too much flour when rolling it out? Any suggestions would be great!
Just made these tonight. My husband has been disappointed with every roll I've made in our five years of marriage. Tonight I did not disappoint! These were P-E-R-F-E-C-T. We actually just used them to make roll sandwiches. Yum!
Kate – made the rolls tonight for dinner and they turned out wonderful…so good! Your tips did help – Thanks! And by the way I have not made a bad recipe yet from your website, keep them coming.
Kate-these rolls looks delicious! Oooohhhh-I can't wait to try these!! I think my kids will devour and love these! Thanks.
Cynthia, I can't say for sure how long you're supposed to knead it, just when it's a nice, soft dough, not super wet, and is starting to not stick to the sides of the bowl (or the kneading surface). I think while yeast is scary, THIS is the hard part of making bread–trying to guess how much flour to add, you know? The worst part is that it's different for everyone based on elevation and even how humid it is that day. Anyway, I hope that was somehow evenly REMOTELY helpful, lol! 🙂
I have been looking at this recipe and trying to figure out how long I need to knead the dough? I don't have a stand mixer to do the work for me…Thanks!
These rolls are heavenly! I make them all the time, it's how I convince my sister to drive an hour for dinner every Sunday night!
Oh my!! These look GREAT!!! I may have to try this 😉 Baking with yeast intimidates the "you know what" out of me. I need to face that fear one day though. These look wonderfully awesome!
I'm bookmarking this. Gonna' keep this one forever!
These really are the best. I made these for Thanksgiving last year and everyone inhaled them!! I've also done the orange rolls before and let's just say we were all licking the pan after.