The Best Dinner Rolls Ever

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Believe me, you will agree that these are the best dinner rolls ever after you make them. No kneading is required for these super soft dinner rolls. Your guests will ask for these again and again. I promise you that.

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Now I know that’s quite the statement to make. World’s. BEST. Ok, no I haven’t tried them all, I’m working on it. Trust me. But so far, with the ones I have tried and made over the years, these are by the far the best and most consistent, and yes, even (dare I say) and easy yeasted roll.

They were so good in fact, my sister in law the day after Thanksgiving said, “Yea I think you need to make more rolls”. That’s how good they were.

How To Make These Soft Dinner Rolls

These rolls start by first heating in a saucepan your milk, sugar, butter and salt.  Now you skimp and save a few calories I guess and use a low-fat milk. But I beg you don’t. This dough totally benefits from that fat in the milk. I mean we are talking rolls here people. So go whole milk all the way and don’t look back.

Once your butter has melted, then just take that puppy off the stove and allow it to cool down. You don’t want this to be too hot once you add it to the yeast, or you will end up killing your yeast! And that’s a bad day for everyone. Well, especially the yeast.

Speaking of the yeast, time to proof it. Don’t go running scared now…

Updated: Some readers asked if I could include photos of the yeast proofing process. I thought what’s better than that, then a video? So I put together a quick video on how to proof your yeast if you are a bread making newbie. Use the measurements given in the recipe below, but the process is still the same! Enjoy 🙂

If you need more help in tackling this yeast dough recipe, then be sure to give my Ultimate Guide To Making Homemade Bread Recipes a read 🙂

Yeast is a living thing. So be gentle with it. Use lukewarm water ONLY (about 105-115 degrees) when dissolving it. Too hot and you will the yeast. Too cold and the yeast will never be activated (in other words no bubbles!). Anyone else reciting a the 3 little bears nursery rhyme in their head? No? Just me? Ok moving on…

If after 10 minutes, you don’t see any bubbles, start over. Seriously. I wish I could have those hours back when I kept chugging along, thinking it will be fine I bet this bread will turn out ok. No bubbles. No bother. Save yourself some time and start over. Trust me.

You can also download my Baking With Yeast Cheatsheet. It’s a FREE guide where you will learn the differences between the different kinds of yeast, and some quick tips on working with yeast!

Ok so time to break out your stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. You want to combine your flour and milk mixture you heated up earlier and combine that for about 30 seconds or so. Then it’s time for that proofed yeast you worked so hard on. Then let that stand mixer do it’s thing on high for about 3 minutes. Start slow just so you know you won’t have flour and yeast all over your counter.

Trust me I’ve been there. Start slow and then increase to high. Thank me later.

After that time to incorporate your room temperature eggs. Room temperature eggs are key. If you forgot to take them out, like I do 9 times out of 10 don’t fret. Just place them in a bowl with warm water for about 10 minutes.

And last but not least, add in the rest of your flour.

Now, the dough will be very soft and be coming away from the sides of the bowl, but it will still be sticky. Don’t worry about this. It will firm up a little during the rising process. I promise.

Then it’s time to wait. Get some dishes done while the dough rises. Catch up on your new Netflix series.  Just place the bowl in a warm place and cover with a clean kitchen towel. This will take about an hour.

How Do You Raise Bread In A Cold House?

My kitchen (and house) is notoriously cold! Thank you electric heat. So if your house is cold like mine, your bread  may take longer to rise than normal. You can beat the cold by placing a pan of boiling water in the bottom of your oven and then the bread bowl covered on a higher rack above. Keep the oven closed and let the warm water do its thing. Even just keeping the bowl of dough in your oven will be the warmest place in your house to keep it.

Now for the fun part. Punching down the dough. Ok, but you know nicely. It’s more like push your fist into the dough to deflate it. Not so much punch. Be nice to that dough. We still want fluffy rolls from it in the end.

This batch actually makes two 9×13 pans of rolls in the end. You want to divide the dough in half. And roll out each portion into a rectangle (about 15×9) then cut into 12 equal pieces. And roll each piece into a nice round ball. Then let them rise again for about 30-45 minutes.

Tips For Making These Soft Dinner Rolls

• Make sure your water is the correct temperature for the yeast. The yeast is a living thing and too hot of water will kill it. And too cold will never wake it up, leaving you with rolls that don’t rise! Major kitchen bummer. Check out my yeast 101 post to learn more.
• Because these are no knead dinner rolls, they will take some patience to let rise. You want to let these rise in a warm draft free place. Again try the oven trick by placing a pan of boiling water in the bottom of your oven and then the bread bowl covered on a higher rack above.. The oven even if turned off will still be the warmest place in your kitchen.   For more on baking homemade bread at home, read this post!
• For best accuracy use a kitchen scale to measure your flour. Adding too much flour can result in a dry dinner roll not a soft fluffy one!

Can I Freeze These No Knead Dinner Rolls?

 You can always freeze your rolls unbaked before the final rise. You can freeze them, but just be sure to cover them well with plastic wrap and a final layer of tin-foil. When ready to bake, you need to let them thaw overnight in the fridge or at room temperature for about 2 hours. Boom, rolls when you want.

This is a great way to get ahead of your holiday baking!

If you like freezing your baked goods ahead of time, I actually put together “5 Desserts You Can Freeze Now and Bake Later” for you.

When you are ready to bake, all they need is about 15 minutes in the oven. Slather with butter. Eat. Repeat as many times as needed.

What You Need To Make These Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

• 9×13 baking pan <– I love my Pyrex glass dish, but a metal one works as well.
• Red Star Platinum Yeast <– My go to yeast!!
• Stand Mixer <– You can try making it by hand but it’s much easier to make in my Kitchen-Aid with a dough hook attachment.

More Bread Recipes To Check Out

• No Knead Cranberry Walnut Bread
• Butternut Squash Bread
• Easy Buttermilk Honey Cornbread
• 1 Hour Cinnamon Rolls
• Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

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Print Recipe

World's Best Dinner Rolls

World's Best Dinner Rolls - no kneading required!

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: bread

Keyword: bread, dinner rolls, Thanksgiving side dish

Servings: 24 rolls

Author: Heather Perine

Ingredients

• 2 cups (454 grams) Whole Milk you could also use 2%, but whole is best
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon (112 grams) Sugar divided
• 1/3 cup (5 1/3 Tablespoons, 75 grams) unsalted Butter
• 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
• 2 packages (14 grams) Active Dry Yeast or 4 1/2 teaspoons
• 2/3 cup (149 grams) Warm Water (105-110oF/40-43oC)
• 8 cups (960 grams) All-Purpose Flour
• 3 large Eggs lightly beaten

Instructions

• Combine milk, 1/2 cup (99 grams) sugar, butter and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat and allow to cool until lukewarm. (This step is important because if the mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast.)
• While the milk mixture is cooling, dissolve the yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar in the warm water (105-110^oF/40-43^oC). Let stand about 10 minutes. (after the 10 minutes, the yeast should be very bubbly and foamy)
• In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups flour and milk mixture. Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl. Add yeast mixture and beat on high for 3 minutes. Add in beaten eggs. Then stir in remaining 5 cups of flour to make a soft dough.
• *NOTE- The dough will be very soft and coming away from the sides of the bowl, but it will still be sticky. Don’t worry about this. It will firm up a little during the rising process*
• Place the bowl in a warm place and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise for 1 hour.
• Punch down dough, and turn dough onto a lightly floured clean surface. Divide in half. Spray two 9×13 glass pans with cooking spray.
• Roll first portion of dough into a rectangle and then cut into 12 equal-sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and then place in prepared pans. Repeat with remaining dough in the second pan. Cover pans with clean kitchen towels, and let rise 30-45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375^oF/190^oC degrees. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden-brown.
• When done baking, remove rolls from oven and then rub a stick of cold butter all over the tops!

Notes

• Make sure your water is the correct temperature for the yeast. The yeast is a living thing and too hot of water will kill it. And too cold will never wake it up, leaving you with rolls that don't rise! Major kitchen bummer. Check out my yeast 101 post to learn more. 
• Because these are no knead dinner rolls, they will take some patience to let rise. You want to let these rise in a warm draft free place. Again try the oven trick by placing a pan of boiling water in the bottom of your oven and then the bread bowl covered on a higher rack above.. The oven even if turned off will still be the warmest place in your kitchen.   For more on baking homemade bread at home, read this post!
• For best accuracy use a kitchen scale to measure your flour. Adding too much flour can result in a dry dinner roll not a soft fluffy one!
• Adapted from Life in The Lofthouse, adapted from Our Best Bites