Recipe: The Best Buttery Dinner Rolls (2024)

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This is our all-time favorite best Buttery Dinner Rolls recipe made with instant yeast in your bread machine or by hand. This is definitely a staple for holidays and family dinners in our house!

Like many young people, who leave the nest and head off to college, I gained the “Freshman Fifteen”. I can pinpoint my extra pounds to one thing… it certainly wasn’t from the not so great dorm food. It wasn’t even because I partied hard and consumed my calories in beer. Just about every single extra pound came from the most delicious, fluffy, buttery soft dinner rolls at the restaurant where I waitressed.

I think I have bad eating habits now…when I was in college my eating habits were pretty awful. The restaurant I worked at had a bakery with these giant dinner rolls that were served fresh from the oven, with loads of melted butter dripping off the golden brown tops. The aroma of the homemade rolls wafted through the restaurant and man… it was impossible to resist. On my short breaks, I would always grab a roll (or a couple) to quickly snarf down so I could get back to my tables.

Recipe: The Best Buttery Dinner Rolls (2)

Homemade bread, especially homemade rolls, has always been my weakness.

As soon as I had a home and kitchen of my own, I decided to try and perfect making the rolls from my college days. I scoured the internet for the perfect homemade dinner rolls recipe and finally came upon an easy recipe that seemed very doable. I loved that I could use my bread machine to make the dough or I could use my stand mixer with a dough hook to make the process easier as well.

This Buttery Dinner Roll Recipe is from Food.com and is one I’ve been using for the past 10 years for our family Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts. It is simply the best dinner roll recipe I’ve ever tried so I haven’t felt the need to stray too far looking for anything better. In fact,I really really love these other yeast bread recipes, but this recipe I’m sharing today is the one my family begs for the most.

Recipe: The Best Buttery Dinner Rolls (3)

What Type of Yeast Should I Use When Making Dinner Rolls?

Red Star Yeast recently launched a revolutionary yeast they have called “Platinum Superior Baking Yeast“. They sent me some to try out and I am so amazed! Each loaf of bread I’ve made using this yeast has risen and yielded the most amazing loaves of bread. From the Red Star Yeast website: “This simple-to-use yeast strengthens and improves your dough, increasing oven spring and finished volume of any recipe.” I love this yeast for bread baking perfection, but you can use any other active dry yeast as well.

I know so many of you might be scared of working with yeast but trust me. Yeast wary friends can rejoice as this yeast seems to be the no fail answer to your bread baking prayers! You can feel comfortable knowing that with this recipe, you’ll produce some of the best yeast rolls without a lot of effort the very first time. It’s a great beginner recipe and one that you’ll keep forever and ever.

What Equipment Does This Recipe Require?

The following list may contain affiliate links where if a purchase is made we’d earn a small amount at no additional cost to you.

For best results, the following equipment is recommended when making this dinner rolls recipe:

If you decide to use your bread machine for this recipe, it’s best to simply follow the instructions for the order of ingredients from your ABM’s manufacturer.

Here Are Some Ideas for Additional Items To Serve

I personally think there’s nothing better than soft and fluffy dinner rolls and would be happy to call this dinner. However I know not everyone is as bread obsessed as I am. For additional recipes to make your table complete, check out these links:

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family has and it becomes one you make time and time again! Enjoy!

Recipe: The Best Buttery Dinner Rolls (5)

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The Freshman Fifteen {Recipe: The Best Buttery Dinner Rolls}

The best buttery dinner roll recipe around. Bread Machine version can be found on this post Original recipe can be found at Food.com

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water plus
  • 1 tablespoon water 70-80 F
  • 1 large egg
  • 4 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 1/4 cups bread flour
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • 2 tablespoons shortening optional

Instructions

  • Combine all the ingredients, minus the shortening and butter, in the bowl of your stand mixer in the order listed in the ingredients. Knead with the dough hook until the dough is smooth and elastic.

  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until the dough has doubled in size, about an hour.

  • Once dough has risen, remove from bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into 15 uniformed sized balls (you may have to have shortening on your hand as you do this to keep from sticking)

  • Lightly butter a 9x13 baking pan. Place rolls onto baking pan, cover and let rise until double in size (approximately 30 minutes).

  • Bake in a 350°F oven for 15 minutes or until a light, golden brown.

  • After removing from the oven, brush with melted butter. Serve warm.

Recipe: The Best Buttery Dinner Rolls (6)

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Red Star Yeast. All opinions expressed are my own.

This blog post was originally published on November 2nd 2012 and updated November 14th 2019.

Recipe: The Best Buttery Dinner Rolls (2024)

FAQs

Should you brush butter on 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.

Should I use parchment paper for dinner rolls? ›

I suggest using parchment paper to line the baking dish to ensure that the rolls are easy to remove from the pan to serve. Once the homemade dinner rolls are formed and placed in the baking sheet, let them rise again until they are doubled in size (30-60 minutes).

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.

Is it better to use egg wash or butter on bread? ›

The Los Angeles Times notes that butter can still be used as a "wash," but it yields different results than egg: Instead of imparting color or crispness, it offers a more luxurious flavor and softness.

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 is the secret to a soft and fluffy bread? ›

Add Milk

To make your bread soft and fluffy, another trick used by commercial bakers is replacing water with milk. Milk has fats which make bread softer. We at Old Bridge Bakery, carrying years of tradition of bread making, provide authentic and delicious loaves of bread in different flavours. Come and enjoy!

Should I put egg wash on rolls? ›

And remember egg wash isn't just for pie crust; use it on any dough you'd like to give high shine, including dinner rolls, hand pies, brioche buns, and puff pastry or croissants.

What type of pan is best for baking rolls? ›

For most uniformly shaped pull-apart rolls, bake them in a round or rectangular pan. For non-pull-apart perfect spheres, bake rolls free-form. Though in the end, how much difference does it really make – so long as there are hot rolls, brushed with butter, on the table when dinner is ready?

Which side of parchment paper do you bake on? ›

Since parchment paper doesn't have a helpful “this end up” sign with an arrow, it takes a little detective work. Just hold the paper up to the light and look for the side that's slightly glossier or shinier. It is the shiny or glossy side of the parchment paper that should be face up on your baking sheet or cake pan.

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. Too much yeast in bread will give bread an off-taste.

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.

Should homemade dinner rolls be refrigerated? ›

If you're only a day or two away from your party, you can also just refrigerate either the dough or the shaped rolls — they'll keep just fine without even needing to go to the freezer. Whichever method you end up using, three days in the fridge or a month in the freezer is about the maximum that I recommend.

Why brush rolls with butter? ›

Some dinner-style rolls can benefit from a brush of melted butter while still warm from the oven to give them extra shine and savoriness. Of course, there's also the cinnamon roll, which almost always benefits from icing or cream cheese frosting after baking.

What do you use to brush butter on rolls? ›

After whipping up the melted honey butter, use a pastry brush to brush your desired amount over your pre-heated dinner rolls.

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