Dinner Rolls
Soft, fluffy, delicious dinner rolls with only 8 ingredients. It doesn’t get much easier than this, and these delicious dinner rolls are sure to outshine your main dish. May I suggest doubling the recipe so everyone can eat their fill?
Serve with Dry Brine Turkey and Roasted Carrots for a great meal.
Seriously though, everyone needs a great dinner roll recipe in their arsenal, and this is one that you can’t go wrong with. It is so fluffy and light, they just melt in your mouth. Pillowy soft, buttery, flakey, these are good stuff. And even if you are new to making rolls, you can make these because I can show you how easy it is. No need to worry about working with yeast, with a few simple tricks you’ve got this!
What You Need to Make Homemade Dinner Rolls
Dinner Rolls
Dinner rolls are so much easier to make than you would think, I seriously love making them to go with dinner because they are so buttery, soft, and fantastic. And one of the nice things is you probably already have everything you need on hand to make these:
-
Whole milk– Don’t sub for a milk with a different fat content, the fat is part of what makes these so good.
-
Honey– Honey is so much nicer than sugar in this recipe. You will love it.
-
Vegetable shortening– Crisco, you need it.
-
Unsalted butter– I love the combo of butter and shortening.
-
Eggs– Large is best.
-
All-purpose flour: Choose a good quality flour.
-
Instant yeast (rapid rise works too): Basically you want a yeast that is easy to work with and works immediately.
-
Salt: Adds flavor!
How to Make Dinner Rolls
Making dinner rolls is pretty straightforward. It is five simple steps:
- Mix up the dough–knead it.
- Let it rise
- Form the rolls
- Rise again
- Bake
So let’s get into a few more details for each of these steps.
Mix up the dough:
In a large bowl, add milk, honey, shortening, and butter together, and microwave about 2 minutes until butter and shortening are mostly melted. Then whisk everything together, and set aside to let cool. Check temperature of mixture, and when it reaches 110 degrees, whisk in 1 egg. You don’t want to add it when the mix is too hot, or the egg will cook. Set aside.
Now you get to work with the yeast. The biggest trick with yeast is just to not kill it. So as long as you check the temp of the ingredients and nothing is over 110 degrees, you are good to go. So in a the bowl of a stand mixer, combine: 5 cups of flour, yeast, and salt.
Fit the stand mixer with a dough hook, and add the milk mixture from above to the flour mixture, mixing on low speed until dough is coming together. About 2 minutes.
Knead:
You could call this step 1- A because it is an important part of mixing up the dough. Kneading the dough is what gives it structure and chew. So you are going to increase the speed of the mixture to medium-low, and knead for about 8-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. While kneading, about half way through, if the dough is not coming away clean from the sides, add the remaining ½ cup flour, 2 Tablespoons at a time, until the dough is the coming away from the sides clean.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured counter, and knead by hand until you get a smooth, round, ball.
Place dough in a large bowl sprayed with non-stick spray. And cover tightly with a piece of plastic wrap sprayed with non-stick spray.
Rise:
Let the dough rise in place for 1- 1 ½ hours until doubled in size. It may take longer depending on your kitchen temperature. But the key is letting it double.
Form Rolls:
Spray a 13 x 9 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Turn dough out onto a clean counter, and stretch into a 15-inch long log.
Cut it into 15 equal sized pieces. And cover with the lightly greased plastic wrap while you work with one piece of dough at a time to form into dinner rolls.
At this point you should have 15 pieces of dough that are rectangular in shape. You want to use your fingertips to press little dimples into the top of the dough, all the way down.
Now fold the dough in half, pressing ends together.
Then gently press the dough to form a thick square shape. You want the dough to stick to itself, so the steams do not come apart.
Now stick your thumbs underneath the square, and press up to dome it, rounding the bottom under to form a ball.
Set this dough onto the counter, and cup your hand, and drag dough in small circles around the counter, until it feels round and firm.
Transfer to prepared baking dish.
Let Dough Rise Again:
Once all dough balls are in the baking pan, spritz with cooking spray, and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
Let rise in a warm place for 45-75 minutes until doubled in size.
Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to the lower, middle position of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees F.
Beat the remaining egg with 1 Tablespoon of water, and brush them over the top of the rolls.
Bake Dinner Rolls:
Bake rolls until they are a deep golden brown, 25-30 minutes.
Let rolls cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Brush with butter for a beautiful sheen.
Remove rolls from the pan, and serve. Can serve warm!
Tips and Tricks for making Diner Rolls
Making this recipe is Eazy Peazy but here are some helpful tips and tricks so it goes smoothly every time…
- Tip One: Making the rolls the same size will help to ensure an even baking time. If you need to, weigh the dough. I recommend this kitchen scale.
- Tip Two: Be sure your yeast has not expired. If you want to have success with yeast (easy, I swear), the first thing you want to do is check the expiration. If it has been hanging out in your cupboard for a while it may be expired. I keep mine in the fridge, instead of the pantry, and I always check the yeast, to make sure it bubbles and foams within about 5 minutes of being added to wet ingredients. Check a little bit of the yeast with some warm water before using it to make sure it works. If it doesn’t foam, toss it and get new yeast.
- Tip Three: Use a thermometer to double-check the temperature of the liquid ingredients. This may seem annoying but you do not want to kill your yeast. When heating the liquid ingredients you want to keep them in the temperature range of 100-110°F. If the mixture is hotter than this, it can kill the yeast. And if it is too cool, the yeast may not activate. Basically it should be warm, but not too hot. I recommend using a kitchen thermometer like this one.
- Tip Four: Don’t skip the rise. Letting them rise is how you get the light, fluffy, yummy rolls. Tips for speeding up rise time and maintaining the dough’s integrity is to keep your rolls in a draft free location and cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap. A warmer area will help them rise faster.
- Tip Five: Don’t forget to brush with butter! Even though we did a wash on them, brushing the rolls with butter after they are removed from the oven will help give them that lovely golden sheen that makes them so irresistible.
- Tip Six: Measuring flour correctly is key to avoiding a dough that is too dense, and rolls that are more like bricks. You do not want heavy, dense rolls. You want soft and fluffy. So measure properly, as in, spoon and level your flour, do not scoop it out of the package.
These rolls really are just so delicious and fun. They work great for making Philly Cheesesteak Sliders, being a side for a Roast Beef Tenderloin and many other delicious meals. They are easy to make, and so tasty. You can do it!
![]()
Dinner Roll Flavors
Ok, so this recipe is for your basic dinner rolls, but think of this recipe as a base for your own creativity. You can make these rolls a number of ways to add some fun and some flavor. Just mix in these ingredients when you add the flour mixture.
- Herby Garlic Dinner Rolls: Who doesn’t love herbs and garlic together. So just add a couple teaspoons of all of your favorite herbs and 1 teaspoon of garlic powder. Suggested herbs: rosemary, basil, and parsley!
- Parmesan and Rosemary Dinner Rolls – 1 1/2 Tablespoons dried chopped rosemary + 2 Tbs parmesan crumbles.
- Cheesy Dinner Rolls – 1 cup shredded cheese of choice (hard cheeses are best), or cheddar.
Make Ahead and Storage
How to make this recipe ahead of time: Ok the biggest time suck for these rolls is the rise time so if you want to make them ahead of time, you need to prepare the dough then during the first rise (before you form and shape the rolls), you can place the dough, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 15 hours. Then, pull them out and let them come to room temp, then shape your rolls, and let rise on the counter for a couple hours before baking. It will take longer for them to rise after being shaped. But from there you can bake as normal.
Or, you can make the rolls, and let them get through the first rise, and shaping/forming stage, but before letting them rise the second time and before baking, cover and refrigerate for up to 12 hours. Then you can remove from fridge, and let rise on the counter for 1-2 hours, then bake as normal.
To freeze these rolls: Make the rolls as usual, and after forming and shaping them, place them on a baking sheet with space between, cover them, and freeze. Do not let them rise the second time. Once frozen, remove from baking sheet to a freezer bag. When ready to bake, remove as many as you want, place in baking tray, let them thaw and rise for 4-5 hours, and bake. I love this option for Thanksgiving or Christmas, etc. when I want fresh rolls. Just set them into the baking tray and let them rise while you do other things, then bake!
To freeze already cooked rolls: Put in airtight container or freezer bag, and freeze.
Other Great Recipes:
WANT MORE EZPZ? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 5-5 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast rapid rise works too
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add milk, honey, shortening, and butter together, and microwave about 2 minutes until butter and shortening are mostly melted.
- Whisk everything together, and set aside to let cool.
- Check temperature of mixture, and when it reaches 110 degrees, whisk in 1 egg. Set aside.
- In a the bowl of a stand mixer, combine: 5 cups of flour, yeast, and salt.
- Fit the stand mixer with a dough hook, and add the milk mixture to the flour mixture, mixing on low speed until dough is coming together. About 2 minutes.
- Then increase the speed of the mixture to medium-low, and knead for about 8-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. While kneading, about half way through, if the dough is not coming away clean from the sides, add the remaining ½ cup flour, 2 Tablespoons at a time, until the dough is the coming away from the sides clean.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured counter, and knead by hand until you get a smooth, round, ball.
- Place dough in a large bowl sprayed with non-stick spray. And cover tightly with a piece of plastic wrap sprayed with non-stick spray.
- Let rise in place for 1- 1 ½ hours until doubled in size.
- Spray a 13 x 9 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Turn dough out onto a clean counter, and stretch into a 15-inch long log.
- Cut it into 15 equal sized pieces. And cover with the lightly greased plastic wrap while you work with one piece of dough at a time to form into dinner rolls.
To Form Rolls:
- At this point you should have 15 pieces of dough that are rectangular in shape. You want to use your fingertips to press little dimples into the top of the dough, all the way down.
- Now fold the dough in half, pressing ends together.
- Then gently press the dough to form a thick square shape. You want the dough to stick to itself, so the steams do not come apart.
- Now stick your thumbs underneath the square, and press up to dome it, rounding the bottom under to form a ball.
- Set this dough onto the counter, and cup your hand, and drag dough in small circles around the counter, until it feels round and firm.
- Transfer to prepared baking dish.
Continue:
- Once all dough balls are in the baking pan, spritz with cooking spray, and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
- Let rise in a warm place for 45-75 minutes until doubled in size.
- Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to the lower, middle position of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees F.
- Beat the remaining egg with 1 Tablespoon of water, and brush them over the top of the rolls.
- Bake rolls until they are a deep golden brown, 25-30 minutes.
- Let rolls cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
- Remove rolls from the pan, and serve. Can serve warm!
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
Want to use this recipe in a meal plan?Try PrePear, my FREE Meal Planning App that allows you to save your recipes, plan meals, shop for groceries, and cook simply in one place. Join Here!Pin to your Rolls and Baking board on Pinterest:
Susan Stofiel says
These looked so promising but they were bland. I used salted butter too and added salt.
Rachael says
Oh I am so sad you thought that. We have loved these rolls. I will double check the recipe to make sure I didn’t miss something. Thanks for letting me know.