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.
Wonderful recipe, I made these rolls for the first time and they came out very well.
I only cooked them a little more.
Thanks, from Italy 🙂
Can anyone tell me if I am figuring the yeast conversions right??? 2 Tablespoons of instant dry active yeast is equal to 9 teaspoons of active dry yeast. I only have 3 packets and wanted to make this tonight. Each packet says it contains 2 1/4 teaspoon so that is 6 3/4 teaspoons all together. So I would need 4 packets of active dry yeast. Help please.
There are 3 teaspoons in 1 tablespoon. So 2 tablespoons of yeast is 6 teaspoons. Each packet contains 2 1/4 teaspoons. Open up 3 packets and measure out 2 tablespoons 😉
Tried these yesterday, and they came out perfectly. My son, who is a chef asked me for the recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Rachel
Your recipe is the only one I use now for rolls. I really like 2.4oz per roll so they all turn out the same size. I thought at one point I say you post the weight of each ball when you make the cloverleaf rolls but can’t find it. Can you please share the individual ball sizes for that type of roll?
I’d have them at the same weight.
I just made these. Turned out beautiful.
But my question is: Why is there no taste?
Made 1/2 batch per there is just my husband & I.
What did I do wrong? Or what can I do to give them a taste?
I’m not sure what flavor you expected them to have. White bread has a very mild flavor.
Easy to make but not much flavor.
Great recipe! I skip the butter and use his recipe for excellent homemade hot dog buns. A half recipe makes 10-12 buns. Thank you!
I just wanted to let you know the rolls were tasteless and never got a golden brown. I have baked beads all my adult life and this unfortunately did not turn out well. I halved the recipe but this shouldn’t not have made a difference. The texture was also weird. It porous and not a typical bread texture. Was disappointed but can’t win them all.
hmmm, sounds like something went wrong because that’s not how they should turn out.
Just tried this recipe yesterday. The rolls are phenomenal; soft, fluffy and oh sooo good. I did add more sugar because my husband asked me to please make a sweeter batch than others I have made. Now I am trying the cinnamon variety. Really pleased that Rachel took the time to share this marvelous recipe. Many thanks.
Please, if like me, you come here for the comments – Rachel’s sweet and sometimes saccharine replies, the sarcastic, the downright insulting – raise your hand. I swear, I literally start from youtube where people are generally saner, then follow the link on there to here, just so i can crack up.
I have baked for years but damn, Rachel, (my older sister is named Rachel and she’s the best human), thank you so much for giving me added bragging rights. I love to host and wow my guests..
Totally random, who else loves it when they subscribe and are asked for proof of humanity (click here to show you’re not a robot). i cannot tell you how incredible that split second when I wonder if perhaps, indeed, I COULD be a robot; gives me pure joy.