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With the holidays coming it’s time to start planning that holiday menu and at our house, homemade dinner rolls are always at the top of the list.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Thanksgiving is in just a few days, do you have your menu all figured out?  I texted my kids a list of everything that was on our menu and I immediately got a text back asking, what about the dinner rolls?  Homemade rolls are required at our house.  I know for a lot of people, working with yeast can be a scary thing.  I had so many questions about it, I actually wrote a whole post on how to work with yeast.  You can find it here. It’s actually a lot easier than you may think and the results are so worth it.  For me, nothing beats a homemade, freshly baked loaf of bread or pan of rolls!
The perfect dinner roll is light, soft, tender and warm. Â Now you can get light and soft rolls at the bakery but getting them warm, fresh out of the oven just doesn’t happen unless you make them at home! Making your own dinner rolls does take a little time but the results are so worth it.

Ingredients Needed
- Milk
- Butter
- Sugar
- Salt
- Active Dry Yeast
- All Pupose Flour, unbleached
- Water

How To Make Dinner Rolls
- Add yeast and sugar to warm water and stir to combine.
- Allow to sit for 6-8 minutes or until foamy.
- Mix together milk, butter, remaining sugar, salt and yeast mixture.
- Add in 5 cups of flour and mix until dough forms with the paddle attachment on a stand mixer or by hand. Continue adding flour, 1/2 cup at a time until the dough becomes smooth and a ball forms. Dough will be slightly tacky.
- Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover and allow to rise until double in size, about 30 minutes.
- Pressh dough down and roll into a 8 x 12 rectangle.
- Cut the dough into 4 strips the long way and then each strip into 6 pieces for a total of 24 rolls.

- Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place on a greased baking sheet.

- Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 20-25 minutes.
- Bake at 350 degrees F until golden brown, about 20 – 25 minutes.
- Brush the baked rolls with melted butter if desired.
- Serve warm.

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Dinner Roll Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup lukewarm water
- 2 cups warm milk 100-110 degrees F
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp sugar divided
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 2 1/2 Tbsp yeast dry active
- 6-7 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
- melted butter for garnish
Instructions
- Add yeast into warm water along with 1 tsp of the sugar. Stir to combine and allow to sit for 6-8 minutes or until foamy.
- Mix together milk, butter, remaining sugar, salt and yeast mixture.
- Add in 5 cups of flour and mix until dough forms with the paddle attachment on a stand mixer or by hand. Continue adding flour, 1/2 cup at a time until the dough becomes smooth and a ball forms.
- Dough will be slightly tacky.
- Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover and allow to rise until double in size (30 minutes or so depending on room temperature)
- Pressh dough down and roll into a 8 x 12 rectangle. Cut the dough into 4 strips the long way and then each strip into 6 pieces for a total of 24 pieces.
- Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place on a greased baking sheet.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 20-25 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Brush the baked rolls with melted butter if desired. Serve warm.
Becky says
Uh oh. I misread the recipe and used only one packet of yeast. It’s rising now…guess we’ll see how it goes! It sure smells good!
Michelle says
I made these rolls last night and they didn’t get fluffy–what did I do wrong???
Leigh Anne says
Did you yeast activate and your dough rise?
Jennifer says
What if I split the milk with buttermilk and do half and half? I have buttermilk to use up and hate for it to go to waste.
Leigh Anne says
Worth trying. May give the rolls a little big of a tang thanks to the buttermilk but that could be yummy!
Anna says
Any idea if these would work with water? I just ran out of milk and I’m tempted to make them today. Or is milk what makes it a dinner roll instead of a loaf of bread taste?
Leigh Anne says
Anna, I think they should work fine.
Myra says
I notice this recipe doesn’t require eggs. I’ve looked at many recipes and they all have 1- 2 eggs. Why?
Regardless, I went with this recipe and so far it’s working perfectly.
Leigh Anne says
Myra, Eggs work as a leavening agent, helping the dough to rise. This recipe has more yeast than your average recipe so doesn’t need the eggs to help the bread rise.