Old Fashioned Dinner Rolls Recipe - The Baker Chick (2024)

ByAudra

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When it comes to family dinners and holiday meals, nothing beats the smell of homemade dinner rolls filling up the kitchen. Today I’m sharing a recipe for old-fashioned dinner rolls that are not only easy to prepare but also melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Follow these step-by-step instructions for creating the perfect batch of buttery, fluffy rolls that will elevate any occasion, from Thanksgiving dinner to everyday family gatherings.

Ingredients for homemade rolls:

  • Flour
  • Sugar
  • Active dry yeast
  • Milk
  • Melted butter
  • Salt
  • Warm water
  • Eggs

What you need for Old-Fashioned Yeast Rolls:

  • Large bowl
  • Baking sheet
  • Whisk
  • Bench Scraper if you have
  • ​Warm spot for proofing (I like a barely preheated oven)
  • Electric mixer with dough hook (optional)

The Process:

  1. Warm the milk until it’s at room temperature. In a bowl, combine the warm milk, sugar, and butter. Let cool until room temperature.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl with hands, combine half the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the eggs and milk mixture and knead, adding the rest of the flour as needed. Use the dough hook attachment and mix on low speed until a soft dough forms. You’ll know the dough is ready when it easily releases from the sides of the bowl.
  3. First rise- Transfer the dough to a oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1-2 hours or until it doubles in size.
  4. Punch down the risen dough and on a lightly floured surface divide it into equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and place them in a greased baking dish or muffin tin.
  5. Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap and let them rise for a second time until they puff up and fill the baking dish. This step ensures that your rolls are light, airy, and perfectly fluffy.
  6. Preheat your oven to 350F. Uncover the rolls and bake them until they turn a beautiful golden brown on top.
  7. Once out of the oven, brush the warm rolls with a little butter and sprinkle with sea salt. Allow them to cool on a wire rack.
  8. Enjoy your buttery rolls with soup, for mini sandwiches, or as a side for your holiday meal!

Old Fashioned Dinner Rolls Recipe - The Baker Chick (5)

Make-Ahead Options:

These old-fashioned dinner rolls are perfect for make-ahead preparations. After shaping the rolls, cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next day, let them come to room temperature and go through the second rise before baking.

Old Fashioned Dinner Rolls Recipe - The Baker Chick (6)

Storage:

Store any leftover rolls in an airtight container or wrap them in aluminum foil. They can be reheated in the oven or microwave, making them a convenient and delicious addition to your meals.

Interested in more homemade bread recipes?

My famous Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls are always a crowd pleaser!

Pumpkin Parkerhouse Rolls are another amazing holiday bread option!

Old Fashioned Dinner Rolls Recipe - The Baker Chick (7)

Yield: 24-30 rolls

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for brushing
  • 1/4-1/2 cup sugar*
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 6-8 cups all-purpose flour
  • Sea Salt for sprinkling

Instructions

  1. Place milk in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat, stir in the butter and sugar stir until sugar is dissolved. Let cool to luke warm.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the yeast, warm water, milk mixture, eggs, salt and half the flour.
  3. Mix for a few minutes until combined, scraping the bowl down with your spatula if needed. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time until dough comes together and forms a soft, loose ball. (The dough will be very soft but shouldn't be too sticky. I used 7 cups total flour.)
  4. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead by hand for about 5 minutes, adding a bit more flour if the dough is still very sticky, until smooth.
  5. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a clean towel, and proof in a warm place for 60-70 minutes, or until doubled.
  6. Turn proofed dough onto your floured surface, punch it down a bit, and roll or spread the dough into a rectangle. Shape into rolls and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. **
  7. Cover again and let rise for another 20-30 minutes.
  8. Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
  9. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt.

Notes

*The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of sugar, which definitely gives the rolls a little bit of a sweet taste. I didn't mind it, but will cut it down to 1/4 cup next time just to make it a bit more subtle.

** If I had wanted these to be perfectly the same size, I would have measured each one to weigh 1.5 oz on my kitchen scale. I eyeballed it though and was fine with them being a bit more rustic. To shape them into round rolls, I cut off the portion of dough, turned all the edges under and pinched them together to form a ball.

Recipe adapted from The Food Network

Did you make this recipe?

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Old Fashioned Dinner Rolls Recipe - The Baker Chick (2024)

FAQs

Should you brush dinner rolls before baking? ›

Butter basting: Rolls can be brushed with butter before, during, or after baking. While it doesn't brown the surface as much as egg wash will, it does promote browning and adds a lot of flavor.

Why were my dinner rolls dense? ›

Rolls that are not light and fluffy can be the result of using too much flour (not measuring the flour correctly, as we mention above), or not using the type of flour your recipe calls for. Another reason for dense tough rolls is overmixing, which will produce too much gluten.

How can I make my bread fluffier instead of dense? ›

Potato Flakes or Potato Water

Starch helps the dough by trapping the gas from the yeast in the dough and makes the bubbles stronger. This helps the bread to rise and be lighter and fluffier. If you are boiling potatoes, you can use the unsalted water in place of the water in your bread recipe to help out the yeast.

What ingredient makes bread light and fluffy? ›

Sugar: When yeast is mixed with sugar it consumes the sugar and produces carbon dioxide gas, which causes the bread dough to rise and become light and airy. Instant Yeast: Instant dry yeast can be added directly to the flour mixture without needing to be activated first.

Should I bake rolls on parchment paper? ›

Baking rolls on a baking sheet: These rolls can also be baked on a rimmed baking sheet if you'd prefer not to have the tear-away edges. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking liner and space the rolls a few inches apart.

Should I put an egg wash on my bread? ›

The egg-liquid mixture is then brushed over baked goods—like bread or pastries—before going in the oven to help give them a strikingly golden color and an eye-catching gloss after baking. An egg wash can also help seal the edges of filled pastries or hand pies and help any sprinkled sugar adhere to the dough.

When to put egg wash on dinner rolls? ›

An egg wash can be applied to shaped bread or rolls before or after proofing, but it should always be added before baking. When applying after proofing, use a very light touch with the brush to avoid deflating the bread.

What kind of pan is best for baking rolls? ›

If you don't have a large 11 inch cast iron pan, you can use a glass baking dish sprayed with nonstick spray. A 9×13 size would work well. It's best to have the rolls all touching each other when you arrange them in the pan, and I'll tell you why…

What happens if you add too much flour to dinner rolls? ›

Avoid adding too much extra flour to the dough.

Your instinct might be to add extra flour; however, any extra flour will create a denser, tougher roll instead of the light, fluffy, soft dinner roll we want.

Why are my homemade dinner rolls dry? ›

Either, you added too much flour or you possibly used all bread flour. Alternately, not giving your dinner rolls enough time to proof and get puffy before baking could yield dense rolls.

Why do my dinner rolls taste bland? ›

Salt adds flavor to bread. If none or too little is used in a recipe, the bread will lack the right flavor and taste "bland." If you reduce the amount of salt, try adding some dried herbs to increase the flavor.

Why do my dinner rolls taste yeasty? ›

If your bread has a sour, yeasty flavour and smells of alcohol then you have either used too much yeast.or you may have use stale yeast or creamed fresh yeast with sugar.

How many dinner rolls per person? ›

When it comes to dinner rolls in catering, plan for 1-2 per person depending on the event type and menu. For a formal event, stick to 1 roll; for a casual one, offer 2. Don't forget to consider plate size and side dishes. It's better to have extra rolls than run out mid-event.

Why are my rolls dense and not fluffy? ›

There may be several reasons for a dense, cake like texture in bread. It may indicate the kneading wasn't enough for the gluten to develop properly, or the dough was proved for too short a time or the dough may have been too dry. It is also worth checking the flour you used.

Why are my rolls not doubling in size? ›

The liquid was too hot, or not hot enough.

The water temperature should be between 110 - 115 F degrees. If your liquid is too hot (i.e. boiling) it will kill the yeast and prevent the rise.

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