These homemade dinner rolls are soft, fluffy, and a perfect fresh-baked addition to any meal. They also freeze well, so you can keep a stash ready for whenever you need them.
I’m a bread person through and through. I can pass on most other carbs — pasta, potatoes, and rice are fine, but they rarely tempt me. Bread, however, is another story: warm from the oven and slathered with salted butter, and I’m sold.
These Homemade Dinner Rolls are a family favorite. In my house they’ve always been called “Granny Buns” because my grandmother made them for as long as I can remember. She’d hand bags of them to my mom to freeze, especially for holidays. We’d warm them up, butter them, and enjoy that simple, comforting taste — a soft bun covered in melted butter is hard to beat.
How to make Homemade Dinner Rolls
I’ve made a few updates to Granny’s original recipe. Her version used shortening; I substituted canola oil because it keeps the rolls soft at room temperature and is something I always have on hand. I also swapped a cup of white flour for whole wheat to add a touch of texture and flavor without changing the light, tender crumb.
These rolls are an enriched dough — they include fat (canola oil), milk powder, sugar, and an egg — which creates a slightly sweet, tender result. The dough is forgiving and suitable for a novice baker, but remember yeast breads require rise time, so plan accordingly.
I like to form the rolls in a clover-leaf shape, which means rolling three small balls of dough per roll. If you prefer a simpler approach, form larger single balls for standard round rolls.
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Homemade Dinner Rolls Nutrition Notes
If you’d like to boost fiber, try increasing whole wheat flour and reducing white flour by the same amount. Aim to keep whole wheat at half the total flour or less to maintain a tender texture.
Homemade Dinner Rolls
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Ingredients
- 2 cups (473 g) lukewarm water
- ¼ cup (50 g) plus 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons (8 g) 1 package active dry yeast
- 4 cups (500 g) all purpose flour plus another 1/2 cup, as needed
- 1 cup (120 g) whole wheat flour (optional – see note)
- ½ cup (60 g) skim milk powder
- 2 teaspoons (12 g) salt
- 3 Tablespoons (42 g) canola oil (or other neutral flavored oil)
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
Instructions
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Dissolve 1 teaspoon of the sugar in 2 cups (473 g) lukewarm water. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let it stand for 10 minutes until puffy.
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Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, whisk together 4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour, 1 cup (120 g) whole wheat flour, ½ cup (60 g) skim milk powder, and 2 teaspoons (12 g) salt.
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When the yeast is bubbly, stir it, then add the remaining sugar, the canola oil, and the beaten egg. Start the mixer on low and slowly pour the liquid into the flour mixture. Mix until the dough forms a cohesive ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If it still sticks, add up to an extra ½ cup of flour, 2 tablespoons at a time, until it pulls away cleanly.
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Turn the dough out, shape it into a ball, and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm spot for 1 to 1½ hours, until doubled.
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Punch the dough down and let it rest for 10 minutes. Lightly grease two muffin pans for clover-leaf rolls, or line a baking sheet with parchment for round rolls.
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For clover-leaf rolls: pinch off small pieces of dough (about 1 ounce) and form three smooth balls per muffin cup. For round rolls: shape larger pieces (2–3 ounces) into single smooth balls and space them about 1–2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
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Cover and let the shaped rolls rise 30–60 minutes until doubled.
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Preheat the oven to 325°F (move racks to upper-middle and lower-middle for clover-leaf or middle for round rolls). Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, until golden on top. Cool 10 minutes in the pans, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store airtight and freeze if not used within a couple of days.
Nutrition
Notes
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