Soft, fluffy, tender – everything you want in a dinner roll is right here. Made in just an hour from start to finish. The fastest, tastiest, and easiest dinner roll you’ll ever have!
I happen to have an unnatural obsession with bread. And by that, I mean that I always have some frozen dough stashed in my freezer just in case my cravings wake me up at wee hours. Oh yes, it does happen to me sometimes. You can’t be a certified bread-o-holic if that hasn’t happened to you yet. 😂
How to Make Soft and Fluffy Dinner Rolls in an Hour?
Like many of you, looking at these soft and fluffy rolls always triggers hunger pangs. The good news is, you can easily achieve a soft and fluffy dinner roll without impatiently rolling out or kneading the dough like a classic dinner roll.
This version of dinner rolls only needs a single quick rise – around 20 minutes, maybe more, depending on the interior temperature of your kitchen – before it gets ready to be baked.
To achieve this, you’ll need to use rapid rise yeast (also called instant dry yeast, quick yeast or instant yeast) to make fluffy and soft rolls in just an hour. Here are few things you need to remember though when dealing with rapid rise yeast:
- Rapid rise yeast or instant yeast has a finer texture compared to active dry yeast’s larger granules.
- Active dry yeast needs to be dissolved in warm water for it to be activated. If the yeast is still alive, it will become foamy or bubbly within few minutes before you can mix it into the dry ingredients. Rapid rise yeast on the other hand can be mixed right away into the dry ingredients. No proofing needed!
- Rapid rise yeast dissolves and activates quickly in the ambient moisture of the dough.
- Active dry yeast is highly perishable, so you always need to check the expiration date. For rapid rise yeast, it can be refrigerated up to one year
- You can use these two interchangeably, although, you have to remember that active dry yeast slows down the rise
How Long Can Dinner Rolls Be Frozen?
For a busy mom like most of us here, planning ahead is a great help when you have tons on your checklist. Fortunately, these One-Hour Dinner Rolls can be prepared ahead so you can save more time when preparing a meal for your family.
- You can freeze your dinner rolls after they’re completely baked. Let them cool first before wrapping them tightly with aluminum foil. Place the wrapped baked dinner rolls in freezer bags or storage containers and freeze them for up to a month.
- You can also freeze unbaked dinner rolls after shaping them. Just place them at least half and inch apart in a parchment-lined baking sheet and let them puff a bit (but not ready to bake). Then flash freeze them for a few hours until solid and transfer them in freezer bags or storage containers and freeze for up to a month.
- If you’re planning to make these rolls a day or two in advance, you can transfer the shaped rolls in their baking dish/sheet, cover and refrigerate. Or refrigerate the dough just after it has risen and before shaping them into rolls.
How Do You Warm Up Frozen Dinner Rolls?
To reheat frozen baked dinner rolls, thaw them the night before serving at room temperature with a loose foil covering. Then reheat for 10 minutes in a 300F oven.
For unbaked rolls, remove them a day before you plan on baking and arrange them in a baking pan, cover and let them thaw overnight in the fridge. On the day of baking, allow them first to puff up at room temperature about an hour. Bake them as directed.
Check out the detailed info HERE from TheKitchn.com on how to make dinner rolls ahead of time.
Serve this heavenly-smelling One Hour Dinner Rolls during special occasions like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Basically, you can serve them anytime you want! I love them paired with a warm bowl of soup or stew for dinner. Heck, I even love these dinner rolls for breakfast slathered with a big slab of butter or jelly. They actually taste amazing the next day!
Watch How To Make It
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Easy Dinner Rolls
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Ingredients
- ¾ cup (187.5 ml) water
- ¾ cup (183 ml) milk
- 4 tablespoons (56.7 g) butter , softened
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon (8.5 g) salt
- 3 ¾- 4 cups (468.75 – 500 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 – 3 teaspoons (7 -10 grams) rapid rise yeast (See notes 4)
Topping
- Melted butter
Instructions
- Grease a 9×13 baking pan with baking spray or oil. Set aside.
- Combine warm water, milk, with the butter pieces, sugar, salt and microwave for about a minute. Stir until everything is melted. Add to a standing mixer.
- Add about 3 ½ cups of flour, together with the yeast and mix for at medium speed, using a paddle hook. Add in enough additional flour (if needed) to make soft dough. You want the dough to be slightly stick.
- Switch with hook dough and mix for about 6-8 minutes.
- If mixing by hand, turn dough into floured board and mix , for about 6-8 minutes
- Next divide dough into 15 pieces and roll to form balls. For even balls you might want to use a scale to measure evenly.
- Place dough into 9 x 13 greased pan.
- Cover with a clean cloth and let rise in a warm place (see notes ) for about 20 minutes or until doubled.
- Bake rolls in at 350 Degrees F. oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove rolls from oven and immediately brush with melted butter.
- Let it cool slightly before serving.
Tips & Notes:
- You can add your favorite flavor in these rolls. Sweeten it with honey or sprinkle with some herbs.
- If you don’t have a stand mixer, you may mix the ingredients with a sturdy wooden spoon until you achieved the needed dough texture.
- If your house is in a colder area, the rising time may increase beyond the said 20 minute. With that, you need to place it in a warmer environment (between 80-90°F) for it to rise quickly. A good hack for this is to place your dough inside the microwave oven (turned off) alongside with a cup of steaming hot water. Keep the door closed so the heat won’t escape. Or for bigger batches of dinner rolls, you can heat your oven to 150°F, then turn it off and quickly place your dough inside the oven with doors closed,
- 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) rapid rise yeast works. However, for faster rising use 3 teaspoons yeast, especially in a cold setting. Store leftover yeast in an airtight container or glass jar and place it in the freezer. You can use the yeast straight out from the freezer.
- These dinner rolls are almost foolproof. You may replace butter with oil or swap half of the flour with whole-wheat. Please use your best judgement when making substitution or adjustment for this recipe.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information:
How To Make Easy Dinner Rolls
Grease a 9×13 baking pan with baking spray or oil. Set aside. Combine warm water, milk, with the butter pieces, sugar, salt and microwave for about a minute. Stir until everything is melted.
Add to a standing mixer.
Add about 3 ½ cups of flour, together with the yeast and mix for at medium speed, using a paddle hook. Then pour in enough additional flour (if needed) to make soft dough. You want the dough to be slightly stick. Switch with hook dough and mix for about 6-8 minutes.
If mixing by hand, turn dough into floured board and mix .
Next divide dough into 15 pieces and roll to form balls. For even balls you might want to use a scale to measure evenly.
Place dough into 9 x 13 greased pan. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise in a warm place (see notes ) for about 20 minutes or until doubled. Bake rolls in pre-heated oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove rolls from oven and immediately brush with melted butter. Let it cool slightly before serving.
Sandy l says
Can I use normal margarean
imma africanbites says
Hi, Sandy. Yes, you can. But butter yields better flavor and texture on these rolls.
Sheldon Gibson says
OK…. I was looking for the video on how to make easy bread but found only ads. Please designate which one is the video. I now have a ton of cookie ads.
ImmaculateBites says
Oh sorry for that, it should be right before the ingredients box. 🙂
cna says
i’m thinking of making these for my family on thanksgiving. can i prepare the dough the night before, refrigerate them over night and make them the next day?
ImmaculateBites says
Yes, of course! 🙂
Dorine spellman says
Can i use regular yeast for this, not in a rush to make them.. just want to make sure it will be same ingredients etc.
Immaculate Bites says
Hi Dorine! You can substitute with active dry yeast, add 25 percent more vs the rapid rise quantity. Enjoy!
Christine Waters says
Can you make this in a loaf tin instead of rolls? I would like to try both, loaf and rolls. If in loaf tin how long would you need bake for?
Thank you
Immaculate Bites says
Hi Christine! If you use mini loaf tins, it will bake around 30-45 minutes, just check from time to time to make sure 🙂
Sam says
SO delicious!!! This will be my go to quick roll recipe
Andrew Tomlinson says
Fantastic recipe . Ive just used a little less sugar ( purely for my preferred taste) but its a lovely mix
David Coffman says
how much honey would you use to give it that honey taste and in which step would you use it.
ImmaculateBites says
About 1/3 cup. Replace sugar with honey and add together with milk.
Julie S says
These are AMAZING!!! I wanted to try out a new recipe for rolls for the holiday as the ones I made were good, but so labor intensive… These were not only simpler, but also tasted better! SO easy! I brush the tops with egg before baking and I also made a batch with Everything Seasoning on top – everyone loved them!
ImmaculateBites says
Yeah ! Glad to hear it was hit with everyone. Thanks so much for the feedback.
Samantha E says
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love these dinner rolls because they are fast and FRESH and make the whole kitchen smell heavenly. I’ve made them twice before, and always thought I ended up with excess dough and would end up making 20 rolls in separate pans. They ended up being hard because they were smaller. This time, I decided to do the exact 15 and they turned out BEAUTIFULLY. So fluffy and delicious. This will be my go-to recipe for forever!
Diana Kagimba says
I had been looking for this recipe. Tried it out and came out beautifully
Linda C says
I’ve made these four times now. I don’t have the mixer so I did it by hand. Comes out perfect every time . I will use this recipe forever and pass it down the family tree. Wonderful, easy and so delicious . Thank you!
Bridgette says
Hi Imma I am Bridgette from the Bahamas, I tried the dinner rolls and it was great !! love to see you make raisins bread.
Jay says
The best rolls I’ve tried. Thank you my dear
Tene Duncan says
They were absolutely delicious! I followed the recipe exactly with one exception. I used active yeast. I had to dissolve the yeast in 110 degrees water and let the yeast dissolve. Then I subtracted the water amount from the recipe and followed the remaining instructions. My family was wowed with how soft they were. Thank you for sharing!!