Plush, Golden Brown Dinner Rolls–The Easy Way!
Today’s dinner roll recipe is perfect for people who want warm-from-the-oven dinner rolls without the last-minute scrambling. The beauty of this recipe is that you can do all the heavy lifting in advance (but I still include options to bake the rolls same day, if preferred). Similar to my overnight cinnamon rolls, they are equally pillowy soft and tender if allowed to rest overnight or if baked the same day, so take your pick! Be prepared for everyone at the dinner table to fight over who gets to pull out the first roll–and be even more prepared for the whole batch to be gone in a matter of minutes (especially if you serve them with honey butter!). They’re that good!
What You Need
You can make these gorgeous rolls with just 8 ingredients! Let’s talk about the important ones before we get started.
Bread flour. Bread flour is a better choice than all-purpose as it yields a more chewy roll, which is exactly why I recommend it here (and in my pizza dough and sourdough). Note that I include a range for the flour here; this because yeast doughs can come together differently depending on the kitchen, so you may need more or less than a standard measurement. You’ll know your dough has enough flour when it starts to cling to itself and pull away from the sides of the bowl. Yeast. Stick with active dry yeast and make sure it’s fresh. If your yeast doesn’t foam after 5-10 minutes in the warm milk/water/sugar mixture, it’s likely dead and you will need to start over. Do not proceed with the recipe if your yeast doesn’t bloom! And if you’re looking for an instant yeast version, see my other dinner roll recipe instead. Butter. We’ll use unsalted butter and in the dough and brush salted butter on top of the rolls after they finish baking. The butter topping is optional, but I highly recommend it for best flavor (and don’t think that stops me from adding a giant slice of butter to my roll, either, we’re big butter fans around here 😉). Milk. I prefer to use whole milk in my baking. If you need to substitute a lower fat or non-dairy milk, you can, but your rolls might not be as tender. Sugar. We’re using a small amount of sugar here, but not enough to make the rolls distinctly sweet (we want dinner rolls, not a sweet bread). Instead, the sugar will feed our yeast, enrich the dough, and encourage soft, tender results.
SAM’S TIP: Make sure your milk and water mixture isn’t too hot or cold, otherwise your yeast may not bloom properly. Aim for 115F or 46C. This is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Make Ahead Dinner Rolls
SAM’S TIP: I highly recommend brushing your rolls with salted butter after baking to make them even more mouth-watering…I mean seriously, just look at them! Looking for an even faster, yeast-free carb-y side? Try my buttermilk cornbread or biscuits! Enjoy! Let’s cook together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes and follow along on YouTube where I share hundreds of free recipe tutorials! 💜
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