The Best Homemade Rolls Recipe

Homemade dinner rolls recipe passed down from our great-grandmother -- soft and buttery and perfect!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword bread, rolls

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 15

Rising Time 3

Total Time 4

Servings rolls

Calories 157kcal

Author Sara Garska

Cost $5

Equipment

Muffin Tin
9-inch cake pan
Wooden spoon
Hand mixer
large mixing bowl

Ingredients

2 packages active yeast
1/4 cup water
7 cups flour
1 stick butter salted
1 cup cold water
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt

Instructions

How to Make the Dough

Dissolve the two packages of yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and set aside.
In a large bowl, soften one stick of salted butter.
To the butter add:
½ cup sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 cup of warm milk, 1 cup of cold water, 2 beaten eggs, yeast mix, and 3 ½ cups of flour
Use a hand mixer to blend all of the ingredients together until there are no lumps and it is sticky and smooth. This step takes the place of lengthy kneading of the dough as it helps create a springy and stretchy dough. This is super important.
Now, start adding the rest of the flour. I like to add a cup at a time, until I’ve reached 6 ½ cups total. (There’s 3 ½ cups in stretchy mix and you add 3 more by hand) Stir in the flour with a heavy wooden spoon.
Add more flour, ½ cup at a time. You want your dough to be able to form a ball and not be too sticky. However, you don’t want to add too much flour. So, add just enough that your dough can be formed into a ball that is smooth and elastic. It’s okay if it’s a little sticky.
Dump this dough onto a clean surface. Knead it a little with your hands until it forms a real ball. You can use a little more flour if needed.
Wash out your big bowl and dry it. Add about 2 Tablespoons of light oil
Wash out your big bowl and dry it. Add about 2 Tablespoons of light oil
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place somewhere out of any cold drafts. You don’t have to put it in a warm place but you don’t want an air conditioner vent or fan blowing on it.
Let the dough sit for about an hour and a half, until it fills the bowl. It will be soft to touch and about double in size.

How to Form the Rolls

Uncover the dough that is now all puffed up and soft. Use your hands to push down on it, until all the air is out and it is reduced in size and firm again.
Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Divide the two pieces each into four pieces. That’s all the dividing I do. I eyeball everything else.
I like to make two different shapes of dinner rolls. This recipe makes about two dozen rolls. I use a muffin pan to make 12 cloverleaf rolls and a 9-inch square cake pan to make about 16 to 20 pull-apart rolls. But you can make yours all the same either way.
The important thing is not to get exactly 24 rolls. The important thing is that all your rolls are uniform in size. All the clover leafs are the same size and all the pull-aparts are the same size. Or as close as you can get.
Assemble a little work area. Melt the remaining stick of butter in a bowl. Get out the pans you are going to use. I like to work on a cookie pan because melted butter can get a little messy. You want to have everything ready to go, because your hands will be messy.
I like to do the clover leaf rolls first. Plan on one half the dough for this pan. You might need a little more and that’s okay. I’d rather have a full pan of clover leaf, so that’s what I always make first.

Directions for Cloverleaf Rolls

You have 12 spaces for muffins and each space will hold three balls of dough. You will be making 36 balls of dough that are about 1 ½ inches in diameter.
Pull a piece of dough and break it off. Form it into a ball by stretching it a bit and tucking the sides underneath. Dip it into the melted butter and place in muffin tin.
Do this procedure 35 more times until the muffin tin is full.

Directions for Pull Apart Rolls

Now, to make the pull apart rolls. When I made this recipe, I ended up with 16 rolls in the second pan.
I make these dough balls a little bigger, more like two inches around. You form them the same way and dip in butter. Then space evenly in your square baking pan. Leave a little room between them.

How to Bake Dinner Rolls

Cover both pans with plastic wrap and put them in a draft-free place to rise for 1 and ½ hours.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Remove plastic wrap from rolls and put them in the oven when it is at the correct temperature.
Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, until they are golden brown on top.
Remove from oven and brush with remaining melted butter.
Serve immediately and enjoy!

Nutrition