Easy homemade dinner rolls

Tall fluffy dinner rolls served on a white plate

4.67 from 3 votes

Easy homemade dinner rolls come out perfectly soft, ridiculously tall and gorgeously golden brown. And they are ready, start to finish, in just an hour!

Prep Time10

Cook Time35

Total Time1

Yield: 20 dinner rolls

Ingredients

6 cups all-purpose flour (carefully measured)
2 tablespoons instant or active dry yeast
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt (if using table salt, reduce to 1 ½ teaspoons)
2 cups very warm water (about 120°F)
½ cup melted unsalted butter, divided

Instructions

In a large bowl, mix the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water and ¼ cup melted butter together using a sturdy spoon until a shaggy dough forms.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead the dough until it becomes smooth, about 4 minutes. See notes below for details. (Or use a dough machine and knead for 4 minutes.)
Form a smooth ball. Place the dough ball back into the bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Let rise in a warm place for 15 minutes.
Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Divide the dough in 20 equal-size pieces. (You can divide the dough in fourths, then divide each of those into five roughly equal pieces.)
Roll each piece of dough into a tight ball. (See notes below for detailed instructions.) Place the dough balls in five rows of four in the prepared pan.
Place the pan in the middle rack of a cold oven. Place a pan with ½ to 1 inch of hot tap water on the rack underneath the dough balls in the oven.
Close the oven, turn it on to 400 and set a timer for 35 minutes.
At 35 minutes, remove the bread from the oven and brush with the remaining ¼ cup melted butter. Place the pan on a cooling rack to cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. If you want to use these rolls for sliders, let them cool completely.

Notes

The recipe calls for two tablespoons of yeast. I buy mine in those little packets at the grocery store and I needed three to be able to measure out a full 2T.

How to knead bread dough:

You’ll transfer the shaggy dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Shape it into a rough ball.
Use the heel of your hand to gently press the dough down and away from you.
Lift the edge of the dough that’s farthest from you and fold it over itself back toward you.
Rotate the dough ball slightly and repeat. Continue to fold and press the dough using the heel of your hand, and rotating it in between, until it forms a smooth ball.
For this recipe, you only need to knead it for about 4 minutes.

Tip: Be sure you don’t add too much extra flour. You’ll need a little at the beginning on your surface, and maybe a little extra to keep it from sticking, but you don’t need to cover the dough with flour each time you go to fold it over on itself.

How to shape homemade dinner rolls:

Hold a single dough ball in your palm. Use two fingers to gently pinch the middle of the ball and pull up a bit of dough. Tuck it around the side and underneath the ball. Turn the dough one-quarter turn and repeat three more times to form a cohesive round.
Place the round dough ball onto a clean surface. Cup your hands around the ball and gently tighten the dough down as you turn the dough in a circle to help fully shape it into a smooth, taught, round ball.
Place each one seam-side down in your pan and you are ready to bake them.

What to do with leftovers:

Dinner rolls make excellent sliders! Save a few for lunch and use them to make chicken or turkey sandwiches, or pile on some chicken salad, egg salad or tuna salad.

Keep them wrapped in plastic wrap on the counter for up to 4-5 days and use them as dinner rolls another night. You can reheat in the microwave (they get warm and soft this way) or wrap in aluminum foil and rewarm in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 350.

Extra dinner rolls can also be frozen. Wrap in a double layer of plastic wrap then wrap in aluminum foil. (This helps prevent freezer burn and helps keep any odors from getting into the bread.) You can also place the triple wrapped rolls into a plastic freezer bag for extra security.

To defrost, remove from the freezer and place on the counter until the rolls are completely defrosted. Rewarm in the microwave or in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 350.

You can also do a quick defrost by unwrapping the frozen rolls, wrapping them back up in just aluminum foil, and placing in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 350.

Recipe from "Ready, Set, Dough!" cookbook by Rebecca Lindamood.

Nutrition

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