These buttery dinner rolls are fluffy pieces of coveted goodness that disappear from the table minutes after popping them out of the oven. These dinner rolls make for the perfect accompaniment to your Thanksgiving or Christmas feast!
Looking for more delicious Thanksgiving sides? Then try my Brown Butter Sage Butternut Squash, and Herbed Mashed Potatoes recipes, next!
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Buttery Dinner Rolls
What’s the secret to delicious buttery yeast dinner rolls? Make them with love and a good helping of butter–yup, it’s that simple. Okay, there are a few extra steps involved, but I assure you it’s worth it.
These soft, slightly chewy rolls are perfect hot from the oven, or make for great next-day breakfast sandwiches–if they last that long. This dinner rolls recipe is easy-to-follow, but keep in mind the dough has to rise twice before baking.
Tools You’ll Need
Lean Dough vs. Rich Dough
You’ll notice in the details below that the dough calls for sugar, butter and an egg. This is because this dinner rolls recipe is a rich dough recipe; rich dough breads typically have higher fat content.
The aforementioned ingredients will yield softer and richer bread. Bread recipes that call for less fat and sugar in the dough is known as lean bread–think of focaccia, french bread–yielding a crustier and chewier texture.
Flour Used for Buttery Dinner Rolls
Whenever I make dinner rolls, I typically use a mix between all-purpose (AP) flour and bread flour.
Bread flour has higher protein content than its AP flour counterpart, which is needed to produce gluten. It’s gluten in bread that yields its elasticity and chewiness.
Using a blend of all-purpose flour and bread flour results in super soft, buttery dinner rolls with a slight chew–they’re absolutely incredible!
How to Make Buttery Dinner Rolls
Alright, a brief rundown of the steps:
- Bloom yeast. Add warm water, sugar and yeast to a bowl. Wait 15 minutes for yeast to double in size.
- Make dough. Add wet and dry ingredients to a mixer bowl.
- Knead dough. For 5 minutes.
- First rise. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise. This should take 1-1½ hours.
- Shape into balls. Punch dough to release air, form into balls, and place on a baking sheet.
- Second rise. Cover dough and rise again. This should take 1 hour.
- Bake. Bake rolls in a 375°F preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Can You Make Buttery Dinner Rolls Ahead of Time?
You sure can! We know Thanksgiving prep can get a little hectic, so do yourself a favor and prepare the rolls ahead of time! To do so, simply:
How to Prepare Yeast Rolls the Night Before:
- Follow steps up to shaping the balls (Step 6). Once dough is shaped into balls, place on a greased baking sheet and cover tightly. Place in refrigerator for up to 14 hours.
- Three hours before you need to bake the rolls, remove from the refrigerator and allow to rise for 1-2 hours. Bake for 20 minutes
How to Freeze Yeast Rolls:
- Follow steps up to shaping the balls (Step 6). Once dough is shaped into balls, place on a greased baking sheet and place in the freezer. Once dough are completely frozen, place in a freezer-safe bag.
- When ready to bake, place frozen dough on a baking sheet and allow to thaw and rise, 3-4 hours. Bake for 20 minutes.
Tips and Tricks
- Have a kitchen scale handy as it makes for easier and more precise measuring of the dough
- Never scoop flour into measuring cups, this packs flour into measuring cup, causing you to use more flour than the recipe calls for. Instead, use a spoon to fluff flour and scoop flour into measuring cup.
- Yeast expires, be sure to check the expiration date before using.
- To ensure liquids are properly warmed, use an instant-read thermometer. Remember, if liquids are not warm enough, yeast will not bloom. Liquids that are too hot will kill the yeast.
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Comfort in Buttery Dinner Roll Form
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Buttery Dinner Rolls
Equipment
- 13×9 baking pan
- Stand mixer
Ingredients
- 1 packet active dry yeast (equals 2¼ teaspoons)
- ¼ cup warm water (110°-115°F)
- ½ teaspoon sugar
Dinner Rolls
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ cups bread flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, I use Diamond Crystal brand
- 13 tablespoons butter, divided and melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup whole milk, warm (110°F)
Instructions
- Prepare yeast. In a small bowl, add yeast, warm water (110°-115°F), and sugar. Stir well. Will take roughly 15 minutes for yeast to double in size.
- In a standing mixer bowl, add 1 cup each of bread and all-purpose flour, sugar and salt. Whisk until ingredients are well mixed.
- Add 5 tbsps of melted butter, yeast mixture, 1 egg, and warm milk. Using your knead hook, turn standing mixer on low and slowly add remaining 2 cups of flour. Once ingredients form into a dough, knead for 5 minutes under speed 2 setting. Dough should have a tacky, not sticky texture. If dough is still sticky, add all-purpose flour in increments of 1 tablespoon at a time until dough is not longer sticky.
- First rise. Grease mixing bowl with ½ tablespoon butter. Add dough, cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm place for 1½-2 hours, or until dough has doubled in size.
- Once dough has doubled in size, remove plastic wrap and punch down the dough to remove air. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for two minutes.
- Divide the dough into 15 equal portions. Best if you use a digital scale to measure out portions. Roll dough into a ball. As you roll, lightly pull the sides to the bottom until the tops of the dough ball are smooth. Do this until you’ve rolled 15 balls. Each ball of dough should weigh about 66 grams.
- In a 13×9 baking pan, add 4 tbsps of butter to the pan, tilting to coat the bottom and sides. Add the dough to the pan. Each row should have 3 balls of dough.
- Second rise. Cover pan with plastic wrap and place in a warm place. Wait 1 hour or until the dough balls have doubled in size. Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare egg wash. In a small bowl, add one egg and 1 tablespoon water. Mix well. Using a pastry brush, gently brush tops of rolls with egg wash.
- Cook rolls for 20 minutes or until golden brown. If dinner rolls are browning too soon, lightly cover the pan with foil.
- When ready, remove from oven and brush tops with remaining 4 tbsps butter. Best when eaten warm.
Trina R. says...
Tested these out last week (pre-) Easter and they’re terrific. So soft and perfect roll texture. I topped it with more melted butter after taking it out of the oven. Looking forward to making this again for our Easter spread . Thank you!
Jeri Mobley-Arias says...
So glad these buttery rolls will be featured at your Easter spread. Thank you!
Amber Kan says...
This should be the ONLY way to make buttery rolls? so warm and fluffy on the inside
Jeri Mobley-Arias says...
Rolls must be fluffy AND buttery. Thank you!
Lindsay Holmes says...
Needed to whip something up for a birthday party and came across this. The guests loved every bite of it and I loved how simple and fun it was to make.
Jeri Mobley-Arias says...
So glad you and your guests enjoyed! Thank you!
Emily says...
Such a fun and cool experience, something the kids will really enjoy. We ended up eating this with a side of mac n cheese and it was DELICIOUS
Jeri Mobley-Arias says...
Buttery rolls and mac and cheese go hand in hand. Yum
Julia says...
Made this last week for the fam, and definitely going to make this for TS dinner!
Jeri Mobley-Arias says...
Sounds like a good idea!