These Sweet Dinner Rolls are a traditional yeast roll with a fluffy and light texture. Made with bread flour, eggs, milk, and butter, this bread recipe is a buttery, tender sweet roll that is perfect for holiday meals.
This dinner roll recipe is not only a delicious bread to share during the holidays! They also are great as the bun in this Cheddar Jalapeno Burger! I also love to butter a roll and put a few slices of leftover turkey in between for an impromptu turkey sandwich!
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Holiday Dinner Roll Tradition
Growing up, my Mom and my Aunt Marlene made the most awesome dinner rolls. They were always so tall and flaky and delicious. It just was not a holiday if we didn't have sweet dinner rolls on the table.
I remember watching my mom make the dinner rolls and would be fascinated with the whole process. Which, to me, seemed pretty complicated. However, watching my mom over the years make her yeast bread, and seeing how things changed over the years, I realized it wasn't all that complicated at all. You just need to know a few things about how to make yeast bread.
Ingredients
Bread Flour: I highly recommend the use of bread flour. It has a higher protein content which helps with the development of gluten. If you cannot find bread flour, all-purpose flour will still work. However, the rolls may not rise as high.
Yeast: Dry active yeast or instant yeast - both will work.
Eggs: Be sure the eggs are at room temperature.
Milk: I use full-fat milk for this dinner roll recipe. However, non-dairy cashew milk is a great substitute. I recommend the milk. It adds flavor aids in the dough texture.
Sugar: it's not a sweet dinner roll without the sugar! Please don't skip this or cut down on the amount if you want the same results I had.
9 x 13 baking pans or a sheet pan
How to make homemade yeast bread
I take several shortcuts in making dinner rolls compared to what my mom did. Even proofing is not essential unless your not sure the yeast is good. The only reason the yeast may not be good is if it sat around for a long time. I do still proof the yeast, basically because of habit.
There are always two risings when making these sweet dinner rolls. The first rise happens right after the dough has been kneaded. It is put back in the bowl with a little oil and covered with a towel or plastic wrap.
I use my oven to proof because I have a proof setting. In the past, I would set it in the warmest room of the house to allow it to be warm and cause the dough to rise.
How to slow down the proofing process
The last time I made these sweet dinner rolls, I did something a little bit different. I made them the night before, proofed the dough once, then shaped into rolls and placed in the baking pans, covered with plastic wrap, then placed in the refrigerator overnight to slow down the rising process.
The next morning I removed them from the refrigerator, covered with a clean towel, and placed in my oven to do the second proofing before baking. This is a great way to make rolls ahead of time during the holidays and still have fresh baked hot sweet dinner rolls!
The sweet dinner rolls came out of the oven nice and brown. And, they also had risen to just above the baking pan! I felt like I had succeeded in making rolls that looked as amazing as my Moms!
The roll pulls apart in flakey deliciousness! These golden, delicious Sweet Dinner Rolls will always be my go-to recipe from this point on and should be yours also!
Top Tips
- Be patient. Bread making is not something you can rush! Take your time and follow each step carefully!
- The temperatures of your wet ingredients should never be cold or hot. Always let your eggs and liquid be at room temperature.
- When melting butter, it should only have begun to “just melt”. If it bubbles, it’s too hot and you should allow it to cool until its just warm.
- When proofing your dough, use your oven or sit the rolls in a warm place covered with a towel.
- After pulling the rolls out of the oven, rub the tops of the rolls with butter. Unwrap the stick of butter and rub one end over the top until it’s coated with butter.
Bread Machine Method
If you do not own a KitchenAid, but do have a bread machine, this recipe can easily be assembled in the bread machine to do the mixing and rising portion of the recipe.
Assemble the ingredients into the bread machine starting with the wet ingredients, butter, and sugar, Add the flour to the wet ingredients. Make a well in the flour, and add the yeast. Run the bread machine on the dough cycle.
The bread machine will keep your dough at a perfect temperature for proofing. Once the dough cycle is finished, move on to step 8 in the instructions.
Other recipes to make with the sweet roll dough
This sweet dinner roll dough can also be used to make cinnamon rolls. Just roll the dough out, spread some butter, cinnamon sugar on top. Roll the dough up and slice into rolls.
I also have used this dough to make Monkey Bread! Just follow the instructions in this Peanut Butter and Jelly Monkey Bread recipe and sub the roll dough for the biscuits!
We also love to make fried dough with this recipe. When I do this, I will make 18 dinner rolls, then use the remaining dough to make the fried dough.
📖 Recipe
Sweet Dinner Rolls
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Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 cup warm milk
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 8 cups bread flour
- 2 tablespoon active dry yeast
Instructions
Place ingredients in Kitchenaid attached with a dough hook as follows:
- Water, milk, eggs, sugar, butter, 3-½ cups flour, salt, yeast.
- Stir on low setting until the mixture starts to come together. This will be a wet, loose dough.
- Scrape down the sides of the Kitchenaid and stir with the dough hook another two minutes.
- Add remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, stirring with the dough hook on low until combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
- Knead the dough for another 3-4 minutes in the KitchenAid. The dough will pull away from the bowl.
- Remove the dough from the KitchenAid bowl and set the dough on a lightly floured surface.
- Clean the KitchenAid bowl, then lightly grease the bowl with oil. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover it with a towel. Set in a warm spot and let rise until doubled in size.
- Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough in half. Then cut each piece in half two more times (you will have 8 sections). Cut each of those sections into 3 equal pieces. You should have 24 rolls.
- Shape roll and place in 1-9x13 pan (18 rolls 3 across and 5 down) and in a 9x5 loaf pan (2 across and 3 down). Let dough rise for 1 hour.
- Bake the rolls at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until rolls are golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately brush tops with butter.
- Serving Suggestion: Use a Bread Basket warmer and Stone to take from oven to table and keep your rolls warm!
- Store any leftover rolls in an airtight bag.
Nancy says
Wonderful recipe! Turns out perfectly every time and tastes very much like my grandmother’s roles😊
Liz T says
They came out great! Love this recipe & it’s a keeper! It was so delicious and an easy recipe to follow. Thank you!
Sam says
I made the rolls by the recipe but my flour was dry.
I put it to rise and it did rise like it was suppose to
I’m just awaiting the second rise and baking them
I hope they’re light and fluffy, not heavy
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Sam, I wouldn't overwork the dough any more than I had to at this point. Also, if the dough is dry, you can always add more liquid to help. Let me know how they turned out for you. THanks! Shelby
Janet says
Loved this recipe! This my new go to roll! Just wanted to say that I was quite confused when I was making the rolls as math is not my strong point; 5 rows 3 across is 15 rolls. I had to stop & do a word problem lol! Seriously this is a great recipe as is. No changes. I love in south Louisiana so usually need to use more flour due to the humidity. Whisk your flour, scoop & level. Thanks
Heather Brumley says
We just had a baking day for yeast rolls and made 3 recipes we found on Pinterest. This was THE BEST recipe I have ever tried. From the minute I turned the dough out to roll, I knew they were going to be good just by the way it handled. I highly recommend this recipe. We ended up just making balls and baking them that way and they turned out perfect!
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Heather! Thank you so much for coming back to review the recipe. I am so happy they turned out perfect for you too! Shelby
Ljiljana says
Excellent.I used a bred machine and froze both baked and dough.
Greg says
Can I cut the salt in half....low sodium diet here
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Greg, yes, you can reduce the salt. Enjoy! Shelby
connie j swaim says
I put the full recipe in my breadmaker. It lifted the lid to my breadmaker as it was rising but worked out perfectly and smelled so good!
Shelby Law Ruttan says
That's great to hear! So happy it worked out for you. Shelby
Shelly J Bentley says
I don't know what happened to mine but the dough did not rise correctly (yeast was not outdated) and I could not put the amount of flour this recipe called for because the dough was so dry it couldn't mix so I added a little less and had to add more liquid. Any suggestions?
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Shelly, There are a couple of things that could have affected this. If the flour is packed into the measuring cup, instead of spooning and leveling off, it could have too much flour. Or, it could have been the temperature of the water. My guess, from what you say here, is it was probably a flour issues.
luda says
you put 8 cups in the recipe. but the directions only call for FOUR. total. so you might want to fix that. no wonder her dough was as dry as the desert.
Shelby Law Ruttan says
I believe you did not read the recipe correctly. You start with 3-1/2 cups of flour, then you add the remaining flour (meaning what is left of the flour) 1/2 cup at a time as instructed in step 4. The amount of flour is correct. I am going to assume that the instructions were not followed carefully as it was instructed to do so in my post.
Tami Hansen says
Most bread machine recipes call for 4 cups of flour at the most. Will this work with this much ingredients in a 2 lb bread machine?
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Tami, I don't use a bread machine so I can't say, however, from what you have told me I would say just cut the ingredients to this recipe in half and try it in the bread machine. I think the amount of dough this recipe makes as a full recipe would be too much for your bread machine.
Katrina says
Just made these for dinner tonight! They look great and everyone said they taste great (course, I didn't get to partake of the gluten). <3
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Katrina~Yay! So glad your family enjoyed them (even if you couldn't!) Thank you for rating the recipe! Shel y
Pattie Clemons says
Do you think you could make these rolls and before the 2nd rise that you could freeze them. I would like to make a week ahead of time. I would then thaw and let rise and bake. I guess like the loaves of frozen bread dough you buy. Thank you!
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Pattie, I think that would work! I would pull them out the night before and put in the refrigerator, then take out to finish rising in a warm spot before baking. Enjoy! Shelby
Cathy Ratliffe says
Thank you so much many recipes don’t call for sugar in rolls but that’s the only way my gr8aunt would make . I love them this way thanks again
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Cathy, your welcome and thanks for stopping by! Shelby
Lynne says
Can this recipe be frozen?if so Blackwood you do iy?
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Doris, yes, this recipe can be frozen up to 3 months, just be sure it is completely cooled and in an airtight packaging. I'm not sure what the rest of your question is. ˜Shelby
Lynne says
How well does this recipe do when cut in half?
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Lynne, it should work for you to cut it in half. Thanks for stopping by!
Jennifer W says
Can I substitute regular milk for the almond milk?
Shelby says
Absolutely!
Peggy Clyde says
Your rolls look beautiful and I'm sure they tasted wonderful.