Soft Dinner Rolls Recipes

SOFT DINNER ROLLS RECIPE

Steps:

• Whisk the warm milk, yeast, and 1 Tablespoon of sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes. *If you do not own a stand mixer, you can do this in a large mixing bowl and in the next step, mix the dough together with a large wooden spoon/rubber spatula. It will take a bit of arm muscle. A hand mixer works, but the sticky dough repeatedly gets stuck in the beaters. Mixing by hand with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula is a better choice.*
• Add the remaining sugar, egg, butter, salt, and 1 cup flour. With a dough hook or paddle attachment, mix/beat on low speed for 30 seconds, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then add the remaining flour. Beat on medium speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. If the dough seems too wet to a point where kneading (next step) would be impossible, beat in more flour 1 Tablespoon at a time until you have a workable dough, similar to the photos and video above. Dough should be soft and a little sticky, but still manageable to knead with lightly floured hands.
• Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 3 full minutes or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 3 full minutes. (See video tutorial above if you need a visual of kneading dough by hand.)
• Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise in a relatively warm environment for 1-2 hours or until double in size. (I always let it rise on the counter. Takes about 2 hours. For a tiny reduction in rise time, see my answer to Where Should Dough Rise? in my Baking with Yeast Guide.)
• Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan or two 9-inch square or round baking pans. You can also bake the rolls in a cast iron skillet or on a lined baking sheet.*
• When the dough is ready, punch it down to release the air. Divide the dough into 14-16 equal pieces. (Just eyeball it- doesn't need to be perfect!) Shape each piece into a smooth ball. I do this entirely in my hands and you can watch in the video tutorial above. Arrange in prepared baking pan.
• Cover shaped rolls with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise until puffy, about 1 hour.
• Adjust oven rack to a lower position and preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). (It's best to bake the rolls towards the bottom of the oven so the tops don't burn.)
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top, rotating the pan halfway through. If you notice the tops browning too quickly, loosely tent the pan with aluminum foil. Remove from the oven, brush with optional honey butter topping, and allow rolls to cool for a few minutes before serving.
• Cover leftover rolls tightly and store at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

PILLOW-SOFT DINNER ROLLS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, shortening, eggs, sugar, salt and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes (dough will be sticky). Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 24 pieces. Shape each into a roll. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. , Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks.

SOFT DINNER ROLLS

Steps:

• Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Place bread flour, water, sugar, egg, 2 tablespoons softened butter, yeast, and salt into the pan of your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select the Dough cycle and press Start. When the cycle is complete, remove the dough and press down to deflate.
• Divide dough into 15 equal pieces and form into rolls. Place rolls in prepared baking dish, brush with melted butter, and cover dish loosely with plastic wrap; let rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bake rolls in the preheated oven until the tops are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

SOFT DINNER ROLLS RECIPE

Steps:

• In the bowl of your mixer, whisk together warm milk (about 110F) and 1 Tbsp sugar. Sprinkle the top with 1 Tbsp yeast and let sit 1 minute. Whisk together and let it sit for about 5 minutes until yeast looks foamy. Add 4 Tbsp melted butter, remaining sugar and salt.
• Add flour half a cup at a time until the dough whisking to incorporate. Once the dough gets too thick, switch to the dough hook attachment and mix on speed 2 (you can also continue mixing by hand with a stiff spatula). Add about 4 cups of flour, adding the last 1 to 3 Tbsp of flour only if needed. The dough should feel sticky and tacky but should not stick to clean/dry finger tips.
• Knead the dough with the dough hook in a stand mixer for 2 minutes or knead by hand (10 min), then place dough in an oiled bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise about 2 hours in a warm place or until doubled in size.
• Once the dough rises, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and cut it into 15-24 even pieces depending on the shape of your baking dish. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place them onto an oiled 9x13 casserole dish or baking sheet.
• Cover the dinner rolls with plastic wrap and let them rise another 30-60 minutes in a warm place or until puffed (do not over-proof). Bake at 375F for about 23-25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
• Immediately brush tops of dinner rolls with melted butter and set aside to cool to room temperature before serving.

SOFT BUTTERMILK DINNER ROLLS

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in warm water until foamy. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup buttermilk, 1/2 cup butter, egg, sugar, salt and yeast mixture, then add 3 cups flour; beat on medium speed until smooth, 1 minute. Add remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, to form a soft dough., Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide and shape into 20 balls. Place in a greased 13x9-in. pan. Cover with a kitchen towel; let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 45 minutes., Preheat oven to 350°. Brush rolls lightly with remaining buttermilk and butter. Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes. Remove to a wire rack; serve warm.

SOFT NO-KNEAD DINNER ROLLS

Steps:

• Place yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar in a medium bowl. Pour in water. Let stand until frothy, about 5 minutes.
• Place remaining sugar, flour, and salt in a separate bowl; mix to combine. Make a well in the center. Add yeast mixture, milk, eggs, and butter. Mix with a wooden spoon until a thick, sticky batter forms.
• Cover dough with a clean, damp dish towel and place in a warm place. Let rise until almost tripled in volume, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on 2 sides. Punch dough down to deflate. Mix briefly in the bowl to get rid of bubbles.
• Dust a work surface with flour. Scrape dough out and dust the top with flour. Cut into 4 pieces, then cut each piece into 3 pieces.
• Press down 1 piece of dough with your palm. Use your fingers to gather it into a ball. Flip so the smooth side faces up and roll briefly to form a ball. Place roll in the prepared baking pan. Repeat with remaining dough. Line up rolls in a 3x4 grid in the baking pan. Spray the surface of the rolls with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap.
• Place baking pan in a warm place and let rise until almost doubled in size, 30 to 45 minutes. Halfway through the second rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake rolls in the preheated oven until surface is golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Use parchment paper overhang to lift rolls onto a cooling rack. Serve warm.