If you ask anyone in my family, they will tell you that these are the ultimate dinner rolls. But, I can’t really take credit for them.
These are my grandmother’s famous rolls… Whenever we would have get togethers with the whole family, she would make a big batch of these rolls. They were a holiday staple for years. My brother and cousins would fight over them, and I’m pretty sure that there were times where they each had more than 10 rolls in one meal. They really are that good.
My grandmother was a great cook and baker. Though she passed away a few years ago, I often think of her when I am in my kitchen. I am fortunate enough to have many of her recipes, and though I can’t prepare them quite the way she did, they always remind me of her.
Until recently, the recipe for her rolls was one of the few recipes that I didn’t have. In December, my mom and I were putting together a book of family recipes for my brother and his new wife. When we asked around for recipes, one of my cousins happened to have the recipe for the rolls. We put it in the book (especially since my brother was one of the biggest fans of the rolls), and I set out to learn to make them myself.
Perhaps my grandmother is looking down on me, because there’s just something about these rolls that always amazes me. They really are quite simple to make, and they always turn out beautifully. They are the lightest, softest dinner rolls I have ever made. They’re also pretty adaptable. I have swapped out the all purpose flour for whole wheat, added flax, used oil in place of the butter, and even made them with herbs and cheese. The rolls also make fantastic buns for hot dogs and hamburgers… You’ll want to keep the recipe on hand this summer!
Though I’d encourage you to try your own versions of these rolls, I really do think that the original is the best. I’ve halved the recipe here, and have adapted it slightly to use readily available dry active yeast. There are no fancy flours and they may not be packed with extra fiber and whole grains… But they are perfect in their simplicity. They are one of my family favorites, and I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I have!
Light and Soft Dinner Rolls
(Makes 18 dinner rolls or 12 sandwich rolls)
- 1 cup warm milk
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
(or cut it into small chunks and microwave for about 15 seconds) - 3 – 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- Egg wash (1 egg + 1 teaspoon water), optional
- Sesame seeds, optional
Begin by combining the milk, sugar, yeast, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together until the yeast and sugar are mostly dissolved.
Add the butter and egg. Stir to incorporate and break up the egg. Add 1 cup of flour and beat vigorously to fully incorporate the flour and any lumps of butter that may have been remaining.
Gradually, add the remaining flour, stirring until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough with your hands, adding just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your hands. Knead for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth, but still light and soft.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until the dough has doubled in volume (about 1 1/2 hours). Punch the dough down, reshape into a ball, and let rise a second time until the dough has doubled in volume again (an additional hour).
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Shape the rolls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon liner. Let the rolls rise while the oven preheats, until they are a bit puffy. If desired, brush the tops of the rolls with some egg wash (to make them shiny) and sprinkle with sesame seeds (I usually do this for the hot dog and hamburger buns). Bake for about 12 – 14 minutes, until the rolls are golden on top.
Let the rolls cool for about 10 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a wire rack. The rolls are best served warm, but they will keep for a few days in an airtight container, or wrapped in plastic.
Jen, these are simply gorgeous. You know how I struggle with yeast but I want to rush into the kitchen right now and make a batch of your grandmother’s rolls.
Beautiful! I love heirloom recipes that are so adaptable!!!
And, so nice that you put together a cookbook for your brother & sister-in-law!
I too love heirloom recipes – particularly comfort foods like warm, fresh rolls. I’m so happy for you (and for us!) that you found the recipe – I think I’ll make these for Mother’s Day this weekend :)
What a beautiful post! I want to make these!
I think it is so nice that your grandmother’s recipe was found and able to be put in your sweet cookbook. I love that you made your own hamburger and hot dog buns with it. The texture of the bread looks amazing and I’m sure they are delicious. Your grandmother would be very proud of you today!
They seem very soft.
What a great post! This recipe is on my list to make. I love heirloom recipes. Your photos are great!
What a sweet post and these rolls are a definite make for me. It was really generous of you to share that family recipe with us. My relatives have a bread recipe that starts with the warm milk too and it’s always good. Hope to see ya soon.
I love basic dinner rolls, they really are the best! It’s so nice to have recipes like this you can pass down through the family, great post :)
That looks wonderful. This is a recipe I have to try. My breads are always iffy on how soft they are.
Have been searching high and low for a good dinner roll recipe…can’t wait to try these. Thank you sooooo much for sharing!!! Do you think it would work to par bake them and keep them in the freezer?? :)
Nessie – Hope you enjoy the rolls! Yes, I think it would work to keep them in the freezer. You can probably actually freeze them right after shaping them, as well. Then, let them come to room temp and rise right before baking.
OMG – light and fluffy indeed. So delightful!
Not sure what I love more, the beautiful versatile rolls or the history of the recipe! I can’t wait to try these. Thanks Jen!! Isn’t cooking/baking an amazing way to honor those we love, those we have lost and those we admire via their wonderful recipes?
Thank you so much for this recipe!!
I could not wait to make them so I made the dough and first rise on sunday night. Then I put it on fridge till yesterday at night, let the dough come to room temperature and shape the rolls.
When my husband came home a wonderfull smell had invaded the whole flat.
They were so good that we eat them this morning with jam too !!
I have never made bread, but with this recipe I can see myself in the kitchen right now
Hey there! I got this recipe off of pinterest and tried your rolls out today. They really are surprisingly EASY (I don’t ever believe it until I try it). I was left have 2 unanswered questions:
1. I would like my rolls to be more buttery; would I do the egg wash and then brush on melted butter before I cook the rolls. OR do you think it would be better to wait until the rolls are already cooked to brush on the butter.
2. To freeze the left over dough, should I follow the recipe up to shaping them, stop, and then freeze my shaped dough balls?
Any input would be very helpful.
Thanks!
Bobbi – I’m so glad you enjoyed the rolls!
To make them more buttery, you could actually dip them in melted butter (instead of using the egg wash) prior to baking them. And, typically, to freeze the leftover dough, I shape them and freeze them already shaped. An easy way to do that is to shape them and freeze them on a baking sheet. Then, once the rolls are frozen, transfer them to a ziplock bag in the freezer. To bake after they are frozen, let them come to room temperature and puff up a bit, then bake as directed.
Wow!
I made these, for the second time, today.
First time, I refrigerated the dough overnight for the second big rise (was a bit late starting) and they turned out good.
Second time, I went straight through, from start to finish, with plenty of time to make these up for 12 burger buns for dinner and wow, just wow.
They are soft, light and squashy. Everything you want from a burger roll!
I brushed with milk instead of egg (I hate to use a whole egg just to brush a few rolls) and I think that made them all the better.
Awesome. These are now my permanent white roll recipe. Thanks SO much for sharing
I’m trying to surprise my wife by having a go at baking, I’ve tried a couple of recipes for bread rolls but the texture was a bit heavy when you cut in to them but these rolls look great so I’m going to give it a go. One question not sure what 3-3 half means is it three and a half cups of flour or 3 half cups.? Used to doing everything by weight
Hi, Pete – By 3 – 3 1/2 cups, I simply meant that the recipe will require somewhere between 3 cups and 3 1/2 cups of flour. The exact amount of flour varies based on conditions like temperature and humidity. You will want to use just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your hands while you knead. Happy baking!
i made these with ham pieces, cheese and olives on top for my little one. in the oven right now, made them smaller for her.
What a great memory of your grandmother. I have no doubt that she’s with you while you’re cooking.
Hi I just saw this link on pintrest and I really want to make them but I was wondering if I could use salted butter and just omit the 1 teaspoon of salt?
Hi, Summer – Yes, using salted butter should be just fine. Just leave out the teaspoon of salt. Hope you enjoy the rolls!
Can you please tell me where you got the kitchen utensil?
Hi, Tami – You can find the dough whisk on Amazon (affiliate link) or from King Arthur Flour.
I just realized I do not have any parchment paper, can I just do it on the cookie sheet? I need to go buy a silicon liner i guess! They are read to be made into rolls too! haha help!
Alyssa – Yes, you can just lightly grease your cookie sheet, and it should be fine!
Hi Jen….I’ve struggled to find a recipe that did not leave me with yeast tasting rolls. Success with yours! Although the temperature is way too high for a convection oven (I had to bake at 350), these are yummy. Next time I hope they come out a bit lighter :) Well done Jen!
Hi Jen! I’m a Finnish gal who was an exchange student in the US years ago. I’ve been on a hunt for rolls for a few years, since I’ve been craving them ever since my year in Dallas. My problem with the recipes I’ve found is, that I don’t know if our dry yeast is the same as yours.
I found your first chapter of Bread Baking Basics (and pinned the yeast conversion chart, thank you for that!) and you referred to fresh cake yeast. We have that kind of yeast in all of our supermarkets and that’s the kind I’m most familiar working with. You mention in this recipe that you’ve modified the original recipe to work with active dry yeast, but could you possible tell me what the original recipe was. The one where you use cake yeast? I would be ever so grateful! :)
Now off to read more of your posts! Oh, and work.
Hi, Noora – Thanks so much for reading! I’m so glad the bread posts have helped you out. The original recipe simply called for a “cake” of yeast, but didn’t include size/weight measurements. However, for this recipe I would start with 2/3 ounce of fresh cake yeast and go from there. I apologize that I cannot provide more assistance since I have not tried baking the rolls with fresh yeast myself. If you do decide to make them, please let me know how it goes!
I’ve had bad luck in the past trying to make hot dog buns. All the recipes I’ve tried have been too big or too dense or so crumbly they fall apart when you try to eat them. This one was perfect!
I used a stand mixer with the paddle attachment to bring everything together, then switched to the dough hook and let that knead it on speed 2 for 5 minutes. I used the full 3 1/2 cups flour (by weight) and it was pretty loose, but I didn’t want to add too much extra flour up front. After two rises that took less than an hour each, I shaped them into 12 logs on a parchment lined baking sheet. This took a bit of extra flour during shaping, but wasn’t too bad. They rose a little but seemed really small, but after I brushed on the egg wash and popped them in the oven they rapidly expanded into nice, full buns. You could probably get away with 16 buns with this recipe if you prefer a higher hot dog to bun ratio.
Thanks for the recipe! My wife and kids loved them, and I’ll certainly be making them again.
Going to try this recipe for dinner rolls today, looks good. Great you found your Grandmother’s recipes. My Grandmother was a great cook, but when she past, she took them with her. I have been told I am just like my Grandmother in the kitchen, inventing new recipes and I get praises and like my Grandmother, I forget to write them down. Anyway, I shall let you know how they turn out. Thanks.
I just wanted to leave a little note and Thank You for sharing this family recipe. I made them last night and my whole family was like “YES!!!!”. They turned out perfect and it was my first time making rolls!! Thank you again!!
Hi,
I am in the process of making this rolls. I just had one question, how come you bulk ferment it twice before shaping the rolls? I am also currently making another recipe for whole wheat rolls and the recipe calls to let it rise only once before shaping. Just curious…
Thanks!
Hi, Nicole – The original recipe from my grandfather calls for letting the rolls rise twice, so that’s the way I’ve always made them. I think it helps them to come out a bit more light and fluffy, but I honestly don’t know.
I just made these and OMG they’re delicious! Thank you so much for the perfect dinner roll recipe!
Hi, I love these rolls!!!
I had been disappointed in various recipes for cinnamon rolls / caramel rolls etc as I just could not get them to rise or stay soft for more than a few hours. I made dinner buns out of this recipe and decided to try half of the dough as cinnamon rolls and they worked beautifully! Just wanted to add this to ways to adapt it. (I let it rise once, then flattened and rolled with filling, cut rolls and rose/baked in muffin pans.)
I just took these out of the oven and I couldn’t even wait to let them cool down! I NEEDED to try one! I made a baker’s dozen and it was soooo yummy! Every other roll recipe I’ve tried has been crumbly… and I don’t like crumbly rolls :(
These will be made on a daily basis now! Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. This is by far the best recipe I have ever used. Wonderful soft, airy, squishy rolls. I have found my new go-to bread recipe.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I made rolls with another recipe yesterday and they didn’t turn out as light and fluffy as I wanted. The dough didn’t even double in size. The rolls aren’t horrible, but they are not light and fluffy and that is the goal! I don’t know what I’m doing wrong! I love a challenge so I’ll be trying your recipe soon! I can hardly wait!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Great recipe . Very easy to make!
Looks a lovely recipe but what is a stick of butter? I prefer to use fresh yeast. What is the equivalent please?
Hi, Jane – A stick of butter is simply a 1/4 pound (1/2 cup). And, if you are using fresh yeast (cake yeast), you will want to use about 2/3 oz. You can refer to this Yeast Conversion Table for more details.
That looks like a pure bread fantasy. Going to give it a go tomorrow, and hope for the best.
Thank you for sharing this with all of us.
It turned out absolutely gorgeous. I’m so pleased with it and can’t wait for my husband to come home from work to try those Heavenly baps.
Thank you for your recipe, I am going to try them tonight..
I live in Germany and there are no soft rolls in this part of Germany and i always have to go to the Netherlands to get them, so now I am going to give them a try for myself…
x
I googled “soft dinner rolls” and your recipe showed up on the first page. I read the few words that show up with each URL and liked yours the best. I’m glad I chose yours because these rolls turned out sublime! Thank you for sharing your grandmother’s roll recipe. I can see it becoming a favorite in my family with cousins battling over the last ones at Thanksgiving dinner.