Old Fashioned Soft Dinner Rolls

Are Soft Dinner Rolls just homemade versions of the ones in the bag? Kind of, YES! But they’re so much better, and they’re not THAT hard in the grand scheme of things. My soft dinner roll recipe is based on a recipe I found in my mom’s recipe box! Classic mom recipe?? YES, PLEASE!!

These Soft Dinner Rolls are made using an enriched yeast dough, which just means milk and butter go in alongside the flour and the yeast. You mix it, let it rise, shape the rolls and let them rise again. That’s it. No folding, no fancy shaping, no special equipment, which is good news for all of us! And the results are soft, tender, rolls everyone will ask for again and again!

Ingredients For Soft Dinner Rolls

Everything you need for a batch of fresh dinner rolls. Nothing fancy, just good old fashioned pantry staples!

• active dry yeast
• sugar
• warm water
• scalded milk-cooled, see notes below!
• melted butter-cooled
• sugar
• eggs
• salt
• bread flour
• melted butter
• heavy cream

You will also need:

• a mixer or you can knead it by hand
• a digital thermometer for testing the finished temp of the rolls (between 190F° and 200F°)
• 2 8×8 baking pans

Scalding Milk

Scalding milk sounds old fashioned and a little scary, but don’t let that scare you! It’s easy to do and kind of important to using it in breads. Milk has a protein in it that weakens gluten, and heating the milk knocks that protein out. That means a stronger dough, a better rise and a softer, fluffier roll.

Let’s scald some milk! Pour your milk into a small saucepan and set it over medium heat. Stir it now and then, and watch for tiny bubbles around the edge of the pan and a little steam coming off the top. Once you see that the milk is scalded! You want it hot, around 180°F, but you do NOT want it to boil. If it starts to foam up, pull it off the heat right away.

You can also scald milk in the microwave if you’d rather. Heat it in short bursts and keep an eye on it, because milk can boil over in a hurry. I HAVE not done this because we don’t have a microwave, but I read up on it for you, so you can easily scald milk. Just be careful and don’t blast it too long in the microwave.

Tips On Making The BEST Dinner Rolls

This is an enriched dough so if your dough seems to be taking FOREVER to rise, don’t panic! This is a rich dough, and rich doughs are just slower. Butter and egg yolks coat the flour and the yeast, which slows the yeast down and makes it harder for the dough to build structure.

Now you think sugar is going to save you but sugar is tricky too. A little bit feeds the yeast, but a lot of it actually pulls water away from the yeast, and that slows it right down. Add milk to the mix, and your dough just needs more time than a plain loaf of bread.

So be patient, keep it somewhere warm and give it the time it needs. Watch for the dough to double in size, and don’t go by the clock.

And if I could give you one tip on making bread or rolls is don’t do it for the first time when you’re about to have company. Or for a big holiday. Make them once or twice beforehand and you’ll know how long whatever bread recipe you’re using takes to rise in your house.

What Can Go Wrong With Homemade Rolls

With ANY bread baking there is always a chance that something can and will go wrong. Let’s troubleshoot that NOW so on the day you can hopefully avoid some of those mistakes.

Dense Heavy Rolls

If your rolls come out dense and heavy, it’s almost always the flour. Scooping your measuring cup straight into the bag packs in way more flour than the recipe needs, and too much flour makes a stiff dough and a tough roll. Loosen the flour with a spoon, spoon it into the cup and level it off.

You’ll notice I don’t give you a precise amount of flour for the recipe because you’re going to add just enough to make a soft slightly tacky dough. Pay attention and don’t add too much of the flour.

No Rise On Your Dough

If your dough just sits in the bowl like a lump and won’t rise, there are two big things that could have happened. First your yeast may have been old. Old yeast won’t wake up and get to work so we bloom it before go to all the other trouble of making bread rolls. Blooming the yeast lets you know whether or not the yeast is alive enough to make a good bread. If it gets foamy and bubbly in about 10 minutes, you’re good to go. If nothing happens, start over with fresh yeast. If you don’t have fresh yeast then add it to your list. This another reason why trying any bread roll recipe before the big days is so important.

Heat this the second reason why you might not get a good rise on your bread or roll dough. If the water for blooming the yeast is too hot, dead yeast. If the milk is too hot when you add it to the flour mixture, dead yeast. If you decide to proof it in the oven and leave the heat on, dead yeast. If your house is too cold or you choose a cool spot to let your bread rise in, no not dead yeast, but slowed yeast.

Can You Make Bread Rolls Ahead Of Time?

If you’re worrying about Thanksgiving dinner and how to get it all done I feel you! You CAN make the dough the night before and keep it covered in the fridge overnight. It works. But in my experience, these rolls are never quite as good as the ones made from fresh dough the day of.

If you do make the dough ahead, the trick is getting it soft and warm again before you shape it. Cold dough is stiff and takes a long time to come up to temperature. Pull it out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter until it’s back to room temperature and soft to the touch. Keep an eye on it, it may start to rise again and you could have overproofed dough.

If you really want to get ahead, bake the rolls the day before instead and warm them up right before dinner. That way you get rolls made from fresh dough, and you’re not working against a turkey or prime rib on the big day.

OR make them the day AFTER Thanksgiving and you’ve something that pairs with ALL the leftovers like gravy made from pan drippings, or turkey noodle soup.

How To Store Dinner Rolls

Dinner rolls are best the day you bake them, but they keep really well. Once they’ve cooled COMPLETELY, put them in an airtight container or a zip top bag and keep them on the counter for up to 2 days.

To freeze them, let them cool completely, then wrap them up tight or put them in a freezer bag with as much air squeezed out as you can. They’ll keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let them thaw on the counter, then wrap them in foil and warm them in a 350°F oven for about 5 to 10 minutes until they’re soft and warm again. You can warm a roll in the microwave for a few seconds too, just don’t overdo it or it’ll turn tough as it cools.

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