These Sweet Dinner Rolls are fluffy, melt in your mouth goodness.

This post may contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

I grew up with my grandmother making rolls for every special occasion. It was the highlight of all our family get-togethers! Traditions like that are meant to be carried on! And if you don’t have that tradition, there is no time like the present to start! There’s something nostalgic about making bread. I guess it’s the memories of watching my grandmother. But in today’s time a lot of life and tasks have just moved to conveniences and quick, easy trips to the store. Homemade bread is so much better… nutritionally, taste wise, and just the slow, simple, meaningful art of bread baking… It’s just beautiful.

Ingredients used in Sweet Dinner Rolls:

Milk: I use whole milk. The fat in the milk will give your bread a softer, fluffy roll.

Butter: sliced

Yeast: Make sure your yeast is fresh.

Sugar: You can substitute honey or any sweetener of choice

Egg

Salt

Flour: All-purpose – You can substitute with bread flour, but you may need to add more water. The rolls may end up being a bit less fluffy and more chewy. You can also use wheat flour, but only substitute half of the flour for wheat and the rest all purpose.

What temperature should liquid be for yeast?

Temperature is important when working with yeast. If you add the yeast to liquid that is too hot it will kill the yeast. For this recipe we the milk will be heated to melt butter and dissolve sugar, but it will be cooled before we add the yeast. When we scaled the milk we are going to heat it up just until it starts to steam – about 180 degrees. Once you see steam, take it off the heat and add butter and sugar to hot milk. Remember, you will need to wait until the milk mixture has cooled slightly before adding the yeast. Your milk mixture should be 100-110 degrees, or if you stick your finger in the liquid it will feel warm, but not burn you.

Kneading Bread

This recipe can be either mixed and kneaded by hand (like my grandmother) or it can be done in a stand mixer. Either works great. It just depends on if you want an arm workout for the day or not. I usually use my kitchen aid with a dough hook and have the machine knead it for me with this recipe. But it is kind of fun to knead by hand!

Rise Times

This bread rises beautifully (as long as your yeast is good.) The first rise takes about 1 ½ hours to double. The second rise (after the dough is formed into rolls) takes about 30 minutes.

How to Shape Sweet Dinner Rolls

After the first rise, when the dough has doubled in size, punch the dough down in the bowl. To form the rolls, I just like to pinch off about a golf ball size portion one roll at a time. I then take that golf ball size piece of dough and pinch it all around in the palm of my hand.

Fillings/toppings

This Sweet Dinner Roll recipe is a great base for cinnamon rolls, monkey bread, chocolate bread, or just a different shape like a braided loaf.

Can you make the day before?

Yes, this works great to make the day before. After the first rise, shape into rolls and place on a parchment lined or silpat cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge overnight. The next day take them out about an hour before you would like to cook them so they can get to room temperature before you bake them. Then just bake them.

Can you freeze dough?

Yes, you can freeze dinner roll dough after the first rise. Shape the dough into rolls and place on a parchment lined pan and put in the freezer. Once they are frozen, store them in a freezer bag. Frozen dough is best used within a month, but may last 4 months in the freezer. Take out the frozen rolls about 8 hours before you would like to bake them.

How to Store Sweet Dinner Rolls

Keep rolls in a sealed bag for best freshness. These Sweet Dinner Rolls will stay fresh about 5 days at room temperature. They can also be placed in the freezer. Use within 3 months.

Prep Time:20

Cook Time:20

Rise Time:2 30

Ingredients

1 ¼ cup warm milk
1 Tablespoon yeast
6 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 ½ teaspoon salt
3 ½ – 4 cups of flour

Instructions

Scald milk over stove top or microwave.
Cube butter and place in warm milk along with sugar. Stir until butter is melted.
Add yeast once it has cooled for about 5 min.
Add egg.
Add flour 1 cup at a time until dough pulls away from bowl and is no longer sticking to the bottom, that will be about 3 ½ to 4 cups of flour.
Knead for 5 minutes.
Form dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl and let rise until double about 1 1/2 hours.
After the first rise, shape dough into balls about the size of a golf ball. Place on a parchment lined or silpat baking sheet. Cover and let rise for about 30 min- 1 hour.
Cook at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

Sweet Dinner Rolls