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These light and fluffy small batch dinner rolls are the perfect addition to any meal and you only need to make four rolls instead of two dozen!
We love a good roll at our house and some of our other favorite recipes include these 30 Minute Rolls, yes only 30 minutes! My mom always makes these classic Crescent Rolls and these Orange Rolls for Two recipe is a favorite.
Dinner Rolls for Two
Being able to make only four rolls at a time is life changing, I make them so much more often because I don’t end up with dozens of leftover rolls! As an empty nester, a traditional roll recipe that makes two dozen rolls is just way too many. I end up with too many leftover rolls and I eat too many rolls!
Thanks to this recipe I no longer have to reserve roll making to a big holiday dinner with friends and family. I can enjoy homemade rolls with any weeknight meal. They are perfect with a plate of pasta or a bowl of soup, or just about anything.
You don’t have to be an empty nester to enjoy this recipe though. The recipe makes four large rolls but you can easily make 6 smaller rolls if you are needing to feed more people.
It takes under an hour to make these dinner rolls. Just start them at the beginning of dinner prep and by the time dinner is ready, your rolls will be too
How to Make Small Batch Yeast Rolls
I usually make these rolls with milk but you can use water if you prefer. Heat your liquid to 105-115 degrees F. before adding in your yeast.
Add your honey and olive oil into the yeast mixture and let it sit for about 10 minutes until it is nice and foamy and bubbly. Cover the top of your bowl or cup of yeast with a plate to create a nice warm environment for the yeast to proof. If you have questions about working with yeast be sure and check out my post with all my best tips and tricks.
After the yeast has proofed, mix together your flour, salt and yeast mixture. Knead until smooth and soft. I use my stand mixer with the dough hook but this can also be done by hand. Place the dough in a greased bowl and allow to rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
Helping Dough Rise
To create a nice warm place for my dough to rise in turn your oven onto it’s lowest temperature, 100-150 degrees F. Once the oven preheats, turn the oven off. Place your covered bowl of dough into the oven and let it rise.
Once the dough has doubled, divide it into four equal size pieces
Roll each piece of dough into a ball and placed into a greased pan (use butter or non stick baking spray). I use a 6 inch cake pan. You can also use a muffin tin.
Cover and let the dough rise for 20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
Before baking I like to brush the rolls with an egg wash to give the rolls a deeper golden color. This is purely aesthetic.
Bake for 12-14 minutes or until rolls are golden brown and cooked through. Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes and then remove.
I’m a firm believer that a homemade dinner roll should be eaten warm out of the oven and slathered in butter!
Check out some of my favorite recipes that you can serve with homemade rolls:
Small Batch Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup warm milk 105-115 degrees f
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1/2 Tbsp active dry yeast
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 egg beaten, for egg wash
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Add oil, honey, and yeast into warm milk. Stir and let rest for 15 minutes until it begins to bubble and get foamy.
- Add in salt and flour to yeast mixture and put in a stand mixer. Using the dough hook, mix until the dough comes together and is slightly sticky but not sticking to the sides of the bowl.If the dough is too sticky add some additional flour a Tablespoon at a time. Knead for 5 minutes until soft and smooth
- Cover and let rise for 20 minutes
- Divide dough into four pieces and form into balls. Place into a greased pan (I use a 6 inch cake pan) and cover. Let rise for 15 minutes.
- Brush rolls with beaten egg for an egg wash.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until rolls are golden brown and baked through.
Nutrition Facts:
Debbie says
Super easy, great flavor!
I made 6 cloverleaf rolls. Cut the dough into six pieces and then divided each piece into three balls and baked in a muffin pan.
Annette says
Perfect great tasting, easy to make, love it thank you
Carol says
This was absolutely perfect for our 2-person COVID Thanksgiving dinner! It didn’t need the entire 5 minutes to knead in my KitchenAid stand mixer, maybe 2-2 1/2 minutes. This recipe is a keeper!
Karen Harper says
I made these to go with soup and they were delicious! But even though there’s just 2 of us, four rolls weren’t enough for the leftover soup the next day! I haven’t been able to find a medium-batch recipe so I wonder if I could successfully double this recipe? 8 rolls would be great. 12-16 is just too many!!
Leigh Anne says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe it should double just fine.
Karen Harper says
Thanks, Leigh Anne. I’m going to give it a try. I’m not sure about doubling the yeast, though. That would be a whole tbsp. of yeast and that sounds like a lot. It will probably take some tweaking to get it right but it’ll be worth it. 🙂
Denise Cottrell says
Just made these today to pair with our creamy, cheesy broccoli soup. They a wonderful. Thanks so much for an easy and delicious recipe.
Leigh Anne says
Sounds like a delicious dinner – so glad you loved them!
Denise says
they ARE wonderful !!
JK says
Leigh Anne, this recipe would be perfect for me. Can I substitute sugar for honey in this recipe? Thank you.
Leigh Anne Wilkes says
That should work just fine!