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Home » Recipes » bread » The Best Dinner Roll Recipe

The Best Dinner Roll Recipe

By Lynette on December 1, 2017 · 2 Comments

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The best dinner roll recipe. The dough is made in the bread machine.

Soft buttery dinner roll recipe – and the dough is made in the bread machine! 👏

dinner rolls on a baking pan

This is the best dinner roll recipe. There I said it. I stand by it. I won’t take it back. My family is a bit of a connoisseur of all things bread. It’s my dad who takes 20 minutes to pick out a loaf at the grocery store. My brother who is picky with all food. And then there’s me who will only eat rolls when they are really, really worth it. So when I started making these amazing homemade dinner rolls, they were a regular request at all holiday meals.

The rolls taste like air. Let me rephrase that. They taste like airy butter. Why would I want rolls to taste like airy butter? It’s all about being efficient with a delicious meal. I don’t particularly like rolls taking up too much space in my stomach since they typically accompany an amazing meal for the holidays. Having a fluffy, airy and soft roll is the perfect compliment to the heavier sides that we call dinner.

the inside of a dinner roll baked fresh

Now I will be the first to share that I don’t make these on a busy weeknight. They’re not the overnight rolls or no rise rolls or easy throw together rolls recipe. They are made from the best dinner roll recipe and that means they take a bit of time to let the yeast rise so you can enjoy their soft qualities.

But they are easy. That they are. I make the dough in the bread machine because I haven’t yet conquered the ability to knead to perfection. And let’s be honest, it’s so much nicer to throw all the ingredients into a bread machine to make it do all the work.

Now if you don’t have a bread machine, be on the look out for one. My machine broke last year and I found it’s replacement at a garage sale for $20. It had not been used. So, if a bread machine seems out of your budget, just keep an eye out for one. It’s worth the investment just for these rolls.

Have I sold you on them yet. We’re a bit obsessed.

flour and ingredients in bread machine pan

To make these dinner rolls add the milk, egg, sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast to your bread machine. I would follow your manufacture instructions on the order. But if you’ve lost that trusty pamphlet, the order listed above works just fine as that’s how I add it to mine.

bread machine set to dough cycle

Turn the bread machine on to the dough cycle and let it do the work.

punching down risen dough for dinner rolls

Once it’s finished, punch down the dough. Let all that aggression out.

ball of dough in hand after rising

Melt the butter. Take about a golf ball size of dough and roll it within your hands. Dip it and roll it around in the melted butter and then place it on a buttered baking sheet.

dinner rolls on pan ready to be baked

Place the rolled dough on the baking sheet.  Let’s pause to talk about baking sheets otherwise known as cookie sheets. You need a light pan for a light and fluffy roll. If you have a dark pan your rolls are going to crisp up on the button. If you like that sort of thing, then go for it. But if you want the soft roll that I’m sharing today you’ll need a light pan to bake them.  I use this pan.

Cover them with saran wrap that you’ve sprayed with cooking spray to keep them from sticking. My little trick is to turn the oven on to 350° F before putting the rolls into the oven. Let the oven heat up for one minute only. TURN OFF THE OVEN and then place the rolls into the oven to rise.  Let them rise for one hour or until they’ve risen in size.  My kitchen is cold, especially in the winter which makes this oven trick all the more important.

rolls doubled in size

After they have doubled in size, remove the saran wrap. Heat up the oven to 350° F (for real this time). Bake the rolls for 9 to 11 minutes until they are just starting to brown on the top.  Ovens tend to vary so keep an eye on them!

fresh baked dinner rolls on baking sheet

That’s it. You have the best dinner rolls ever! You can make these the day before (which is what I typically do) and enjoy them at dinner the next day. But of course, they are best warm out of the oven.  Make sure to sneak one.  😉 Oh, so good. Enjoy!

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fresh baked dinner rolls on baking sheet

Best Dinner Roll Recipe

  • Author: Lynette
  • Prep Time: 120 minutes
  • Cook Time: 11 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours 11 minutes
  • Yield: 24 1x
  • Category: Bread
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American
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Description

The perfect soft roll made with butter.  This really is the best dinner roll recipe – with the dough being made in the bread machine!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 ¼ cups milk, slightly warmed
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • ¼ cup white sugar
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • 3 ¾ cups bread flour
  • 1 ¼ tsp active dry yeast
  • 2 TB butter, melted

Instructions

  1. Into your bread machine pan, place the milk, egg, sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast.  Select the dough setting.
  2. When the cycle is complete, punch the dough down.  Create golf ball size dough balls and coat with melted butter.  Place onto buttered baking sheet.
  3. Cover and let rise for one hour or until doubled in size.
  4. Bake at 350° F for 9 to 11 minutes until just browning on the tops.

Notes

To let your dough balls rise in a warm place set your oven to 350° F for one minute.  Turn off the oven and then place the covered dough balls in the oven to rise.

Use a light colored pan to make the fluffiest rolls ever.

Can be made a day ahead.  Make sure to fully let the rolls cool before storing in an air tight container.


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 roll
  • Calories: 102
  • Sugar: 2.8
  • Sodium: 81.7
  • Fat: 1.5
  • Carbohydrates: 18.3
  • Protein: 3.4
  • Cholesterol: 10.5

Keywords: dinner rolls

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the best dinner roll recipe

The best dinner roll recipe. The dough is made in the bread machine.

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About Lynette

Lynette is the home cook, recipe tester and photographer for Cleverly Simple which she created in 2010.  Most of her recipes come from the treasured recipe box passed down from her great-grandma, grandmother, and mother.

Lynette’s recipes and projects have been featured in Country Living, Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful and others.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carmen Eskritt

    April 06, 2021 at 8:52 pm

    Would like the dinner roll recipie without using a bread machine please
    Carmen

    Reply
    • Lynette

      April 12, 2021 at 10:23 am

      Hi! I’ve not made this yet without the bread machine, but kneading it by hand would work. I’ve not tested the timing to give the details but will try to in the future!

      Reply

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Lynette Rice head shotHi, I’m Lynette. My desire is to help women who feel uninspired weave time honored recipes into their routines to create a sense of simplicity. Most of my recipes come from the treasured recipe box passed down from my great-grandma, grandmother and mother. And I want to share them with you.  Learn more.

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