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!
I now use this basic recipe with a few additional tweaks for alot of my bread products. I add a Tablespoon of Vital Wheat Gluten added to the dry ingredients and let my Breadman Bread Machine do all the mixing for me on the basic bread setting. I have used a actual Bread Flour; 1/3 Rye flour & 2/3 Bread Flour; 1/2c Whole Wheat Flour, 1/2c Bread Flour, a handful of crushed pumpkin seeds & 1/2 c equal parts Oat Bran to Wheat Bran. All were successful & tasty. I just make sure to take out of the bread machine & knead with bread flour until soft nonstick dough is formed.
I made these yesterday. Delicious rolls. I did make a soft dough with 1/2 cup less flour and making only 8 larger rolls. I’ll make these again and again. Thank you
Ali: I was anxious to try your recipe but did something wrong. I have no idea what it is. I could not get the dough to come together. I started with the 3 1/2 cups of flour and quickly realized that there was no way that was enough. I finally stopped adding flour at 4 1/2 cups. It never did come together. I went back over the recipe and double checked that amounts of the liquids. I am dumbfounded. I even read a ton of your reviews to see if anyone else had this problem. I make my own bread all the time and am familiar with adding a quarter cup or so at a time until the dough cleans the bowl. I also weigh my ingredients. Do you have any idea what went wrong? Thanks.
I just had the exact same thing happen to me!
Mine did the exact same thing!!! Would love to know what I did wrong also!
Mine also stayed stuck to the sides of the bowl, just kept adding flour. We’ll see how they turn out!
My dough did the same. I have them in “rolls”, riding. Hoping they still turn out ok, but the dough was very loose.
Mine done the exact same thing. I have no more flour so it was a waste of all the other ingredients I have just used. Not happy!
I’m making these rolls for dinner tonight to go along with a pot roast, potatoes and gravy. I made them last Sunday -they looked great, tasted great – my only concern is when I make the dough balls the dough seems too sticky. Same thing today so I did add almost the full amount of flour (4 c). Haven’t baked em yet so am hoping they aren’t dry from too much flour. Just wondering if you ever have this ‘sticky’ issue. Thanks for a very easy quick recipe!
These sound wonderful! Can you use a food processor to mix the dough if you don’t have a dough hook mixer?
Thanks
I love using my food processor to make and knead yeast dough! As long as your processor has the capacity (14 cup for this much flour), you can make this dough in 90 seconds. Add all the dry ingredients to your work bowl, including INSTANT yeast ( that does not need to be bloomed). Pulse a few times, then, with the machine running, add the warm (not hot) liquid ingredients through the feed tube. When a dough forms, stop the processor and check for consistency – too dry, add a little more liquid (milk or water) – too sticky, add a Tablespoon of flour. When you’re satisfied with the consistency, run the machine for 40-45 seconds to knead your dough to perfection. Form the dough into a smooth ball and place in an oiled bowl, cover loosely and let it rise as directed. Hope this helps.
Made these last night, turned out very well. So so, so easy. Thank you for such a great recipe.
“Best dinner rolls ever” according to the ENTIRE family!
These are fabulous – we make them often and my two teenage boys eat every one!
I’ve used soooo many different roll recipes over the years and this one is my new favorite by far! Only change I made was to let the rolls rise for 45 minutes each time. The dough was soft and easy to work with and the rolls were so soft, buttery, with a perfect golden crust. I’m tossing all my other roll recipes! Thank you!
I made these on Christmas and they were good! I made them again today, but doubled the honey, made smaller dough balls, and did an egg wash. This was very good and similar to what you would find frozen at the grocery.
I have made several recipes from this site and this is another that will be a go to for my family.
Thank you!