Homemade Dinner Rolls

How to Make Dinner Rolls from Scratch

Homemade dinner rolls are SO easy to make. The hardest thing about this recipe is just having a little patience while the dough rises. Start by gathering a simple list of ingredients: Active dry yeast, sugar, water, milk, butter, sea salt, an egg, and flour. Then, follow these steps:

1. First, combine the warm water, sugar, and active dry yeast. Set aside while the yeast activates.
2. Then in a large bowl or mixing bowl, combine scalded milk, softened butter, sugar, salt, and egg. Stir to combine and then add your yeast mixture.
3. Add all-purpose flour (bread flour will work as well) a half cup of flour at a time and mix at medium speed.
4. Let dough rise.
5. Use a bench scraper or dough knife to cut smaller pieces and form into rolls on a lightly floured surface. Grease a 9×13 baking pan and place rolls in rows and let rise again, covered with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray or a clean kitchen towel.
6. Bake, butter, and serve!

Making Dinner Rolls Without a Stand Mixer

No stand mixer? No problem. After you add the flour, turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead the dough by hand until it is soft and smooth. Add a flour a little at a time as needed and continue kneading for about 10 minutes—just make sure not to add too much flour. You want the dough to be soft but not too dense or the rolls won’t be as fluffy as you would probably like.

How to Freeze Dinner Rolls

If you want to save yourself some time in the future, or just want to make it easy to bake up a few rolls at a time, try freezing the rolls before baking. It’s like making your own homemade Rhodes rolls recipe. Here’s what to do:

Prepare the Dough: Prepare the dough as directed in the recipe below, through step 6. Do not allow the dough to rise a second time.

Place on a Tray: Put the shaped rolls on a baking sheet or tray lined with parchment paper, making sure they don’t touch each other. You can put a bunch of the roll balls on to one tray, just give them a little space so they don’t accidentally stick together.

Freeze: Place the baking sheet with the rolls into the freezer and leave them there for about 3-4 hours. This will help the rolls harden.

Wrap for Storage: After the rolls have frozen for a few hours, remove them from the freezer and wrap each roll individually in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Make sure they are tightly wrapped to prevent air from getting in.

Put in a Bag or Container: After wrapping each roll, you can place them all in a large freezer-safe plastic bag or airtight container. This will help keep them organized and protected in the freezer.

Freeze: Put the bag or container in the freezer, and make sure your freezer is set at a very cold temperature to keep the rolls fresh.

How to Thaw and Bake Frozen Dinner Rolls

You would make these much like you would frozen dinner rolls you buy in the store. Place them in a greased 9×13 baking dish at room temperature, cover, and allow them to thaw and rise for anywhere from 2-6 hours, depending on how warm it is where they are thawing. Once they have risen, bake them as you normally would per the instructions below. Don’t forget to butter them when they come out of the oven!

Why aren’t my dinner rolls fluffy?

If you follow this dinner roll recipe as outlined, you will get soft, fluffy dinner rolls every time. The best way you can tell if you are going to get soft rolls is by how the dough rises. If your dough isn’t rising well, your rolls are going to be denser.

The key is to make sure your yeast is activated in the warm water and sugar mixture before you add it to the bowl of other ingredients. Visually, it should look foamy, not like a liquid.

Always check the labels on your yeast packages or packet to make sure it isn’t expired and that you are using it within 4-6 months from the first use. Also, be sure to keep yeast refrigerated or frozen after breaking the original seal.