Soft Dinner Rolls
Founder / Chef / Everyone’s Best Friend
Andy Hay
Welcome to my kitchen. I hope to inspire you to grow as a home cook!
These buttery, pillow Soft Dinner Rolls are going to become a staple in your life. Perfect for family dinners, special occasions, soups, almost every meal is made better with a fresh soft dinner roll. Amazing to eat, and almost just as fun to make. You are going to be proud of yourself when you make these!
Don’t be intimidated!
This may be your first time making a bread dough and you might feel a little nervous, but don’t fret! We are going to nail this recipe together. Making bread doughs aren’t as scary as you think. There are a couple key tips I can give you which will hopefully result in your nailing his recipe on your first attempt. Ready? Lets make some soft dinner rolls!
Steps involved in making these Soft Dinner Rolls
- Mix the dough
- Knead the dough. I do this by hand but it is easier to do with a standup mixer.
- Let the dough rest and double in size.
- Punch out the the air and divide into 9 small dough balls
- Place in baking tray and allow to rise again
- Eggwash
- Bake the soft dinner rolls
Let’s breakdown all of the ingredients
- Milk – I use whole milk for baking. The higher fat content results in softer more delicious rolls. You can use any milk substitute here.
- Dry Active yeast – Double check it is not expired. I learned this the hard way before.
- Sugar – Sugar feeds the yeast and helps the bread rise faster.
- Egg – Additional fat content which makes these rolls soft and delicious.
- salt
- Butter – Room temperature butter is added in chunks to the dough. This is key for making soft, pillowy rolls.
- Flour – I used bread flour, but you can achieve similar results with all purpose.
Shaping your dough balls
After your have punched out the following the first rise, you can divide the dough into 9 or 12 individual balls. Shaping can be done in a few ways, but the key is to make sure the top of the dough ball is smooth. Any open seems should be fasting downwards. I like to take a piece and stretch the top of the dough while pinching and sealing the bottom. From there I place the seem of the dough ball on the counter, create a C with my hands in a circular motion move the dough ball around. From there I place into a lightly greased pan. Be sure to space your dough balls apart as they will grow after they do their second rest.
Baking your soft dinner rolls
After the rolls have done their second rise you are ready to bake. Prior to placing into the oven I highly suggest doing an egg wash in order to ensure your dinner rolls come out with a beautiful deep brown top. Simply scramble up an egg in a bowl and using a pastry brush or piece of paper towel, brush on the egg wash. Now pop the rolls into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Other bread recipes you might enjoy baking!
Cheddar and herb no knead bread
Buttery pull-apart Dinner Rolls
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Warm milk 95F-105F
- 2 1/4 tsp Dry active yeast check expiry
- 2 tbs sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup room temp butter, broken into pieces
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cups bread flour (all purpose works too!)
Instructions:
- In a bowl mix together yeast, warm milk, and sugar. Set aside and allow to become frothy. About 5 minutes.
- In a separate bowl add in flour, egg, salt, and butter. Add in milk and yeast mixture and mix with your hands or a spatula to form a shaggy dough. Once dough has started to come together, pour onto a light floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. You can also use a standup mixer with a dough hook attachment if you have one.
- After the dough has been kneaded for about 10 minutes, form into a ball and place into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place it in a cosy spot in your kitchen and allow to double in size. It takes about 90 minutes. The yeast likes warm environments so find a warm spot to speed up the process.
- After the dough has doubled in size, punch out the air and place dough into the counter. Cut the dough into 9 equal pieces and then roll them into a ball. Make sure the top of the dough ball is smooth. I like to take a piece and stretch the top of the dough while pinching and sealing the bottom. Make sure the rolls are smooth on top and sealed on the bottom. Place dough balls into a 9X9 inch baking pan and be sure to allow some space between dough balls as they will increase in size during the second rise.
- After all of the dough balls have been shaped and placed into baking pan, cover with plastic wrap and allow them to rise again for about 30 minutes. This is a crucial step to ensure a pillow soft dinner roll.
- Preheat oven to 350F
- After the dough balls have doubled again, brush the top of the roll with an egg wash and then place them in the oven to bake for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are beautifully brown.
- Remove from oven, and while the rolls are still hot brush on some butter and sprinkle with salt. ENJOY!!!!
Andy Hay
Andy is the founder of ECK, Chef, and let’s admit it… the reason you’re here. He taught himself to cook, and it all paid off when he secured his spot in the season 5 Finale of Master Chef Canada. Now, Andy uses his big energy to showcase recipes that actually make people want to cook. His brand was built on butter and East Coast charm, and Andy’s kept that same energy ever since. Off-camera, you’ll find him doing what started it all: cooking for his two daughters, wife and the people he loves.
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My family loved these so much, I’m always making them with dinner now! They come out so perfectly soft and fluffy.
Love it, Ashely! So happy they wok out every time!
This recipe took quite the bit of work but it was all worth it. It was fluffy and just sweet enough. A very delightful and delectable find. 🙂
Love this, Cam! Thanks for giving it a go!
This recipe looks amazing, have you ever tried to make them and then freeze them for later use? I’m supposed to make four batches worth for Thanksgiving and unfortunately, I work every day leading up to it!
Hi Kaylee, yes, these freeze really well. You can bake the rolls fully, let them cool, then freeze them in an airtight container. When you’re ready to serve, warm them in the oven at 300°F for 8–10 minutes — they come out soft and fresh again. Perfect for making big batches ahead of time!
Can you used a bread machine to make the rolls
Yes, you can definitely use a bread machine! Just add the ingredients in the order recommended by your machine (usually wet first, then dry, with yeast last). Use the “dough” setting to handle the mixing, kneading, and first rise — that’ll take about 90 minutes. Once the cycle is done, punch down the dough, divide it into 9 rolls, and continue with the shaping, second rise, and baking steps as written.
Hi! So pleased with this recipe! It came out soooo good like fresh bakery bread. I’ve made bread before but it’s always turned out dense and heavy. This came out like fluffy little light clouds so will always be making this recipe now. Do you mind to tell me how I can convert to loaves please? Like the 9 rolls amount, would that become two loaves?? Thank you!
So glad you loved this recipe, Leeanna! To convert this recipe to loaves-the dough amount should make one standard loaf (8.5 x 4.5 inch or 9 x 5 inch pan)
For two loaves, you’d want to double the recipe. After the first rise, shape the dough into a loaf instead of rolls and place it into a greased loaf pan
Let it rise again until it’s doubled and puffy (30–45 minutes), then bake at 350°F for 30–35 minutes or so!