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Hi Bold Bakers!
In my opinion, every Bold Baker needs a great dinner roll recipe. What are the criteria for a great dinner roll? Delicious, easy to make, and fast. This recipe for my 1 Hour Dinner Rolls is all of those things and then some.
My rolls are brushed with garlic butter and baked in a pan, revealing a super savory, pull-apart-style roll that is lovely enough for a Thanksgiving dinner but easy enough for a weeknight comfort meal.
Why Do These Dinner Rolls Take Only One Hour?
What makes these dinner rolls so fast is that they proof and bake in under one hour. While some yeasted bread dough requires fermenting or proofing overnight, these rolls proof super quickly, and then they are shaped and proofed for another quick sprint before baking.
This roll is light and fluffy with a yeasty flavor. These short proofing increments are what create texture and flavor. In addition to proofing quickly, the rolls bake in a flash, meaning you can make these alongside your dinner any night of the week. You do not have to have any special bread-making experience to make these; it really is just a matter of mixing up the flour, water, yeast, milk, and sugar and letting the dough do all the work.
How Do You Shape Dinner Rolls?
After the dough is mixed together and has risen for the first time, then comes the fun part. I punch the dough down, knocking out some of the air. Then, I divide the dough in half.
Next, I roll each half of the dough into a log and then cut the log into eight equal pieces. From there, I just use the palm of my hands to roll them into 16 rolls. You can see how kids would love to get involved in making these rolls; they are super child-friendly and a great introduction to working with yeast.
How Do You Reheat Dinner Rolls?
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Place rolls in a baking dish and cover with foil. Bake until warm, 12 to 15 minutes. The foil will create a little steam that will soften and refresh your rolls like freshly baked. These 1-Hour Dinner Rolls are excellent toasted and served with BBQ to make little sandwiches, and when stale, they can absolutely be made into breadcrumbs or savory bread pudding.
How Do I Store Dinner Rolls?
Cover and store in an airtight container at room temperature.
How Long Will They Last?
Dinner rolls last up to 2-3 days at room temperature. You can also freeze them for up to 6 weeks. I do that all the time, and it makes for a great quick breakfast or lunch.
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THIS RECIPE WAS UPDATED AND IMPROVED 11/13/2019.
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1-Hour Dinner Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups (1 lb 4oz/568g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablepoon instant yeast* (see notes below)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons (1oz/28g) butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups (12floz/355ml) warm water or 1/2 and 1/2 milk and water
Topping:
- 3 tablespoons (1 1/2oz/ 43g) butter, room temperature
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon parsley, dried
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Mix to combine.
- Add in the softened butter and mix on low speed until the butter breaks up into large breadcrumbs.
- While still mixing, slowly stream in the water. (Note: add enough water all for your dough to form a tight ball and clean the bottom of the bowl. You might not need all the liquid)
- Increase the speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.
- Transfer the dough into a lightly greased large bowl and cover tightly with cling wrap and a dish towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 20 minutes.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form it into an even ball. Using a dough cutter or knife, cut the dough in half. Roll each half of the dough into a long log. Cut each log into 8 rolls. Roll each one into the shape of a ball (see easy rolling technique in video above)
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Place each rolled piece of dough about 1 centimeter apart.
- Cover the rolls with cling wrap and allow to rise again while your oven is preheating to 400°F (200°C). This will take around 20 minutes.
- While the rolls are rising, mix together the melted butter, minced garlic and dried parsley in a small bowl. Set aside.
- When the rolls have risen for the second time and joined together, lightly brush the rolls with half of the melted garlic butter (reserve the other half for after they are baked).
- Bake until golden brown, roughly brown, roughly 18-22 minutes. Immediately after removing the rolls from the oven, brush them with the remaining melted garlic butter.
- After cooling slightly pull apart and serve. Cover remaining rolls and store at room temperature for up to 2-3 days. They also freeze really well.
For those who don’t use Facebook often, reposting here: My 1st try on dinner rolls from scratch! I’m beyond thrilled and can say for sure that they’re the best ever dinner rolls I’ve ever had! Crispy on the outside and so airy, fluffy and buttery even without much butter. Store bought ones are always over coated with butter for me. These absolutely taste heavenly perfect! I used Gerarda Cronin’s instant pot proofing method. For the 1st proofing, I put the dough in instant pot and set it on ‘yogurt-less’ for 20 minutes. Then I did the 2nd proofing on the… Read more »
I Am Having Trouble With Which Yeast I Have, The Bottle Just Says Yeast How Can I Figure Out Which One I Have?
Hi Gemma,
Would it be alright to use bread flour for this recipe? Thank you. By the way, I really love how you share your knowledge and expertise on baking to the whole world.
Best dinner rolls ever! Even fluffier this time! I think it was because the 2nd proofing got enough time. Half batch was cinnamon sugar , the other half was garlic salt butter.
Thanks a million Gem!
❤️Update
I keep the rolls in a container at room temperature. This morning I made one little sandwich with egg, cheese, pepperoni and pesto. One with some strawberry jam. The texture and not overwhelming yeast taste are so versatile either savory or sweet.
????????my ultimate favorite
(P.S. jam’s recipe
https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/strawberry-jam-recipe-blackberry-raspberry/)
Dear Gemma, just wondering if I could make them slightly bigger and use them as burger buns?
Thank you so much for this detailed yeast roll recipe! I hope I have time this week to make them so I can share them for Thanksgiving with my family! Quick question – what if you did not roll them and left them in the square/rectangle shape they are when you cut them? Would that make a difference in anything other than the shape?
These dinner rolls turned out perfect and the aroma in the house is wonderful!
I am going to use this recipe to make rolls for a banquet. I need 100 of them. Is it easier to make small batches or double/triple the recipe?
I love this dough so much. Made bread sticks out of it with cheese, garlic salt, butter and homemade pesto. Less greasy than store bought bread sticks and so much better! Thanks Gem!