My favorite 1-Hour Soft and Buttery Dinner Rolls recipe is easy to make by hand or with a stand mixer and absolutely heavenly served warm out of the oven.
Is there anything better than a freshly-baked pan of homemade dinner rolls?
Actually, yes — this easy dinner rolls recipe that can be ready to go in just one hour!
This recipe has been my go-to for years and always yields the most perfectly soft, fluffy, buttery rolls. But I especially love it because the ingredient list is simple, the rise times are minimal, and the dough can be easily made either by hand or with the help of a stand mixer. And everything can come together quickly in just an hour or so, which makes this recipe more do-able on busy weeknights when you’re craving some homemade bread, and also super-helpful on holidays when you’re trying to multi-task all the things.
Many of you have also asked about make-ahead options with this recipe over the years, so I have updated the post with instructions for how to make the bread dough in advance. And I have also included some fun variations if you would like to make your rolls more garlicky, herb-y, cheesy, or whatever other add-ins sound fun.
Bottom line, this dinner rolls recipe is a keeper and never lets me down. So if you are looking for a good one to add to your repertoire, bookmark this one and give it a try!
1-Hour Dinner Rolls Recipe | 1-Minute Video
Homemade Dinner Rolls Ingredients:
Before we get to the full recipe below, here are a few notes about the ingredients that you will need to make this homemade dinner rolls recipe:
- Water and milk: These will serve as our base liquids for the bread dough. I used dairy milk, but you are welcome to sub in a plain plant-based milk (such as oat milk or almond milk) instead.
- Melted butter: Which we will both bake into the rolls and brush on top.
- Honey: To add just a hint of sweetness.
- Active dry yeast: This recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of yeast. So if you are purchasing your yeast in 0.25-ounce packets, you will need slightly more than one packet.
- Flour: I have only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour. But if you try out different flours, please let us know how it goes in the comment section below!
- Salt: Which we will mix into the rolls to bring out all of those delicious buttery flavors. Feel free to sprinkle a bit of flaky salt on top of the warm rolls just before serving too!
Tips For How To Make Dinner Rolls:
The full recipe is included below for how to make these dinner rolls, but here are a few helpful tips to keep in mind too:
- Be sure that your yeast has not expired. This is one of the most common reasons for why a batch of bread dough does not rise. Double-check the expiration date on any yeast that may be hanging out in your pantry. And if the yeast does not begin to puff and bubble up after 5 minutes once it has been added to the wet ingredients, toss out the batch and start over with new yeast.
- Double-check the temperature of the liquid ingredients. When heating the liquid ingredients (water, melted butter, milk and honey), it’s essential that they be within the temperature range of 100-110°F. If the mixture is too hot, it can kill the yeast. If it is too cool, the yeast may not activate. The mixture should feel warm and not hot to the touch, but I always recommend testing the mixture with a cooking thermometer just to be sure.
- Don’t skip the rise times. They are essential to helping the dough rise and create that soft and fluffy texture we’re going for.
- No worries about perfection. When portioning the dough into 12 rolls, don’t worry about them all being perfectly equal in size. They will all bake up together in the pan, and if some are slightly larger or smaller, hakuna matata. :)
Possible Recipe Variations:
Here are a few other possible variations that you could make to this dinner rolls recipe:
- Make-ahead option: For make-ahead dinner rolls, follow the recipe through the step that you shape the individual rolls and place them in the baking dish. Then tightly cover the baking dish and refrigerate for up to 48 hours. Transfer the dish to the counter and let it warm up to room temperature for 2 hours before baking, and then bake as directed.
- Make it vegan: Use plant-based milk and butter and your preferred sweetener in place of honey.
- Add garlic: Add in 1 teaspoon of garlic powder to the bread dough to make the rolls more garlicky, and/or you could also simmer some minced garlic with butter to brush on top of the rolls after baking.
- Add herbs: Add in 1 to 2 tablespoons of finely-chopped fresh herbs (such as rosemary or parsley) to the bread dough to add flavor to the rolls, and/or you could also mix some fresh herbs in with the melted butter to brush on top of the rolls after baking.
- Add cheese: You can also mix in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of freshly-grated cheddar cheese to make cheesy rolls. (Or I also love mixing in some freshly-grated Parmesan, and then sprinkling some on top of the rolls during the final 5 minutes of baking.)
More Favorite Bread Recipes:
Looking for more easy bread recipes to add to your repertoire? Here are a few of my faves…
- No Knead Bread
- Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
- Rosemary Focaccia Bread
- Honey Beer Bread
- Healthy Banana Bread
1-Hour Soft and Buttery Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon active-dry yeast*
- 3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- extra melted butter, for brushing on top
Instructions
- Prep your oven and baking dish. Heat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray, and set aside.
- Heat the liquids. In a microwave-safe bowl (or saucepan, see below), stir together the water and melted butter, then add in the milk and honey and stir until combined. Microwave the mixture for 1 minute and give it a stir. Continue microwaving the mixture in 15 second intervals, until it reaches 110°F. It will be warm but not hot to the touch. (*Alternately, you can heat the mixture over medium-low heat in a saucepan until it reaches 110°F.)
- Add yeast. Pour the liquid mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast evenly on top, give it a quick stir with a fork to combine, and let the yeast activate for 5 minutes until it is foamy.
- Add dry ingredients. Add in 3 1/2 cups of flour (not all of the flour) and the salt.
- Mix. (See alternate instructions in the notes below for how to knead the dough by hand.) Use the dough-hook to mix in the dry ingredients on medium-low speed until combined. If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, add in 1/4 cup more flour at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is only slightly sticky to the touch. (Only use up to 4 cups of flour total.) Continue mixing on low speed for 4-5 minutes until the dough is smooth. Then form the dough into a ball with your hands and transfer it to a greased bowl.
- Let the dough rise. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or paper towel, and let it rise briefly for 15 minutes.
- Form the rolls. Gently punch the dough down and divide into 15 equal-sized pieces. Form each piece into a ball and place the dough balls in the greased baking dish. Cover the dish again with a damp towel or paper towel and let the dough balls rise for an additional 15-20 minutes.
- Bake. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes, or until the rolls are lightly golden brown on top and cooked through.
- Brush with more butter. Transfer the baking dish to a wire cooling rack and brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter.
- Serve warm. Then serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Amazing! I just had to cook mine at 375 but no other changes!
Delicious! I have been looking for a soft and light roll recipe and love this! I will make them a little smaller – maybe 20 rolls for dinner rolls and a little larger for sandwich rolls. I am excited to try it as loaf bread too. Thank you so much for a tasty recipe and I love that it comes together so quickly!!
I use bread machine yeast (quick rise), so just dump all the ingredients in to my mixer like I am using a bread machine and then stir with the dough hook. Cuts out some of the steps for me that way.
My family loved these rolls
Excellent recipe. My family loved them. I made hamburger sized, though a little heavy, very tasty. About to make dinner buns.
For the past few months I’ve been learning to bake rolls (with other recipes) and they were all fails. This is my second time using this recipe and these came out excellent again. The recipe is very easy to follow and less intimidating than most. My family loved it. I printed the recipe out so l don’t lose it, plus l just sent it to my friend. Thank you!
I came to this recipe in a pinch and selected it because of the high reviews. I am regretting that now!!
I have been baking bread for years but am not an ‘experienced’ baker by any means. I follow recipes to a tee because my assumption is the person writing it knows better than me. And I wish I had listened to my gut rather than followed this recipe.
I knew that putting yeast in hot liquid kills it, and yet I did it anyway because I thought, “hey, maybe this professional knows something I don’t”. That was not the case. Maybe change the instructions to let people know to allow the liquid to cool before adding the yeast. I ended up with dense, undercooked dough balls at the end of the 15 minute cooking time, and threw it all away.
It says right in the insteuction when heating the liquid, that it should be around 110°. It says the liquid should be warm but not hot, I usually just feel it with my finger to see if it’s warm. I have been making this recipe for years and everyone that tries them loves them and usually eats like 4 at a time. Just make sure to check temp before adding the yeast.
She states in instructions 110 degrees. That’s lukewarm, not hot
Did you test the temperature of the liquids? I used an instant read thermometer, and microwaved slowly until I got to just over 100 degrees. I’ve made these three times with no trouble.
It’s interesting that Angela, a newby, had great success… twice. Ali’s recipes are ALWAYS amazing and fool proof.
110° Is actually the perfect temp for yeast activation in almost all recipes, maybe you made it too hot?
Australian here, I think I know what’s happened. The instructions read 110°, but it never states that is in farenheit. So if you’re using celcius, that’s about 40° :)) I usually warm my milk or water to 35°c and it works perfectly every time. Hope that helped!
I absolutely love these dinner rolls. Easy and very consistent every time.
Has anyone frozen the dough? Prepping for large dinner and would love to do these ahead.
I haven’t frozen but in a lot of dough recipes I make a day or two ahead of time and then refrigerate after the first rise and forming them into balls. Then before I bake just give them enough time to rise!
Hello! It might’ve been expired yeast or not properly activated. Did you check the temperature of the warm liquids after you added it to the mixing bowl? Sometimes the cold metal drops the temperature too low so the yeast doesn’t activate correctly. Did the top get really foamy/frothy?
Made these according to the directions. Adding the garlic cheese and herbs as directed. Absolutely outstanding! Definitely saving this one! Thank you so much, young lady!
I’ve made these a few times and they are great! We love them!
Random question? Can I leave out the honey? I want my 8 month old to be able to try one. Thanks!
I’ve frozen these, before I let them rise the second time, so they’re already rolled and you can take out as many as you’d like. I froze them on a tray first not touching to make it easier. Then obviously let them thaw and rise and bake as normal
I gave the recipe 5 stars because its easy to follow, but mine came out like hockey pucks. I hope they soften up after the addition of the melted butter, but what did I do wrong?
sounds like the dough was not kneeded enough. rising for more time helps also with softness. Be sure to also spoon measure the flour out, scooping tends to compact the flour resulting in putting to much flour in which can also create hard rolls. hope this helps :)
I added rosemary, thyme, and garlic salt to the meltedbutter. I brushed the tops with this before & after cooking. Simply delicious!! They turned out amazing. I will add the herbs to the dough next time before cooking and still brush it on the tops. These can have limitless taste variations. THANK YOU!!
I think I will try this but it is going to be hard