Perfect Dinner Rolls (2024)

Since I started making bread, I have searched for the perfect dinner roll recipe. I have made several that were good, but none that I was in love with. On Thanksgiving, I offered to bring the rolls to my in laws house and found a Golden Corral copycat. They smelled so good, we sat down, prayed for the good Lord to bless our food, we reached in and grabbed a few. The results? Well...not Golden Corral rolls. Boo! As a matter of fact, they had to have been the worst rolls I've ever made. I was so annoyed with myself for not trying them before we went. I just assumed that they would be good to go. From that day, I decided that I was going to find the best roll recipe. A girl's gotta redeem herself somehow. Anyway, I was playing on the internet the other day and found Holly at Phe.MOM.enon. As of this week, Holly is my new favorite person.She posted the most delicious recipe back in November of '09. To think that it's been there all this time and I never knew it. Well, my friends, you too can make some yummy rolls! Another great thing about them is that they are food allergy friendly, no eggs or milk. =) Holly has on her blog that they are 1 Bowl, 1 Hour, Perfect Dinner Rolls. For me, it was 1 bowl...but not quite 1 hour. It's not because it can't be done in 1 hour. It's because I'm slow. =) It took a little closer to 2 hours for me. Granted that the weather is so cold and it took a little longer for the rolls to rise than what Holly said it should. The following is the recipe word for word from Holly at Phe.MOM.enon. My tips will be posted below the recipe.

Perfect Dinner Rolls

Adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into measuring cup, then leveled off

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes.

To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups of the flour - on low speed with the paddle attachment incorporate the flour to create a wet, sticky mixture. Still on low speed, add 1 cup of the remaining flour and incorporate. Switch to the dough hook and add the remaining 1 cup flour. On low speed, mix the dough to incorporate the final addition of flour until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn the speed to medium and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl - turn to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 20 -30 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently deflate into a rectangle. Cut it in half vertically, then each half vertically again into thirds so you have 6 equal strips of dough. Cut each strip of dough into fourths by cutting horizontally to make 24 little squares of dough. Take each piece of dough and cup it lightly under the palm of your hand on a clean surface. Press lightly and start rotating and rolling the dough ball quickly so that it forms a nice little ball of dough. Once you get some practice, you can do this with both hands at the same time and really speed up the process.

Place each rolled piece of dough into a lightly greased 9x13 baking pan in rows of 4 about 1/2-inch apart. Cover the rolls in the pan with a lightly greased piece of plastic wrap and let rise to double while your oven is preheating to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) - about 20 minutes. If you want an even more golden color to the rolls, brush them with a little melted butter before baking. Bake for 13-15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Serve warm and enjoy!

My tips for this recipe:

I doubled the amount of sugar in this recipe. I like my rolls sweet. =)

A honey butter glaze would be nice on these rolls too.

My KitchenAid stand mixer says to not use the dough hook past speed #2...so I never turned mine on to medium. I was nervous about doing that.

There's nothing else to tip...these are perfect!

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