Description
This Soft Dinner Rolls recipe yields fluffy, tender rolls perfect for any meal. Made with simple ingredients like milk, yeast, sugar, butter, and flour, these rolls are easy to prepare using a stand mixer or by hand. With two rising periods and baking at 350°F, the rolls develop a golden crust and soft interior, ideal for serving warm with butter or as sandwich buns.
Ingredients
Scale
Dough Ingredients
- 1 cup (240ml) whole milk, warmed to about 110°F (43°C)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons Platinum Yeast from Red Star instant yeast (1 standard packet)
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and cut into 4 pieces
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups (390g) all-purpose flour or bread flour (spooned & leveled)
Optional Topping
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) melted unsalted butter mixed with 1 Tablespoon honey
Instructions
- Prepare the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk warm milk, yeast, and 1 tablespoon sugar together. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes to activate the yeast. If you don’t have a stand mixer, mix in a large bowl with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula.
- Mix initial dough: Add remaining sugar, egg, butter, salt, and 1 cup of flour to the yeast mixture. Using a dough hook or paddle attachment, mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl, then add the remaining flour. Beat on medium speed until dough begins to pull away from bowl sides, about 2 minutes. Add flour 1 tablespoon at a time if dough is too wet to knead.
- Knead the dough: Continue kneading the dough in the mixer for 5 minutes or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes until the dough is soft, slightly sticky but still manageable. Perform the windowpane test to check gluten development. The dough should slowly bounce back when poked.
- First rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray. Place dough in bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with foil, plastic wrap, or a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm spot for 1-2 hours until doubled in size.
- Prepare pan and shape rolls: Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan or two 9-inch pans. Punch down the risen dough and divide into 14-16 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball and arrange spaced in the prepared pan.
- Second rise: Cover shaped rolls with foil, plastic wrap, or a towel and let rise for about 1 hour until puffy.
- Preheat oven: Adjust oven rack to lower position and preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) to avoid overbrowning the rolls’ tops.
- Bake the rolls: Bake rolls for 20-25 minutes until golden brown, rotating pan halfway through baking. Tent with foil if tops brown too quickly.
- Add topping and cool: Remove rolls from oven and brush with optional honey butter. Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.
- Storage: Store leftover rolls tightly covered at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing: Freeze shaped rolls (step 6) in a greased pan covered tightly for up to 3 months. To bake, thaw and let rise 4-5 hours before baking as directed. You can also freeze fully baked rolls for 3 months; thaw and reheat at 300°F for about 10 minutes.
- Overnight rise: Prepare through shaping (step 6) and refrigerate shaped rolls up to 15 hours. Let rise for 1-2 hours at room temperature before baking. Alternatively, do the first rise in the fridge overnight, then allow 2 hours rise at room temperature before baking.
- Flour choice: Use all-purpose flour for soft rolls or bread flour for chewier texture; results remain tender and fluffy with either.
- Yeast substitutions: Platinum Yeast is an instant yeast. Substitute with active dry yeast but extend rising times slightly.
- Baking pans: Glass pans brown rolls slower than metal, which can brown too quickly. Adjust oven rack and monitor rolls accordingly.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 roll (approx. 60g)
- Calories: 140
- Sugar: 3g
- Sodium: 150mg
- Fat: 4.5g
- Saturated Fat: 2.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 22g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 35mg
