When it comes to bread, this Easy Soft Dinner Rolls recipe is so simple to make! No mixer needed and hardly ANY kneading!
Soft dinner rolls only need two sets of rising times and one handy trick to get your dough rising faster than usual. You’re going to love this bread recipe! So fluffy and soft on both the inside and the outside, with a perfect salt and sugar ratio, making these rolls 10 times better than any store-bought rolls.
So many of our recipes, including our Pumpkin Soup, Beef and Guiness Stew and our Cream of Mushroom Soup, are begging for a soft piece of bread to help mop up the excess mouthwatering sauce. The softer and fluffier, the better.
DINNER ROLLS
I don’t even want to tell you how many batches of dinner rolls I went through to get this one right. How many hours and sleepless nights I spent on the internet researching all about yeast, flour and eggs or no eggs, milk or just water.
SO. MUCH. WORK.
Then came the testing. With eggs/without eggs, with regular milk or buttermilk, or perhaps a water mixture? Lord, help me.
But fear not, because I hit the jackpot with this batch of dinner rolls. These rolls came out of the oven looking, smelling and feeling perfect. I honestly could have cried.
You know what the best part is? Carb lovers, gather round now, I know you’re feeling me when I say this – that warm, fresh bread smell wafting from the kitchen into every room of the house – that’s what you’re going to get! Alternatively if you’re looking for something with a different texture thats just as easy try our Cornbread Recipe
DO I NEED A MIXER?
Don’t get me wrong, I HAVE a mixer, but in the time it took to drag the 200 pound machine out (ok, minor exaggeration), and get the attachments set up, I had already mixed my flour through the activated yeast mixture.
Throwing my mixer out the window.
HOW TO MAKE DINNER ROLLS
- Remember these Quick Soft Cinnamon Rolls? Remember how we preheated our oven on a low heat, then turned it off before adding our bowl full of dough? We’re doing that again here. This is how we get our dough to proof in an hour or less. It won’t dry it out if you cover your bowl with a clean, warm, damp towel. If you don’t want to do this, I’ve heard of people using their dryers, or boiling kettles and placing the bowl next to it. Personally, I like my oven.
- Activate your yeast. Now, even though I use a rapid rise yeast that technically doesn’t need activating, I still do it.
- This is what activated yeast looks like. If your yeast doesn’t foam and froth in the first couple of minutes, and you’re waiting around for 10 minutes for something to happen, you need to get new yeast. I’m sorry.
YEAST
- Make sure you use a large, deep bowl, because you will also be proofing your dough in the bowl. You want to give your dough plenty of room to rise.
- Yeast needs sugar to ‘feed off’ so to speak, so please don’t miss this step! Don’t try to change it. This is crucial for your yeast.
DISSOLVING SUGAR IN A MILK/BUTTER MIXTURE
Warming your milk and butter in the microwave together is quicker than doing them seperate, plus adding your remaining sugar and salt into the warm milk/butter ensures your sugar dissolves before adding it to your mixing bowl.
As soon as you’ve poured your butter/milk mixture into the yeast, add in your flour. This is where having everything handy and ready to use on your bench is going to be of benefit to you.
FLOUR
This is the only thing I’m going to ask you to buy that you may not already have in your kitchen pantries (besides maybe yeast). Bread flour. No, please don’t leave me! You can use all purpose or plain flour, but after vigorous testing, I found all purpose flour produced a slightly heavier, denser bread roll. Not to my liking. If you like super airy, fluffy and soft dinner rolls, go with bread flour.
KNEADING DINNER ROLLS
Now, as promised, not much kneading is necessary. First, mix your dough in your BIG bowl. When your dough starts to pull way from the bowl, it will still be sticky. I found rubbing your hands in a light coating of oil to get them ready for kneading helps you to handle the dough when it gets too sticky. Here are the two kneading options I tried:
- Add a couple of tablespoons of flour to the dough while still in the bowl, giving it a light knead. I kneaded for about 4-5 minutes, not properly because the dough is not on a bench top, but it still did the trick!
OR
- Scraping the dough out onto a lightly floured surface to knead. Sprinkle with 2-3 tablespoons of flour, rub your hands in a touch of oil, and go to work for only about 3-4 minutes. The dough comes together so fast – wet and sticky.
You DON’T want your dough to dry out too much so don’t add too much flour! You want it tacky and sticking to your fingers.
PROOFING
- Wet a kitchen cloth with warm water and wring it out so it’s not dripping, but not completely dry (somewhere in the middle). TURN OFF YOUR OVEN, if this is the method you’re going with, and place your covered bowl of dough inside. Leave the door ajar if you can so the dough doesn’t dry out too much. Check it in half an hour. If your towel is becoming too dry, you can transfer the bowl (still with the towel on top) out to your bench top or to a warm, draft free area.
- After an hour of proofing, you’re going to scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and mould your dough into a rectangle. You can give it a light need to bring it all together if it’s too tacky to handle.
- Divide it in half, then divide each half into 6 pieces. Working one by one, LIGHTLY flatten each piece of dough in your hands and pull up the edges into a peak on the top. Pinch this ‘peak’ with your fingertips and turn your dough upside down. It should be a perfect smooth ball! Place each ball into your prepared pan as you go.
- Spray your dinner rolls with cooking oil spray! This keeps them moist while proofing.
PROOF TWO
- Cover your dinner rolls with plastic wrap and allow to proof for 20-30 minutes. If you don’t want to use plastic, you can use your damp towel again. Rewet it with warm water, however this time try to wring it out as best as you can.
- During this time, you’re going to preheat your oven ready for baking! Try not to forget this step. Yes, I’m speaking from experience. I turn my oven back on in the last 5 minutes, as my oven gets hot fast. If yours takes time, turn it on earlier.
Ah the aroma. The SWEET, sweet smells coming from your kitchen will be intoxicating.
Once your dinner rolls have baked, brush them over with a light coating of melted butter. Most people use egg whites or an egg wash, and you can totally do this if you like! We have egg allergies over here, which is why this Easy Soft Dinner Rolls recipe has no egg!
Our dinner rolls are amazing the day of baking, but are equally as good the next day!
WHAT TO SERVE WITH DINNER ROLLS
Use your dinner rolls to mop up the sauce in our Crispy Skin Turkey and Gravy, Easy Baked Salmon with Lemon Butter Cream Sauce or our Easy Lobster Bisque.
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Easy Soft Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon rapid-rise yeast
- 3 tablespoons white granulated sugar divided
- ½ cup water warm (110-115˚F)
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup butter melted
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 4 cups bread flour or all purpose four, plus about ¼ cup extra for dusting your work surface
- 2 tablespoons butter melted, for brushing baked rolls
Instructions
- Heat oven to 200°F | 100°C (if using your oven to proof the dough).
- Mix the yeast, 1 tablespoon of sugar and warm water in a large bowl. Let sit for 7-10 minutes until foamy and frothed.
- While yeast is activating, combine the milk and butter in a 2-cup capacity microwave safe jug. Microwave on high for about 40-50 seconds, or until butter has half melted and milk is luke warm. Stir in remaining sugar and salt. Give it a light mix until the butter completely melts through the milk, and the sugar dissolves. Add to the yeast in the bowl.
- Add in 2 cups of flour, giving it a light mix to combine with a wooden spoon, then add in the remaining 2 cups of flour. Mix until starting to pull away from the walls of the bowl (about 1-2 minutes). Turn out on a lightly floured work surface and use the extra ¼ cup of flour in tablespoon increments to knead until smooth, elastic and slightly sticky (about 4-5 minutes kneading). (Lightly oil your hands if the dough gets too sticky.)
- Transfer dough back into the bowl. Cover with a warm damp towel. TURN OVEN OFF and transfer bowl of dough to the warm oven, leaving the door ajar for the first 10-15 minutes or so. After 15 minutes, close oven door and allow the dough to double in size (another 45 minutes).
- Scrape dough onto a lightly floured work surface or kitchen bench, knead lightly for about 30-40 seconds if needed to bring the dough together, and mould into a loaf shape. Cut in half, then cut both halves into 6 equal pieces (you should now have 12 equal pieces all together).
- Working one by one, lightly flatten each piece of dough in the palm of your hands, then bring up all sides to form a peak on top (like a tent shape), and pinch and seal this peak. Flip it over and you should have a smooth top! Ensure there are no cracks. If there are, turn the roll upside down again and smooth the cracks out towards the peak you just made, pinching the seal again, and flip over to double check the top is smooth. (Use a light dusting of flour in your hands to prevent sticking if you need to.)
- Arrange rolls, smooth side up into a lightly greased 9×13-inch baking pan or dish (you can line your pan or dish with parchment paper if you wish).Preheat oven to 375˚F | 190˚C (or 350°F | 180°C for fan forced ovens).
- Lightly spray rolls with cooking oil spray, cover with plastic wrap and let rise again until just about doubled in size, (about 30 minutes).
- Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until rolls are golden browned. (Check them after 18 minutes to make sure they are ok.)
- Lightly brush with a little extra melted butter, and transfer to a cooling rack.
Bren says
This is my favorite recipe for rolls. The directions are simple and the dough always turns out soft. It’s super easy to work with and not as sticky as other doughs I’ve made. I love experimenting with the recipe by adding mix-ins like chocolate chips or cinnamon with brown sugar. It’s so versatile! I also enjoy brushing the tops with brown butter. The base recipe leaves a lot of room for unique variations!
MaLeya Hunter says
I’ve been using this recipe for years and do a honey butter and on top. Magical! Thank you for the recipe it’s my family and friends favorite.
Kelly says
Friends decided to meet us at our lake cabin and we had no eggs. This was the perfect recipe for flavor. The rolls were fluffy mpist. I used half and half and probably more butter than the recipe called for. We bbq burgers and used the rolls as buns. It was outstanding. Thanks!