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.
Did You Make This?
I’d love to hear from you! Snap a picture and tag me on Instagram, and then come back and give this recipe a rating!
World's Best Dinner Rolls
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.
Questions & Reviews
I love these rolls and have made them many times. I was thinking for Christmas that I would make them into mini bread loaves and give them with your honey butter. Do you think they would turn out as little bread loaves? Just thought I’d see if you had ever tried that and if you had any tips…thanks!
emergency question: how much yeast do i need exactly? please help! lol kinda in the process now. never made bread before…wish me luck! gracias!
yeah, i got it–rolls! 🙂
Do you have a printable version of this recipe? Or maybe I just can’t find it on page? Thanks!
Hi there, my dough isn’t rising and my yeast mixture activated absolutely fine, milk mixture Luke warm, and 8 cups of flour. Can you over mix the dough in a stand mixer? I’ve got the bowl in a cool place but just not sure?? Thanks. :/
I meant to say warm place ***
These were incredibly easy in the bread machine. I halved the recipe. Added water, sugar, bread machine yeast in machine pan and let sit 10 min. Melted butter in microwave and added all ingredients to pan. Put on dough setting. When finished, made this 1/2 batch into 16 rolls (just halving and re-halving dough with pizza cutter). Put rolls in pan and let rise 30 min, then cooked according to directions. Thanks for the great recipe. Turned out wonderful.
I made these for Thanksgiving and they were a hit. I just wanted to say thanks for all your great recipes. I actually discovered your book first before I realized you had a blog (I’m a little out of touch, I know) I have made almost 1/2 of the recipes in the book and love every one of them. I’m excited to look through your blog and find lots more. I just found that no-rise cinnamon roll recipe that I think I’ll try today instead of doing laundry 🙂 thanks!
Kate & Sara,
Wanted to let you know that I made these for Thanksgiving and they were a HUGE hit, especially with the kids. You are right: these are THE best yeast roles. Poor Grandma, “my” recipe is better than hers! Thanks, again!
Fantastic! I made these to go with my homemade (left over Turkey) Turkey Noodle Soup from yesterday’s Thanksgiving meal. I sprinkled the top with Kosher Salt after putting lots of butter on top… so good! I ate each and every bite like it was my last! Thanks so much! ~Amy
Made these rolls for Thanksgiving dinner. They were heavenly! Thank you so much for sharing!
I was so excited to try this recipe. I am in no way, shape or form a baker by nature (not fond of waiting and measuring) I tried these today for our family dinner and made one huge mistake. I didn’t bake them in a big enough pan. I used 8×11 and they were clearly too close together. The outside was perfect and brown, but the inside was gummy. Ended up buying rolls for dinner, but my daughters and I enjoyed the heck out of the tops and bottoms. Will definitely make these again, only next time in a 9×13 dish.
To Kamae: i used my kitchen aid 5.5 mixer. worked well.
hope that helps
I made these rolls for thanksgiving, and EVERYONE loved them! I was nervous because it was my first time, and i dont have a thermomoter. but needless to say they were very great rolls! i used one batch right away, and froze the other. baking that batch tomorrow. thank you ladies for an awesome recipe!
Only cook one pan in the oven at a time! I learned this the hard way! 🙁
I made these for the first time today for Thanksgiving and they turned out amazing! Thank you for the recipe!
I made these for our Thanksgiving dinner and they are beautiful and we are all ready to take a bite out of them.
Has anyone doubled this recipe? I need to make tons of rolls for Thanksgiving and just want to make sure I can double it. If not, I’ll be waking up mighty early to start these yummy treats. 🙂
I just made these tonight as a test run to see if they will be the rolls I use for Thanksgiving dinner and I’m IN LOVE! SO EXCITED. Definitely the winner. Quick question, how do they freeze, and how do you go about reheating them? With other rolls I use, I reheat in the microwave on level 7 for a couple of minutes. Would that work with these? After eating these tonight, I think I’m going to make time to make them that morning, because they are just too good out of the pan the same day. I have the rest frozen in case I don’t have time. Thanks for such a fantastic recipe!
These are so so good. Easy, too, but I love making bread. I have made them 3 times in two weeks. I put small balls in my mini muffin tin for my sons finger food feast. They were the cutest little baby rolls. I personally don’t like rolls so light that they taste like you are eating air…these aren’t too airy, they have substance to them and are nice and soft…..so yummy!
Do you make these in your KitchenAid mixer? I have the standard 4.5 quart KitchenAid and I made some wheat bread the other day, which only called for 5 cups of flour, and I felt like my mixer was struggling a bit. This recipe calls for 8 cups so I’m wondering if I should half it . . . have you ever had any trouble?
Hi there! I made these as a trial for Thanksgiving last night for Sunday dinner! Oh wow, did they make the cut and are definitely gracing our Thanksgiving table! I have made every roll imaginable from Parker House to Lion House, to family heirloom recipes, and while they’ve all turned out as they were supposed to, none have had the fluff, tenderness, AND flavor that these babies have! I’ve read through all your comments about freezing them…I’m wondering about making them Wednesday instead of Thursday. Would I go through the first rise, form them, then refrigerate them covered and formed? Or would they keep rising? If I do that, would I take the formed rolls out of the fridge on Thanksgiving day and let them sit for a couple of hours for the second rise? Hope this makes sense!!! You’re my new hero!
I will be using your recipe. I have made dinner rolls many times with similar ingredients, but you shared SUCH GREAT TIPS, and I learned a thing or two! I HAD TO LAUGH when you said, “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.” Don’t we all? I always have to get some while it’s hot. My daughters are the same, and between the three of us, there is no way people will not know cheating has occurred! So here is my proposal to charge the cheating dilemma should one hot buttered roll not be enough. MAKE A DOUBLE BATCH! Hmmmmmm…..thanks for the recipe and tips.
Just made these for a trial run before Thanksgiving. Wonderful!!! I ate about 4 of them right off the bat! I was wondering if anyone has had success using an egg substitute like cornstarch… My hubby is allergic to eggs so I usually just do Rhodes Rolls but these kick them in the butt and want to use these for Thanksgiving. If anyone has any ideas will you email me? Thank you!!!
[email protected]
And I just love your cookbook!! Everything I’ve tried has been awesome!!!!
Thank you.
Katie
Should there be an adjustment for high altitude? My yeast seemed fine before I added it but the dough isn’t rising much! I don’t think I put too much flour because it was still really sticky but it’s been almost an hour and it is barely any bigger–definitely not overflowing the bowl like in your picture. I’m sure the rolls will turn out okay but this is frustrating!
Is there a printable version? If so I would love it! Thanks!
Have you ever made these ahead of time and froze them before the last rise?
I had to leave a quick comment, we had an early Thanksgiving and I made these and everyone LOVED them! They are big and light and AWESOME! Thanks so much for sharing- my SIL has your cookbook and is always raving about how good every single recipe is! It’s on my wishlist now!
Made these yesterday! Delicious!!! Almost like my grandmother’s recipe. I thought they were very easy to make.
WOW! I have never ever had success with a normal old dinner roll recipe, and because our family loves EVERYTHING from your website, I decided to try these for a family dinner, and they are Amazing!! It’s so exciting to have a non-paperweight roll! Thanks so much! My husband now knows that if I make something form ourbestbites, he is going to love it! Thank you!!
thanks so very much for the bread receipe , they are good, all family thank you to because my bread was so untaste. thanks, thanks,thanks. jettie
Oh my, I made these for dinner tonight after church… HEAVEN! My husband just started laughing when he was eating one– seriously, that’s how good they are.
Quick question– I want to use them for more rolls, not cinnamon rolls. Can I freeze them in little balls like Rhodes? I put the dough in a ziploc container in the fridge and it started rising again… I’m worried it’ll ruin before I can use more! Help!