These dinner rolls are soft and fluffy, easy to make, and practically melt in your mouth. They are truly the most amazing dinner rolls ever. Just read all the rave reviews!
This dinner roll recipe took Chef Rachel Farnsworth over 5 years of testing to develop. It has since been enjoyed by millions of people around the world with thousands and thousands of rave reviews, heralded as the best dinner rolls on the internet. In addition to being published in her best-selling cookbook The Stay At Home Chef Family Favorites, this dinner roll recipe is used in restaurants and bakeries around the world.
Whether you are new to bread making or an experienced baker, this recipe is sure to please. Be sure to review the frequently asked questions for any troubleshooting and watch the included video demonstration so that you too can enjoy these famous rolls at home.
What if I don’t have a stand mixer?
No mixer? No problem! You can knead your dough by hand! Start out by stirring with a spoon until it becomes too difficult to stir. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and knead it with your hands, gradually adding in more flour and folding, pressing, and working the dough (kneading) until you have a soft and smooth dough ball that is tacky, but not sticky enough to stick to your hands.
What is the difference between active dry yeast and instant dry yeast?
Instant dry yeast can be added straight to dry ingredients and doesn’t require any waiting period or proofing. It also rises a bit quicker. Active dry yeast is a bigger size of granule and generally needs to be dissolved in a liquid before adding to a recipe. It activates a bit slower so expect 10-15 minutes extra in rise time.
What should the dough feel like?
The dough should be smooth and slightly tacky, but still very soft and pliable. If it is sticking to your hands or the sides of the bowl, you need more flour. If you add too much flour and the dough stiffens, your rolls will also get a little stiff so always add additional flour a small amount at a time. The exact amount of flour you add in bread making can vary a great deal so it’s important to go by feel. I like to say you can feel a soft roll just by touching the dough.
How should I measure the flour? Should I sift it?
The flour you buy at the store these days is generally pre-sifted. There is no need to sift your flour. I prefer the scoop and sweep method as it is ultra-convenient. Simply give your flour a fluff, use your measuring cup to scoop out the flour, and level off the top. Weighing your flour using a kitchen scale is the only way to ensure complete accuracy. Even then, bread making is both fickle and forgiving and the actual amount of flour you add can change just due to the humidity in the air. When making this roll recipe, it is best to go by the touch and feel of the dough. 1 cup of flour is approximately 125 grams.
Can I substitute gluten-free flour?
This recipe was not designed to be gluten-free. Gluten free baking involves completely different chemistry. In general, you cannot substitute gluten-free flour in baking recipes and expect it to work, however, several people have reported that a blend like Cup for Cup will work.
How do I make my rolls equal in size?
The best way to ensure that your rolls are equal in size is to weigh them. Weigh the entire batch of dough using a kitchen scale and divide that weight by 24. This will give you your target weight for each roll. Usually, this is somewhere around 2.5 ounces.
How do I shape dinner rolls so that they are round?
Once you have your dough divided into 24 pieces you can shape your rolls. Place your hand into a cupping shape parallel to a clean countertop. Place the dough ball between the palm of your hand and the countertop. Roll the dough in a circular motion between your palm and the countertop for approximately 30 to 45 seconds until you have a smooth, round roll.
Does this roll recipe make a good loaf of bread? What about cinnamon rolls?
We love a good loaf of bread and we know that the amazing results of these rolls will quickly have you wondering if you can turn it into a loaf of bread. Unfortunately, the incredibly soft and melt-in-your moth results of this roll does not produce a sturdy loaf. Instead, we worked tirelessly to bring you the ultimate guide to homemade bread instead.
This recipe does make an incredible batch of cinnamon rolls. Be sure to check out the best homemade cinnamon rolls ever!
Freezer Instructions
You can freeze dinner rolls for later baking immediately after you shape them into rolls. When ready to eat, remove them from the freezer and allow to thaw and produce their second rise until double in size before baking. This can take anywhere between 1 to 2 hours, depending on the temperature in your home.
Make-Ahead Instructions
Need to make your dough ahead of time while you are busy doing other things? Make your dough as directed and let it rise for the initial 90 minutes. Shape the dough into rolls and place them on your baking sheet. Instead of letting them rise for an additional 60 minutes, cover the shaped rolls with plastic wrap and place the pan directly into the refrigerator. While it doesn’t stop it completely, the cool temperature of the fridge will slow the growth of your yeast. Your rolls will only rise slightly while refrigerated and you can hold them this way for up to 24 hours.
When ready to bake, remove them from the fridge and allow the rolls to rise at room temperature while your oven preheats, about 30 minutes. Continue to bake as directed.
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
I stopped making rules years ago because it took too much time and too many of the times they just didn’t come out right. I decided to try these for Thanksgiving. They were quick easy and delicious! My only thing different that I did was , I had Better for Bread flour. I had to add extra flower in order for it to work because it is a sinner flour. Next time I will make sure I have all purpose. Even with the difference in flower these rolls are fabulous! They will be my new rolls! Thanks for the recipe!
I made them yesterday, and it was my first time making rolls. I’m not sure what mistake I made, but they came out more like biscuits than rolls. Still tasty, but definitely not what I was going for. I did used Active Dry yeast, but I gave it more rising time. What did I goof up?
It’s hard to know without more information. Did you happen to use self rising flour?
I made these yesterday to take to my family’s thanksgiving today. I got many compliments. I am by no means a baker, toys is only my second ever attempt at rolls. I tried a different food network recipe over the weekend as a practice batch and by following their recipe exactly, my dough never rose, the rolls were dense and hard. Nevermind the fact the bottoms got overdone and the tops didn’t. I used a muffin pan to make these like normal roll shapes
I stumbled upon this one in a last dish effort to prove my baking worth. These were easier, less time consuming, everything worked correctly and so yummy. I still used a muffin pan to get that normal roll look and watched them because I knew the cooking time would vary as this made 12 big old fashion rolls. My cooking time was in the 18 to 20 minute range.
Now I’m on a hunt for garlic knot recipe. Could this same recipe be used as the bread base for those except rolled into strips and knotted? Of course sprinkling with some cheese and a butter garlic mixture before baking.
First time making dinner rolls EVER and made the dough in my bread machine since I don’t have a stand mixer and let it rise in there then formed the rolls and let it rise the rest of the amount in the recipe before baking. Turned out fabulous!! I will definitely be making these again!
Made these this morning for TG dinner. Thanks for all YOUR hard work because they were absolutely the best best best rolls I have ever made. And they were beautiful. Thanks for this one!
Well, I made these… Very good eating!
I don’t make bread a lot, and these were hard for me because i was short on time for rising…but when the dough was large enough in my estimation, I tried rolling them… to place in baking pan, but the dough was incredibly sticky… even after adding lots of flour… so I grabbed handfulls, made them into a blob about roll size’ish… and put them asie to rise again… they rose, and I popped them in the oven with the turkey and dressing pans… just increased the heat to the roll baking requirement…
they spread a lot, ended up the size of a light, fluffy hamburger bun…
Tasted really great…. I am keeping this recipe and will make these again…
These were easy and delish. I haven’t made home made rolls in 25 years but was inspired to try this. Mine didn’t look as good as the pics but everyone loved them. Thanks. I live in hot humid Houston and the ingredients were perfect.
i think this recipe would make amazing monkey bread.
Can you or has anyone tried to use this recipe for bread?
Hi, Thankgsiving 2016 here
I am making these, the dough is so sticky and I have added at least a whole extra cup of flour to it…The dough is rising well, and I have just put blobs of it in a baking pan, and waiting for it to finish prooving…
I am looking forward to tasting these rolls… just hope i haven’t messed them up by doing something wrong… 🙂