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My Buttery Yeast Dinner Roll Recipe is the ULTIMATE homemade roll! These are soft and buttery and perfect made four different ways! Make these rolls into twists, knots, or even butter rolls easily with just a few simple steps.
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BEST EASY Dinner Roll Recipe
In my house, it wouldn’t be dinner without the rolls. I look for an excuse to make homemade rolls all the time, and I can usually find a reason (we’re having soup, we’re having salad, it’s Tuesday…)
When I was a kid we ate at my Nana’s house for dinner at least once a week. She knew me and my bread obsession; every meal was served with rolls or biscuits (bissy-cats, as she called them). Now, as a mom, Jordan has come to expect the same, and I’m always happy to oblige her.
I used to just us a mix or a tube or use store-bought rolls, but once I started blogging I taught myself how to make homemade rolls using yeast. I’ve told you before how I used to be scared of working with yeast, but now that I know how easy it is, I do it all the time.
Why you’ll love this recipe
Making homemade rolls is so easy, you’re going to want to make them all the time just like I do. I’m going to show you how, step by step, using Fleischmann’s® RapidRise Yeast, which takes out a lot of the steps. Once you’ve made these once you’re going to want to make them again and again because they turn out so fluffy and buttery and perfect.
Start with making them the traditional way, and once you discover how easy it is to make ultimate dinner rolls with yeast, you’ll want to try all the other shapes.
Yeast Rolls: Instant or Dry?
There are two kinds of yeast: RapidRise Instant and Active Dry Yeast. When you use RapidRise, you mix the yeast in with the dry ingredients. There’s no need to add it to warm water and let it proof, taking out some time. (Learn all about baking with yeast!)
Dinner Rolls Ingredients
- Instant Yeast: makes the process so much easier
- Flour: all-purpose flour is best but you can substitute bread flour
- Sugar: to activate the yeast
- Warm Milk, butter, salt, water
How do you make easy yeast rolls?
Let’s get started – I’m going to show you every step!
- Mix dry ingredients: whisk together 3/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar, salt
- Heat wet ingredients: measure out water, milk and add the butter. Heat to between 120-130°F (the butter won’t melt all the way)
- Mix: add the wet to the dry and mix. Continue mixing with the dough hook adding more flour (up to 2 1/4 cups) until the dough forms a ball.
- Knead: Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface a few minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic and bounces back when touched with two fingers.
- Rest: You’re going to let the dough rest for 10 minutes – that’s the best part about using instant yeast.
Making homemade rolls with Fleischmann’s® RapidRise Yeast cuts out a lot of time – there’s barely any rising time needed.
Forming Fluffy Dinner Rolls
Once you have your dough into a nice elastic ball, you have to decide what kind of soft dinner rolls you want to make:
- Traditional
- Twists
- Knots
- Buttery rolls (aka Lion House Rolls)
1. Dividing the dough: Divide the dough into 12 equal parts.
2. Making Traditional Homemade Rolls: To make these the traditional way, just roll them into balls and add them to a 9-inch round pan or similar baking dish.
3. Rise and Bake: Let the dough rise for 30 minutes, then bake.
Tip From Dorothy
Expert Tip
Hot out of the oven, I like to brush these with more butter to give them a nice buttery taste.
Once you know how easy it is to make homemade bread rolls, you can get creative with the shapes!
Homemade Roll Shapes
- For the buttery rolls: roll the dough into a flat sheet. Slice into squares, brush with butter and roll them up.
- For the twisty rolls, roll the dough into a long rope, fold in half and twist. The twists are golden brown and soft. The knots are thick and puffy (they’re my favorite shape!)
- For the knots, roll the dough into a long rope, then tie it in a knot.
Storing Easy Dinner Rolls
Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days or freeze baked rolls for up to a month.
How to make yeast rolls ahead of time: Make the rolls through the forming stage then add to a baking dish and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate up to 24 hours, letting the rolls rise at room temperature before baking.
FAQs
Shape these however you like – I love the regular rolls shapes or the twisted ones best.
I haven’t tried it – but it should make one loaf of bread. Once rolled out, brush with butter and roll back up and then place in loaf pan. Let it rise at room temperature until doubled in size and then bake for a soft bread.
Yes you can! Just use the dough hook and you shouldn’t have to knead the dough very much to make it an elastic ball.
And the soft and buttery rolls are extra buttery from the brushing inside the roll. You could also cut the rectangles into triangles and make these into crescents!
Making homemade rolls is EASY and fast – these are done in under an hour. Skip the store and tube, make your own amazing dinner rolls as your next side dish!
Other Dinner Roll Recipes
- My Cheesy Ranch Breadsticks are always a huge hit!
- Potato Rolls are another favorite
- We love Parker House Rolls
- Or, make Homemade White Bread instead!
Have you made this recipe?
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Buttery Homemade Dinner Rolls Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 2-2 ¼ cups (248-279g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
- 1 envelope Fleischmann’s® RapidRise Yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (118ml) milk
- ¼ cup (59ml) water
- 2 tablespoons (28g) butter plus more for brushing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare pan as directed below.
- Whisk 3/4 cup flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Place milk, water, and butter in a microwave-safe measuring cup. Heat in 15 second increments until the mixture is between 120°F-130°F (very warm water).
- Add milk mixture to the flour mixture and mix for 2 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl. (I like using a dough hook with my stand mixer for this.)
- Add 1/4 cup flour and mix for another two minutes, then add an additional 1 to 1 1/4 cups more flour, or until the mixture forms a ball in the mixer.
- Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes or until the dough is elastic and springs back when touched. Cover with a towel and rest for 10 minutes.
- Cut and shape dough as desired (see below for instructions), then cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Bake for 10-20 minutes depending on size and shape, or until golden and cooked through. Brush warm rolls with more melted butter.
For basic dinner rolls:
- Cut ball of dough into 12 pieces. Roll into balls. Place in a greased round 9-inch cake pan.
For twists:
- Cut ball of dough into 12 pieces. Roll each into a long thin rope. Fold in half. Twist the ends to form a twist. Place on a greased baking sheet.
For knots:
- Cut ball of dough into 12 pieces. Roll each into a long thin rope. Tie each rope into a knot. Place on a greased baking sheet.
For buttery rolled rolls:
- Roll ball of dough into large rectangle. Brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Slice into squares and roll each square up like a croissant. Place on a greased baking sheet.
Recipe Nutrition
This recipe is adapted from this Beginner Dinner Roll recipe.
**Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!**
This post was sponsored by Fleischmann’s® Yeast in 2018, and you can be assured that making homemade rolls are easy, no matter what shape you make them.
Making your homemade rolls into fun shapes is an easy way to dress up any dinner table.
This is a great recipe for easy, time friendly dinner rolls of whatever shape you decide to make. I had made these dinner “rolls” before with mixed, but generally good reviews. I made them tonight with one “tweak” to the recipe. After mixing the dry ingredients with the wet for a minute or two, I added one beaten egg before adding more flour and it changed the entire result. The end result was a softer much higher rising dough and a more tender, flavorful roll. I will be making more using this tweaked recipe.