Make your next dinner extra special.
A simple trick for making any dinner feel special is to serve fresh, hot rolls on the side. That fresh-baked bread smell, the feel of a warm roll in your hand, the sight of the butter melting over its surface…it turns even the simplest of meals into a gourmet experience.
If you’re like most people, you’ve never had this experience this at home, because you think making your own rolls is just too much work. But it doesn’t have to be. The only really hard part of the job is kneading the dough, and a good stand mixer with a dough hook can do that for you.
It still takes a bit of time to turn that dough into rolls, what with rising and punching down and shaping and rising again and baking. But the thing is, most of that is hands-off time. You don’t have to babysit the dough; just handle it briefly and walk away. The only part you have to pay attention to is the baking, so you can hustle those babies out of the oven when they’re done to a perfect golden brown.
Serve them in a basket lined with a cloth, and enjoy the feel of a fancy restaurant right in your own kitchen.
Quick Tips
Can you make these dinner rolls if you don’t have a stand mixer?
Sure, if you don’t mind mixing and kneading the dough by hand. Just mix the wet ingredients in a bowl with a hand mixer or a whisk, then stir in the flour with a spoon until it’s all incorporated. Then turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it, folding the dough in half and pressing it out repeatedly. Take out your frustrations on it! Add a little more flour to the dough if you find it too sticky to handle, and a little more water if it’s too dry and crumbly. You want it to be smooth and springy. Knead it for about ten minutes and you’re good to go.
I don’t have any rapid rise yeast. Can I make dinner rolls with regular active yeast?
You can, but you will need to let it proof with just the milk and sugar for 5-10 minutes before adding the other ingredients.
Is there any way to make the dough rise faster?
Dough rises faster it it’s kept warm, dark, and moist. That’s what yeast likes. But you have to make sure it doesn’t get up to oven temperature, or it will kill the yeast prematurely. On a sunny day, I cover mine with a warm, damp paper towel and put it outside. You can also put it in the oven, set on the “keep warm,” setting, still covered with a warm, damp paper towel. If your oven doesn’t have a warm setting, you can put the dough in there along with a pan of hot water, which also adds moisture.
How to Make Homemade Dinner Rolls
Step by step directions:
- Heat milk to 110 degrees. It is important that the milk is warm and the ingredients are at room temperature. For the best results, don’t skip this step!
- In the bowl of a stand mixer combine yeast, sugar, salt, egg, butter, and milk.
- Using the dough hook, on low speed, mix in 2 cups of flour. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula as needed.
- Add additional flour, a quarter cup at a time, until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- Knead the dough on medium speed for about 5 minutes or knead by hand for 10 minutes. Let the dough rest for a few minutes, it should be smooth and elastic.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
- Punch the dough down and divide into 12-15 equal sized balls. Place balls of dough into a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Brush with melted butter.
TOOLS USED TO MAKE THESE HOMEMADE DINNER ROLLS
Mixer: This 10-speed slide control ranges from a very fast whip to a very slow stir. Includes Flat Beater, Dough Hook and Wire Whip.
Baking Dish: These versatile baking dishes are prefect for this recipe.
Food Brush: These basting brush are made from 100% food grade, BPA free, FDA approved silicone.
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Homemade Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 T rapid rise yeast
- 3 T sugar
- ¾ t salt
- 1 egg room temperature
- 3 T butter softened
- 1 cup milk
- 2-3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 T butter melted to brush on after rolls are done
Instructions
- Heat milk to 110 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine yeast, sugar, salt, egg, butter, and milk.
- Using the dough hook, on low speed, mix in 2 cups of flour. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula as needed.
- Add additional flour, a quarter cup at a time, until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- Knead the dough on medium speed for about 5 minutes or knead by hand for 10 minutes. Let the dough rest for a few minutes, it should be smooth and elastic.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
- Punch the dough down and divide into 12-15 equal sized balls. Place balls of dough into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
- Brush with melted butter.
Video
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Nutrition Information:
Nutrition Disclaimer
Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Jsmith says
This recipe was super easy and delicious. My family was surprised i made them. Bless you.
Corey says
So happy your family love them!
David says
Is that capital T for tablespoon or teaspoon
Corey says
Tablespoon.