Fluffy Dinner Rolls Recipe (2024)

Baked Goods,Breads,Dinner Party,Sandwiches,Sides

Fluffy Dinner Rolls Recipe

Fluffy Dinner Rolls Recipe (1)

These fluffy dinner rolls are the best part of any dinner.They’re light, perfectly fluffy, and you can top them with honey butter or garlic parmesan–something for everyone!

How to make fluffy dinner rolls

I love this recipe because it’s a cinch to make, especially during the holidays. You can even make the rolls ahead of time, freeze them, and then bake the day of.

Fluffy Dinner Rolls Recipe (2)

Tools Needed

Ingredients You’ll Need

  • Bread Flour
  • All-Purpose Flour
  • Active Dry Yeast
  • Milk
  • Sugar
  • Eggs
  • Butter
  • Salt

Tips for Making Fluffy Dinner Rolls

  • Don’t get the milk too hot.The optimal temperature for milk is around 100 degrees F. Any hotter and you run the risk of killing the yeast. If your yeast doesn’t get foamy, your milk may be too hot. It should bejust warm to the touch.
  • Make sure your yeast isn’t old.The best place to store yeast is in the fridge to keep it as fresh as possible. I try and buy a new jar of yeast every 6 months or so. If your yeast has been hanging around a while and it’s not getting foamy, it may be time to buy some fresh.
  • Use a combination of all-purpose and bread flour.Using a combination of all-purpose flour and bread flour really yields the perfect fluffy dinner rolls. They’re light, yet chewy and that extra chew comes from the bread flour.
  • Mix your dough long enough.The trick to getting the perfect texture is to make sure you mix your dough long enough. It should be very smooth and elastic after it comes out of the mixer.
  • Don’t rush the rising time.For flavor and texture, these fluffy dinner rolls need an initial rise and then a second proof after they’re shaped. This ensures that your rolls are light and fluffy and not dense bricks.
  • Don’t over-bake.These rolls bake up super quickly and only need about 15 minutes in the oven. If you bake too long, they will dry out.

Fluffy Dinner Rolls Recipe (3)

Fluffy Dinner Rolls FAQs

Why are my dinner rolls not fluffy?

If your dinner rolls aren’t fluffy it could be because of one of two reasons. Either, you added too much flour or you possibly used all bread flour. Alternately, not giving your dinner rolls enough time to proof and get puffy before baking could yield dense rolls.

My dough is rising slowly or not at all

If your dough is rising slowly or not at all, check the function of your yeast. The easiest way to tell if your yeast is old is if it doesn’t get foamy in the first stage of the recipe. If your kitchen is cold, the dough will rise slowly. To speed it along, place the bowl with the dough into the oven and turn the oven light on. The minimal heat from the bulb will warm the oven up a touch. Just don’t forget to take it out before you preheat the oven!

What happens if you over-knead dough?

If your dough is tight and tough and the gluten strands break apart when you try to stretch the dough, it may have been overworked. Unfortunately, there is no fix for this and it’s best to just start over.

My dough is really sticky after mixing, what should I do?

If you find that your dough is really, really sticky after mixing, mix in a bit more flour. The dough should feel tacky, but smooth and shouldn’t really stick to your hands.

Fluffy Dinner Rolls Recipe (4)

Other Bread Recipes to Try

  • Easy Overnight Sourdough Bread

  • The Very Best Cinnamon Rolls

  • No-Knead Focaccia Bread

  • New York Style Bagels

This post contains affiliate links from which I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Affiliate links allow me to keep providing great recipes for free and I never recommend products that I don’t love and personally own.

Fluffy Dinner Rolls Recipe (5)

Baking

Fluffy Dinner Rolls Two Ways

Everyone needs a great fluffy dinner roll recipe for their Thanksgiving (or any dinner!) table and I love this recipe because you can make them brushed with honey butter or garlic herb butter. All your guests will be happy!

Print RecipePin Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Makes: 24 rolls

Ingredients

Dinner Roll Dough

  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1 stick 4 oz unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

Honey Butter Topping

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • flaky sea salt for sprinkling

Garlic Parmesan Topping

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 5 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan

Instructions

  • To make the dough: In a small saucepan, warm the milk and butter to 100 degrees F. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the sugar and yeast. Pour the milk/butter mixture over the yeast and sugar and let it rest for 5 minutes until the yeast is foamy. If your yeast does not get foamy, it may be too old to use. Add the eggs and flour to the bowl and mix on low. As the dough comes together, sprinkle in the salt. Mix on low for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth. Transfer to a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise in a warm location until doubled in size.

  • Grease a large rimmed baking sheet (13X18) or two smaller baking sheets(8x12), if making both flavors. Punch the dough down and portion the dough into 24 pieces. The easiest way to do this is to weigh the dough, take the total weight and divide it by 24. This ensures even-sized pieces that bake at the same rate. Roll each piece into a ball and place it on the greased baking sheet one inch apart. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in size and the rolls are touching.

  • To make the honey butter: melt butter and combine with honey until well mixed. Cool slightly until the mixture has thickened.

  • To make the garlic butter: melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat and add the garlic. Cook for 2 minutes and remove from heat. Add the salt and parsley and stir to combine.

  • To assemble: Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the plastic wrap from the dough and gently, but liberally, brush with either butter. If using honey butter, sprinkle the rolls with flaky sea salt after brushing with butter. If using garlic parmesan, sprinkle with parmesan after brushing with garlic butter. Bake for 15 minutes until the rolls are golden brown on top. Remove from oven and let the rolls cool before serving. Sprinkle garlic parmesan rolls with extra parmesan if desired after they cool slightly.

Notes

This recipe can be cut in half if desired. The butter recipes are for 12 rolls. If you want to make 24 rolls of a particular flavor, double the butter recipe.

The rolls can be made ahead and frozen. After you portion the dough into balls, place them on a parchment-lined tray and freeze. Defrost rolls in the fridge and then allow the dough to rise before baking.

Nutrition

Serving: 1rollCalories: 130kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 3gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 240mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2g

You might also like...
  • Vegetarian Honey Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
  • Baked Goods no knead focaccia bread
  • Baked Goods Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping
Fluffy Dinner Rolls Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my dinner rolls too dense? ›

There may be several reasons for a dense, cake like texture in bread. It may indicate the kneading wasn't enough for the gluten to develop properly, or the dough was proved for too short a time or the dough may have been too dry. It is also worth checking the flour you used.

Why are my buns not fluffy? ›

Incorrect Activation or Wrong Yeast. For the bread to appear soft and fluffy, You must ensure that your yeast ferments correctly. It's not just the temperature in your kitchen, but also the activity of the yeast. Also, you must add the yeast to warm water to activate it.

How can I make my bread fluffier instead of dense? ›

Potato Flakes or Potato Water

Starch helps the dough by trapping the gas from the yeast in the dough and makes the bubbles stronger. This helps the bread to rise and be lighter and fluffier. If you are boiling potatoes, you can use the unsalted water in place of the water in your bread recipe to help out the yeast.

What helps bread to become light and fluffy? ›

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

What makes homemade bread soft and fluffy? ›

The rise on bread dough is a crucial step, particularly the second rise. You want to rise the dough so that the yeast still has enough energy in it to work in the oven to give you a nice, light, fluffy loaf of white bread.

Does letting bread rise longer make it fluffier? ›

Does Rising Bread Affect Its Texture? For a fluffy bread texture, the key is to let the bread rise long enough.

What happens if you add too much flour to dinner rolls? ›

Mistake to Avoid #2: Tough Dinner Rolls

Do your dinner rolls resemble shoe leather? Too much flour, or not the right kind, could be to blame. Dough made only from flour with a high or even average amount of protein (like bread flour or all-purpose flour) can become tough from overmixing.

What makes buns airy? ›

Carbon dioxide is responsible for all the bubbles that make holes in bread, making it lighter and fluffier. Because gas is created as a result of yeast growth, the more the yeast grows, the more gas in the dough and the more light and airy your bread loaf will be.

How to make dough rise more? ›

But almost as good as a proofing box is taking a Mason jar filled halfway up with water, microwaving it for two minutes, then putting your bowl of dough into the microwave with the jar to rise. The other thing you can do is place your lidded container or bowl of dough into a second, larger bowl of warm water.

What makes the buns softer? ›

The magic of an egg

Adding egg white will make the dough more stable as it rises, less likely to collapse, giving you buns that feel more soft and bouncy. So add egg to your mix for a natural bun dough improver and emulsifier.

Why are my homemade dinner rolls dense? ›

Rolls that are not light and fluffy can be the result of using too much flour (not measuring the flour correctly, as we mention above), or not using the type of flour your recipe calls for. Another reason for dense tough rolls is overmixing, which will produce too much gluten.

What type of pan is best for baking rolls? ›

This trick helps create better-looking rolls. We have three reasons for baking rolls such as our Oatmeal Dinner Rolls or our Fluffy Dinner Rolls in the confined space of a cake pan versus individually on a baking sheet.

Can dinner rolls rise too long? ›

If the dough has risen too long, it's going to feel fragile and might even collapse as you poke it,” says Maggie. If this is the case, there's a chance you can save your dough by giving it a quick re-shape.

How to make rolls rise higher? ›

On lowest oven temperature to preheat: Turn the oven to the lowest oven temperature for about 2 minutes. Then turn off the oven, open the door and add the dough (in a covered glass bowl). This will be a cozy spot for your dough to rise. Don't forget to turn off the oven!

Why are my rolls not doubling in size? ›

Too Much Flour

The big lesson here: too much of any ingredient can make your bread not rise—even flour. Too much flour can make your dough stiff and dry. And we all know what happens if there's not enough liquid for the yeast to use: It doesn't work how it should.

Why are my dinner rolls doughy? ›

If the bread is kept in its baking pan, it will become soggy and look and taste doughy. If the bread has not finished baking by the maximum time indicated in the recipe, the oven thermostat may be off. Oven thermostats can vary over time, requiring adjustments by the baker or calibration by a professional.

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