Y’all. Y’all have to make these soft dinner rolls. I know you can buy cheap dinner rolls that you throw in the oven to brown at the last minute. You know the ones. But these are SO worth the effort. Mmmmm.
Disclaimer:
These soft dinner rolls are soft and light with a hint of sweetness. You won't be able to stop eating them, so go ahead and double the recipe.
Ingredients.
The staples of any bread recipe include flour, water yeast and salt. But in order to get the softest dinner rolls we’re going to use some ingredients to “enrich the dough”. So in this recipe we’re adding milk, sugar and egg to create a soft more delicate (and sweet!) roll.
Special Tools
- Instant Read Thermometer. The trickiest part of baking these rolls for a beginner is making sure that the yeast is activated. If the water is too warm, the yeast will die and if the water isn’t warm enough the yeast won’t activate. The sweet spot is around 105ºF to 115ºF.
- Stand Mixer with Dough Hook (or lots of upper body strength)
- Kitchen Scale. This isn’t required but will make measuring out the correct amount of flour super easy. I also love using the kitchen scale to make sure all of my dinner rolls are the same size. Yes this might be slightly neurotic, but when all of the rolls are the same size, they bake evenly.
How to Proof
This recipe has two rest or “proof” periods. The goal of proofing is to give the rolls a chance to rise and the best way to do this is to create a warm space for the yeast to work it’s magic. I am incredibly lucky to have an oven that has a proof feature (!) but if your oven doesn’t have that here are a couple of ways to create a warm place for your bread to rise.
- Heat 4 cups of water to a boil. Arrange the oven racks so that one rack is on the very bottom rung. Place a loaf pan (or a pan of similar size) on the bottom rung and then put the dough on the top rack and close the door.
- If you have a pizza stone, put it in the bottom rack of your oven and turn on your oven for 2-3 minutes. Turn the oven off before adding the dough to the top rack.
- Microwave a large cup of water until it comes to a boil, when it’s done, remove the cup of water and place the covered dough in the microwave
- If your laundry room set up has a door to close, turn on the dryer for a few minutes on high and then leave the covered dough in the laundry room. Basically y’all, if there is a will, there’s a way to proof!
Soft Dinner Rolls are Freezer Friendly
This is the cheat code of all cheat codes! Okay. A month before Thanksgiving (or any major Holiday), double this recipe and freeze them! When you’re ready to bake, just place them in a 9x13 pan and bake from frozen adding a couple of extra minutes.
Here’s how you do it: after mix the dough, shape the dough into rolls, place the shaped rolls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Loosely cover the dough with plastic wrap and put the cookie sheet in the oven for 1 hour. Once the dough is set, drop the rolls in a freezer safe container until you’re ready to bake.
PrintRecipe
Soft Dinner Rolls
- Total Time: 2 hours and 20 minutes
- Yield: 30 rolls 1x
Description
A classic soft and slightly sweetened roll perfect for any holiday table.
Ingredients
½ cup warm water (105º F to 110ºF)
2 - ¼ ounce packets of active dry yeast
1 ½ cup whole milk
½ cup (100g) sugar
¼ vegetable shortening
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 egg, room temperature
5 ¾ (690g) cups all purpose flour
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, dissolve the active dry yeast into the warm water and let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes. The mixture should be actively bubbling. Troubleshooting: If the mixture is not bubbling after 5 minutes a couple things could be wrong 1) the yeast is old (so check the expiration date on packets) or 2) the water was not the correct temperature. If the yeast isn’t expired try using slightly cooler water– 100ºF is warm but not scalding.
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In a medium saucepan heat the milk, sugar, shortening and salt until a thermometer reaches 115ºF. If the mixture is hotter than 115ºF wait until the temperature drops before moving to step 3.
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Pour the milk mixture into the yeast mixture. In a small bowl (or measuring cup) lightly beat the egg before pouring it in the stand mixer. Add 3 cups of flour and stir on low speed until the dough is smooth,about 3-4 minutes.
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Switch the paddle attachment for the dough hook and add the remaining dough mixing on low until a soft dough forms, about 10 minutes.
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Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough into the bowl. Spray cling wrap with cooking spray and loosely cover the bowl. Proof the dough in a location that is about 75ºF until the dough has doubled in size. About an hour.
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Punch the dough down and the dough out onto a clean and lightly floured countertop. Divide the dough into 30 equal pieces. (Pro Tip: if you have a kitchen scale, turn the dough out of the bowl, place the bowl onto the kitchen scale, zero it out and weigh the dough in grams. Divide the total number by 30 to get even dough balls)
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Shape the dough by flattening the dough and then pulling all of the corners to the center before turning the topside down and rotating the dough in a circle until a tight ball forms.
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Place the shaped dough in a lightly greased pan, 3 rows of 5 in a 9x13 pan. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for another 45 minutes.
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20 minutes before baking Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. Brush the tops with melted butter.
Notes
To Freeze: After mixing the dough in step 4, shape the dough into rolls. Place the shaped dough on a parchment lined baking sheet, leaving space between each dough ball. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and place the baking sheet in the freezer for 1 hour. After an hour, transfer the dough to a freezer safe container/bag. When you are ready to bake, remove the desired rolls from the freezer and let them thaw for 4-5 hours. Preheat the oven to 400ºF, bake from frozen for 15-17 minutes.
- Prep Time: 20
- Proof Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 15
- Category: Rolls
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