I'll be the first to confess - I'm not very experienced using yeast in baking products. I'm always afraid it'll end up as expensive, time-consuming baked paper weights (which has happened - I'll post the pretzel bread experience later....).
After getting new, fresh yeast (ohhhhhhh, it has to be fresh, doh!), I decided to try these Best Dinner Rolls Ever. The pictures look great, so they had to be good, right?
Ihearteating.com and all the reviews were right - this is the best dinner roll recipe I've ever tried. Started them at five in the afternoon and had fresh rolls by dinner. Soft and buttery with a somewhat chewy top - perfect!
I'm impressed with this homemade dinner roll recipe and will be making them again since they're so easy to put together.

Best Dinner Rolls
Great rolls and fairly easy to make.
Ingredients
- ¼ C low-fat milk
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ¼ C butter, divided
- 3 ½ teaspoon dry active yeast
- ¾ C warm water, (105F-115F)
- 2 ½ - 3 C all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Grease a 12-cup muffin tin; set aside.
- In a small saucepan, stir milk, sugar, and 2 tbsp. butter together over low heat, until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool to about 100°. Pour the milk mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add the yeast and warm water to the mixer bowl. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, until yeast is foamy. Add 2 Cups flour and salt to yeast mixture.
- Using a dough hook, mix on low speed for about 1 minute. With the mixer still going, add remaining flour, ½ Cup at a time. Mix about 1/1/2 minutes or until dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl.
- Knead on low speed for about 3-4 more minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic – the dough will still be slightly sticky to the touch. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning it to grease the top. Cover the dough with a clean, dry dish towel and let it rise in a warm place, free from draft, for about 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 12 equal pieces.
- Form each piece into a ball and cut each ball into thirds. Roll the thirds into round, even balls and place 3 dough balls into each muffin cup. Cover the muffin pan with a dish towel and let the dough rise for about 15 minutes.
- Melt remaining 2 tbsp. butter and set aside. Bake the rolls for 9-11 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown on top. Brush rolls with melted butter. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.
Notes
Tips and Stuff:
I buttered the muffin tin instead of using oil or grease and the bottoms of the rolls ended up buttery.
I used about 2 ¾ Cups of flour instead of 3 because the dough looked perfect.
Be sure the little dough balls are round and smooth, or they'll look like the surface of the moon as evidenced in some of my rolls in the photo above.
10 minutes was the perfect baking time.
We only ate half of them, so I wrapped the rest in aluminum foil, put in a freezer bag and popped them in the freezer. Let thaw before warming them.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 rollAmount Per Serving: Calories: 332Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 132mgCarbohydrates: 62gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 9g
Nutrition Values are Approximate
I made these last night and they were yummy! I do not have a dough hook on my mixer so had to do it the old fashioned way. All that stirring and kneading makes for a good upper-body workout. 🙂
I'm glad you liked them. These were the first dinner rolls I've made that I would make again!