Fresh Soft dinner rolls make a delicious side dish for a heavier meal. These rolls are moist and tender. We offer you an optional brush on topping to add sweet richness. Yummy!
These Light fluffy rolls are perfect for a Thanksgiving turkey dinner with all the trimmings, or a Christmas ham or beef entree.
They are not hard rolls. So for Italian dishes you may prefer our French bread recipe. It also makes good rolls.
These soft dinner rolls also make great small sandwich rolls. Place slices of cheese, tuna, and deli meats in them for a quick bite. Have leftovers? Put a slice of leftover roasted turkey, chicken, ham, or roast beef in these rolls with salad greens and whatever else you have on hand. It’s a nice change from sandwich bread.
Looking for a sturdier roll for soups, stews, and chili? See this Homemade dinner roll recipe.
What Makes Bread Soft and Fluffy?
Soft and Fluffy bread is created by yeast consuming sugar during the baking process. The yeast will release Carbon Dioxide that fills the dough with air and creates soft and fluffy bread. Fats also contribute to a soft texture in the bread. Adding in milk or other dairy is a common practice for soft breads or rolls.
How do you Keep Dinner Rolls Soft?
You can keep dinner rolls soft by storing them in an airtight container or package. Once the rolls have cooled completely, place them in an airtight gallon bag. Individually wrapping them in foil is another option. Make sure you do not have gaps where air can get through. Exposed parts of the rolls will quickly become hard and stale. Storing the bread at room temperature will help them maintain the soft texture.
Why are my Dinner Rolls Hard?
Dinner rolls become hard if the dough is overworked during the kneading process. Bread flour contains a high amount of protein. When this protein is worked it creates gluten. Gluten forms the structure of the bread. As the dough gets kneaded, the gluten continues to form and create that structure. Overworking the dough will result in tough and dense dinner rolls.
How do you Reheat Bread Rolls?
Reheating Bread Rolls in the oven is the best method. To reheat them in the oven, set the temperature to 350 F. Arrange the rolls in a single layer in a baking dish. To prevent the tops of the rolls from further browning, cover them lightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 7 minutes or until heated through. Avoid overcooking the rolls in the oven. Since these rolls are already fully cooked, it’s easy to heat them too much. This will cause dry or burned rolls.
What do you Brush on Rolls Before Baking?
| Glaze | Crust | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | Soft crust | Lighter shine |
| Milk | Dark crust | Dull |
| Cream | Darker crust | Dull |
| Oil | Pale crunchy | Normal |
| eggwash | Chewy | Shiny |
| Water | Extra crispy | Normal |
Visit our Sourdough bread Recipes and see all of our bread, rolls and muffins recipes.
Soft Dinner Rolls Recipe:
I love these rolls because they are moist and tender rather than dry.
Recipe Notes about these yeast dinner rolls:
If you watch the video you will notice we used instant yeast and high protein bread flour (King Arthur brand) for our homemade dinner rolls. Why? The ingredients do matter here but you can use what you have.
The Flour:
Yeast bakers often use low-protein bread flours with 3 grams of protein. They count on the yeast for the rise. This will work if that is what you have on hand.
But the higher protein bread flours (around 12% or 5 grams of protein) will improve the texture and give you a moist roll.
I learned the value of baking with high protein bread flour when I started baking artisan sourdough breads. The texture and rise are much improved with high protein bread flour.
If you do have low protein flour (3 grams) or all-purpose flour you can still use it. But the texture of the rolls and moisture content will not be the same. It will still make good rolls. but they may be a bit drier.
The Yeast:
We used instant yeast rather than active yeast in this recipe. Read more about the difference between the two types of yeast. Here’s how they can affect this homemade yeast roll recipe.
- Instant yeast does NOT require proofing. You can stir it directly into the flour if you don’t want to proof INSTANT yeast. We did proof it in the video to show you how in case you are using regular active dry yeast.
- The other difference is the time in rising your dough. Instant yeast will rise the rolls faster than active yeast. So you may need to lengthen your timeline on this recipe if using active yeast.
- Read the label of the yeast when you buy it. It will say instant or regular yeast on the package.
If you are using regular yeast (which is perfectly fine) be sure to proof the yeast as directed and expect a longer rise time on your rolls.
Freezing Instructions:
You can make these dinner rolls ahead and freeze them. Freeze after the rolls are baked and cooled completely.
Here are some reliable methods for freezing dinner rolls.
- Place them in a ziplock freezer bag or airtight freezer container of your choice.
- Suck out the air from the bag and label it with the date and name of this recipe.
- If you choose to wrap them instead. Wrap the rolls tightly in plastic wrap in small stacks of rolls (four to six) so they hold together in the freezer.
- Be SURE all the air is out and the rolls are tightly wrapped. Now completely cover the wrapped rolls in tin foil to protect them from freezer burn. Label the package with the date and recipe name.
These rolls can be reliably frozen for two to six months.
When you need rolls just set the frozen on the counter to thaw. Reheat in the oven at 350 degree F. covered for 10 minutes.
Can you Freeze Raw Dinner Roll Dough?
Raw Dinner Roll dough can be frozen. Raw dinner roll dough will hold for a month in the freezer. To freeze the dough shape the dough into rolls. Place on a lightly greased baking pan or dish. Freeze on the pan or dish. After the rolls are frozen, remove them from the pan, wrap them tightly in cling wrap to avoid air getting through. Place the rolls in a freezer safe gallon bag. Carefully compress all the air out of the bag. Write the date on the bag and place back into the freezer.
Soft Dinner Rolls Recipe
These delicious Soft dinner rolls are made with instant yeast and high protein bread flour to give you the very best texture and moisture content. They also rise more quickly with instant yeast. These rolls are very tender, freeze well and make a great holiday dinner side.
Ingredients
- 1 Cup milk (100 degree F.) whole milk preferred for richness
- 2 1/4 tsp. Instant Yeast (SEE NOTES)
- 2 Tablespoon granulated sugar (divided)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup butter (softened and cut into pieces)
- 3 Cups of bread flour (SEE NOTES)
Optional Brush on topping:
- 1 Tablespoon butter (melted)
- 1 Tablespoon honey
Instructions
- In a stand mixer or large bowl pour in the warmed milk, 1 Tablespoon sugar and yeast.
- Whisk together ( let stand five minutes to proof if using active yeast-see notes and video)
- Add remaining Tablespoon of sugar, softened butter and egg. (Whisk if hand mixing)
- Add flour and stir together until dough pulls aways from the bowl.
- knead on a floured work surface until the dough is resilient and workable. (five minutes)
- Grease a large bowl.
- Place the dough into the bowl. Oil it or roll the dough around the bowl until the dough ball is somewhat greased.
- Cover bowl with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled (60 to 90 minutes- possible more with active yeast)
- Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.
- When dough is doubled in size gently punch the air out of the dough.
- make 15 equal portions of dough by weight or eyball it. We had 16 rolls since we eyballed it. 🙂
- Shape the rolls (watch video) and place each just touching in the baking pan.
- Cover the pan and let it rest about an hour until the rolls are double in size
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Bake for 10 minutes and then rotate the pan in the oven. Continue baking another 10 minutes or until they are lightly bowned on the top and sides.
- Remove and cool in the pan.
Optional Brush on topping:
- Wile the rolls are warm and cooling mix the butter and honey together until they are smooth.
- With a pastry brush brush the topping over the roll tops. Set them finish cooling to set.
- Serve
Freezing Instructions:
You can make these dinner rolls ahead and freeze them. Freeze after the rolls are baked and cooled completely.
Here are some reliable methods for freezing dinner rolls.
- Place them in a ziplock freezer bag or air tight freezer container of your choice.
- Suck out the air from the bag and label it with the date and name of this recipe.
- If you choose to wrap them instead. Wrap the rolls tightly in plastic wrap in small stacks of rolls (four to six) so they hold together in the freezer.
- Be SURE all the air is out and the rolls are tightly wrapped. Now completely cover the wrapped rolls in tinfoil to protect them from freezer burn. Label the package with date and recipe name.
These rolls can be reliably frozen for two to six months.
To Defrost:
When you need rolls just set them frozen on the counter to thaw at room temperature.
Reheat in the oven at 350 degree F. covered for 10 minutes.
Notes
Recipe Notes about yeast dinner rolls:
If you watch the video you will notice we used instant yeast and high protein bread flour (King Arthur brand) for our homemade dinner rolls. Why? The ingredients do matter here.
The Flour:
Yeast bakers often use low protein bread flours with 3 grams of protein. They count on the yeast for the rise. This will work if that is what you have on hand.
But the higher protein bread flours (around 12% or 5 grams of protein) will improve the texture and give you a moist roll.
I learned the value of baking with high protein bread flour when I started baking artisan sourdough breads. The texture and rise are much improved with high protein bread flour.
If you do have low protein flour (3 grams) or all purpose flour you can still use it. But the texture of the rolls and moisture content may be a bit drier.
The Yeast:
We used instant yeast rather than active yeast in this recipe. Here's how they can affect this homemade yeast roll recipe.
- Instant yeast does NOT require proofing. You can stir it directly intro the flour if you don't want to proof INSTANT yeast. We did proof it in the video to show you how in case you are using regular active dry yeast.
- The other difference is the time in rising your dough. Instant yeast will rise the rolls faster than active yeast in the time the recipe instructs.
- Read the label of the yeast when you buy it. They will say instant or regular yeast on the package.
If you are using regular yeast (which is perfectly fine-use it one to one propertion) be sure to proof the yeast as directed and expect a longer rise time on your rolls.
See our recipe demonstration below for a complete walkthrough of this recipe.
Nutrition Information
Yield
15Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 158Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 24mgSodium 44mgCarbohydrates 24gFiber 1gSugar 4gProtein 5g
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