Easy Dinner Rolls
The Roll That Goes With Everything
Some recipes earn their place in a kitchen by being versatile. Dinner rolls are that recipe. They belong next to a pot roast, alongside a bowl of sausage tortellini soup, or on a holiday table where every seat is taken and the bread basket empties before the main course arrives.
These rolls are soft and pillowy with a faint sweetness from the honey. The crust is thin and golden. The inside pulls apart in that satisfying, cloud-like way that makes a good dinner roll worth making from scratch.
They take about three hours from start to finish, but most of that time is hands-off. The dough does the work. You just have to be patient.
What Makes These Rolls So Soft
The secret is in how the dough is built. Warm milk replaces water, which gives the rolls a richer, more tender crumb. Honey feeds the yeast and adds a gentle sweetness that is not obvious in the finished roll but would be missed if it were gone. An extra egg yolk on top of the whole egg adds fat and richness without extra liquid.
The butter goes in last. It is added to an already-mixed dough rather than at the start, which allows the gluten to develop fully before the fat coats the strands and softens everything. This order of operations is why the rolls stay structured enough to bake up tall and round while still being tender enough to pull apart with no effort at all.
The Windowpane Test
After the butter is fully incorporated, the dough needs about fifteen minutes on medium speed before it is ready to rise. The windowpane test tells you when it has gone far enough.
Pull a small piece of dough and stretch it slowly between your fingers. If it stretches thin enough to become translucent without tearing, the gluten is ready. If it tears immediately, give it a few more minutes and check again. This step is worth not skipping. A properly developed dough rises better, shapes more easily, and bakes into a softer, more even roll.
Shaping Takes Two Minutes Per Roll
Once the dough has doubled, divide it into twelve equal pieces. Cup each piece in your palm, rest it on the table, and use small circular motions to pull the surface of the dough tight underneath itself. The goal is a smooth, taut top with no visible seams.
Place the shaped rolls snug against each other in a greased nine by thirteen pan. Rolls baked close together rise upward instead of outward, which gives them that tall, soft-sided pull-apart texture that makes a pan of homemade dinner rolls so satisfying to bring to the table.
One Hour Rise, Then the Oven
The second rise takes about an hour. The rolls should look noticeably puffed and feel light when you gently press one with a finger. If the indent springs back slowly, they are ready. If it springs back immediately, give them more time.
Brush each roll with egg wash right before they go into the oven. The egg wash gives the tops that deep, even golden color and a thin, slightly glossy finish that makes homemade rolls look as good as they taste.
Bake at 400°F for twenty-five to thirty minutes. Pull them when the tops are an even, rich golden brown and the rolls sound slightly hollow when tapped on the bottom.
Serve Them Warm
These rolls are good at room temperature. They are significantly better warm, when the butter is still soft inside and the crust gives slightly at the touch. Serve them straight from the pan with a dish of good butter nearby and let people help themselves.
Leftovers keep well in an airtight container and reheat in a low oven in about ten minutes. They also freeze beautifully, which means a double batch is never a bad idea.
Easy Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 600 g Bread Flour
- 8 g Active Dry Yeast
- 420 g Warm Milk
- 30 g Honey
- 1 Egg plus 1 Egg Yolk
- 12 g Salt
- 113 g Butter (room temperature)
- Egg Wash
Instructions
- Add the warm milk, honey, and yeast to a bowl. Stir to combine, and allow the yeast to bloom for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the flour, egg and egg yolk, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attached. Once the yeast is frothy, add the milk mixture to the flour. Mix on medium/low speed until all of the flour is incorporated.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium, and add the butter to the dough. Mix for roughly 15 minutes, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and the dough passes the window pane test.
- Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise for 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
- Once the dough is fully proofed, dump it onto a clean shaping surface. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape each dough ball into a taught bun by cupping the dough into your hand while it rests on the table and making circular motions to form the dough into a tight ball. Place each shaped bun into a greased 9”x13” pan.
- Cover the shaped buns and allow them to rise for 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Once the rolls are proofed, brush egg wash over each one. Bake the rolls for 25-30 minutes, until the tops are evenly golden brown.
