Simple and Quick Dinner Rolls
These are light, fluffy, buttery, and delicious. I believe in simple and quick. These are great to make for a week night dinner, they come together quickly and all I do is dump it all in my mixer and let it do the work. You can use a kitchen aide or a Bosch. It will fit in either.
Then serve these rolls with a great Instant Pot Minestrone Soup or Split Pea Soup for a perfect cozy meal.
The first time I ate these rolls was 11 years ago. I walked into my friend’s kitchen, and was greeted with one of those scents that instantly make your mouth water. Fresh baked bread. Buttery. Salty. Sweet. Confusing?
You know what I am talking about, that perfect combination achieved through flour and yeast! Unforgettable, and not something you easily get over. These rolls…how to explain them? Pillowy soft, perfectly flavored, tender, and absolutely delicious. The definition of drool worthy!
All you have to know is if you serve these rolls to your family or friends, you will score huge points! And they will ask you to make them over and over and over again.
I want to say right now that I am a good cook. People like my food. I am not trying to brag, I just have to point out that in general, the food I prepare is loved and lavished. My friends and family still talk about my shrimp fried rice in reverent tones and it has been years since I made it for them.
But baking, well…there are a few things I am very good at baking, like quick breads. But in general, I am not an intuitive baker. I am getting much better, as practice makes perfect. But I wanted to make sure I gave you guys the absolute best recipes available for dinner rolls. And my rolls, while delicious, especially these rustic no knead ones that are perfect when you are in a hurry, aren’t the best I have ever had. So today I am sharing the best I have ever had.
This recipe is from my friend Michelle. It is her Grandma Volmar’s recipe, and I even had her write the instructions out for how exactly to make is there would be no confusion.
Tips for Simple Dinner Rolls
Two of the key things are:
- Dough Enhancer– She swears by this trick.
- Getting your water temp right- If you are too hot you will kill your yeast, not warm enough and the yeast won’t proof. So when it doubt, measure the temperature, or take time to proof the yeast.
Other considerations:
- Let the dough rise properly. You can skip the first rise but the dough won’t be as light if you do.
- Checking the dough consistency. While I have listed amounts, watching the dough and making sure it is sticky, but pulls away from the sides of the bowl is key to a good roll. Every household is different, so add your flour, but watch the dough and adjust as needed.
- The second rise is also important. You want to touch the dinner rolls and see if they bounce back slowly. If they do, they are ready to bake!
- Pair with Ham and Bean Soup
Otherwise, these really are eazy peazy, and so darn good. They are no fuss. And the kind of rolls you could make on a weekday because they aren’t too hard to make, and are so good your whole family will love them. They go perfectly with soup, or chowder!
And they make a fantastic addition to your holiday table.
Simple and Quick Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 C warm water
- 2 Tbs instant yeast
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 C sugar
- 5-6 C flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 Tbs dough enhancer
- 1 stick of butter
Instructions
- Dump water (110 degrees or if you don't have a thermometer, it should be hot enough to still touch, and still be able to leave your hand in) yeast and sugar in a mixing bowl. **see note
- Mix briefly then add eggs one at a time while the mixer is still going.
- Start adding flour one cup at a time. Mixer should still be going.
- After adding 2 C of flour, add the salt. This will stop the yeast activation so it doesn't get out of control, and adds flavor.
- Then add the dough enhancer.
- Then add 2 more cups of flour.
- At this point you have to start watching your dough. It should pull away from the side.
- Continue to add flour as needed, adding 1/2 C at a time until it's not too sticky and pulls gently away from the sides of the bowl.
- Once enough flour is added, set mixer speed to low and set a timer for 5 minutes to allow the mixer to do the work of kneading for you.
- Check the dough by pushing your finger into it it should stick to your finger, but as you pull away it should pull off.
- Once kneaded, cover with saran wrap (spray with non-stick baking spray before you place it over dough) or a damp dish towel.
- Let it rise to double in size (about 30 minutes) but if in a hurry, you can pull it out of the mixer and start to roll it. (the texture is better if you give it that first rise, but they still taste good if you don't)
- Cut dough in half with a dough cutter
- Roll one of the dough balls out in a circle using a rolling pin. Roll onto a silicone mat (this is worth the investment and saves your counter from the mess as well as the cutting marks. It also helps it to stick less to the counter)
- Brush with a quarter stick of butter and cut like you would cut a pizza using a pizza cutter into 12 slices. Roll from the fat end towards the middle and place on a silpat lined baking tray.
- Repeat with the second ball of dough.
- Cover with saran wrap (spray with non-stick baking spray before you place it over rolls) or a damp dish towel. Again allow to rise until double. You can do the poke test to tell if they are read to bake (poke your finger in the dough, it should bounce back, but slowly. Too quick to bounce back and they aren't ready to bake, if your finger poke stays in the are over-proofed)
- Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven from 10-12 minutes. When hot out of the oven, brush with melted butter.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Variations: I have tried using half wheat flour with good results, I roll cheese in the middle. or make it sweet and add cinnamon sugar to the dough before rolling up rolls.
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.
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Dianne says
Where do I buy dough enhancee in Australia ???
Rachael says
You could order it online??? I am not sure as I am not from there.
Cat Peaco says
Check amazon
Darlene says
Where do you find yeast enhancer and is there anything else you can use instead or do you even need it thank you
Rachael says
It is a dough enhancer…you can find it on amazon, there are a lot of different ones. You can get it at Walmart too I believe.
here is the one I have: http://amzn.to/2vwlFnH (affiliate)
Cat Peaco says
It’s dough enhancer… check amazon
Andrea says
Would it make a difference if I didn’t use dough enhancer? Don’t know if I could find an equivalent in my country…
Rachael says
I have done it both ways. You will be okay if you can’t find it.