Hi, I’m Jessica- and yes, I’m the kind of person who considers butter a perfectly acceptable personality trait and am also a lazy baker. When I want something warm, soft, and wildly slatherable right now, these quick dinner rolls are my weeknight superhero.
Why These Quick Dinner Rolls Are For YOU!
Time: 45 minutes total – including prep, rise and baking time. (5 minutes to mix, 15 minutes to rise, 15 minutes to bake, 3 minutes to baste with butter).
- Tested: Tested with rapid-rise yeast, with visual cues for dough texture so you know you’re on track.
Difficulty: Beginner-friendly- no fancy techniques, just easy dinner rolls in a jiffy using no crazy ingredients.
Method: Rapid-rise (instant) yeast + warm milk = fast activation and a quick, reliable rise.
Outcome: Soft, fluffy, buttery rolls that taste like you know what you are doing or bought them from a store.
Ingredients for This Easy Roll Recipe
Beyond maybe yeast, these are all pantry staples.
- Warm Milk – The key word here is warm. Warm milk is what allows the yeast to bloom properly. If it is too hot, it can kill the yeast, too cold and it won’t activate.
- Rapid Rise Active Dry Yeast – You’ll want to make sure it is rapid rise. Rapid rise (aka quick rise or fast rising yeast) has smaller grains. This helps the instant yeast activate quicker than traditional yeast and will only require one rise.
- Sugar – While sugar isn’t necessary, it is helpful when allowing yeast to bloom. Plus it adds a touch of sweetness to our quick rolls.
- Vegetable oil– Some sort of fat helps them stay moist and soft, while also adding flavor. Other neutral oils can be used.
- Egg – When baking, it is always good practice to use a room temperature egg. It blends better with the other ingredients. Egg will also provides hearty flavor and loft.
- Salt – Salt helps to bring out the natural flavors of baked goods. I like to use sea salt for this recipe.
- Flour – All purpose flour is perfect for making these easy dinner rolls. No special flour needed.
- Butter – You will want cold butter to grease the pan and also melted butter to brush onto the tops of the baked rolls.
Variations for Easy Yeast Rolls
There are plenty of ways you can make these buttery dinner rolls your own. Here are a few suggestions.
- Small batch – You can half the recipe and just make 6 dinner rolls. Use a heaping teaspoon of yeast instead of the whole packet.
- Fresh herbs and flavor – For added flavor, throw in fresh herbs, garlic or sun dried tomatoes.
- Butters – Instead of traditional butter, try a fun compound butter. Some of my favorites are Texas Roadhouse Butter, Chile Lime Butter and Orange Sage Butter.
- Garlic knots – Turn them into garlic rolls by brushing the tops of the dinner rolls dough with garlic butter or even black truffle butter.
- Pani Popo– These are dinner rolls, but sweet with coconut milk.
How to Make East Dinner Rolls (Step-by-Step)
You won’t believe how easy it is to make homemade dinner rolls!
- Let yeast bloom. In a large mixing bowl or a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the sugar and yeast, giving a quick stir to combine. Add the warm water and allow to bloom. The mixture should be frothy and fragrant. If it is not, then the yeast is no good and you need to start again.
- Prepare oven and baking pan. Preheat the oven and grease a 9×13 baking dish with a cold stick of butter.
- Add remaining ingredients. Add the oil, egg and salt to yeast mixture, stir to combine. Add flour, half cup at a time, mixing between each addition. Do not over mix or it will over activate the gluten, making your rolls dense and chewy.
- Knead. Knead dinner roll dough until bread comes together and slaps against the side of the bowl.
- Divide dough. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into equally sized dough balls and place into baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap or clean kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm place. This aids in the yeast blooming.
- Bake until tops are golden brown. When you remove rolls from oven, baste the tops with melted butter. You can do this twice for extra indulgence, or just once for good measure. Serve warm.
Chef’s Notes
- Proof the Yeast: Don’t skip proofing the yeast, the purpose is to make sure it is still alive and will make the dough rise.
Target dough feel: “tacky but not sticky”- it should pull cleanly from the bowl but still feel soft.
Yeast temp: warm milk around 105-115°F, too cold won’t rise fully, too hot will kill the yeast.
Fast rise hack: put the covered pan next too or on top of the preheating oven or in the sun. The slight heat will help it rise quicker.
Even rolls: aim for even dough balls so they bake the same speed.
Extra-soft tops (optional): brush butter twice- once right out of the oven, once 10 minutes later for extra deliciousness.
Troubleshooting & FAQ
The most common reason is expired yeast or the milk was too cold or too hot. It needs to be between 105°F-115°F.
Chances are you used too much flour when forming into rolls or in the dough or overworked the dough.
Either using too much flour or over baking rolls can make them dry out. If the tops are getting too brown, tent them loosely with aluminum foil to prevent this. The butter baste at the end also helps.
It’s highly unlikely with a quick bread recipe like this one, but it is usually because the dough was over-proofed. This can also happen if the dough is too warm.
Yes- bloom it first and expect a longer rise time (about 15 minutes more). Rapid rise is faster because the granules are smaller and formulated to work quickly.
Tips for Working with Yeast
Making homemade bread with yeast can sometimes be intimidating. Follow these easy tips to ensure you get the perfect bread every time.
- Check the expiration date. Make sure your yeast isn’t expired and it’s been kept in good storage conditions- not too hot or humid. Some folks like to keep their yeast in the refrigerator or freezer.
- Milk temperature can’t be too hot or cold. The optimal temperature is 105°-115°F.
- Store in the fridge. Store yeast in the refrigerator for best results.
- Sugar isn’t needed, but helpful. Yeast doesn’t have to have sugar, but it can be helpful. It sees it as food and can activate faster… don’t we all when we are hungry?
Storage & Freezing
How to Store Leftover Dinner Rolls
Store any leftover rolls in an airtight container. Bake them whenever you have time and eat them at room temperature or warm slightly before serving. Just like the ones from the store. They are best within 1-2 days of baking since they do not have any additives or preservatives.
Can I Freeze Dinner Rolls?
Homemade dinner rolls are freezer friendly. Allow to thaw at room temperature. Do not defrost in the microwave, this makes bread rubbery.
Dinners to Serve with Rolls
Is there a dinner that doesn’t pair well with rolls? Not in my book. But here are some of our favorites.
Quick Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 packet rapid rise dry yeast
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, melted, plus a cold stick for greasing the pan
Instructions
- Heat the 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk in a microwave safe dish for 60-90 seconds or until it comes to a temperature between 105°-115°F. If hotter, allow to cool before adding, it will kill the yeast.
- In a large mixing bowl or a stand mixer fitted with the bread hook, combine the 1 packet rapid rise dry yeast and 1/4 cup sugar, giving a quick stir to combine. Add the warm milk and allow to bloom for 10 minutes. The mixture should be frothy and fragrant. If the dough does NOT rise, stop right here- it means that the yeast was no active, the water was too hot and killed it or the water was not hot enough to bloom. The rolls will not turn out if the yeast does not activate.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and grease a 9×13 baking dish with a cold stick of butter.
- Stir in the the 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1 egg, and 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt to the yeast mixture. Add the 3 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing between each addition until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Knead until the bread dough comes together and slaps against the side of the bowl.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured cutting board or work surface. Divide the dough into 12 equally sized balls and place them into a 9×13 baking dish. They might not touch now, but will come close when they rise. Cover and allow to rise for 10 minutes.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned. When you remove the rolls from oven, baste the tops with the melted 2 tablespoons salted butter,. Serve warm.
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings.
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Nutrition
Your dinner rolls look amazing! I have been hearing a lot about this butter lately, but your post and recipe inspires me to try! Pinned and shared!
You had me a dinner rolls! And yes, I am admittedly a butter fanatic as well. I wonder if they have a 12 step program for butter addiction?
I’ve never tried this brand before, but it looks awesome for rolls and toast. I’ll have to try some out since I ran out of both bread and butter this week. I’ll check at my local store. I love hot buttery rolls!
You are killing me with these pictures! Now I am dying for one of these rolls and that butter! Can’t wait to try it!
Mmm, this looks delicious. I have never made homemade dinner rolls, but these I must make!
I love dinner rolls with butter. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
We are bread addicts! I am always looking for new recipes!
These rolls look so good!! I wish I was eating one right now!
We love fresh homemade rolls at our home too. And it is unthinkable to have them without butter! I like the fact that your brand of butter doesn’t contain GMO’s.
When I was in Paris a few years back, I developed a love for European butter. I love to buy imported butter. I haven’t tried Finlandia, but I can’t wait to find it at the store.