Homemade Dinner Yeast Rolls
“Pillowy-soft homemade yeast rolls that are so easy to make! Buttery with only a hint of sweetness makes these the perfect dinner rolls for any occasion”
Visual learner? Watch me make these homemade dinner yeast rolls from start to finish!
My grandma Barb has been making the same yeast rolls for Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember. They are so old school, chances are your grandmother may have made this same recipe! Sometimes Grandma Barb would change them up and use honey butter or a more savory garlic and herb butter but the base recipe pretty much stays the same.
They are heavenly and delicious! Not to mention fool-proof for the yeast challenged folks. No bread-machine needed!
As I’ve mentioned plenty of times, I’m a former yeast challenge person. This blog forced me to stop being afraid of yeast. For the longest, I didn’t fool with yeast rolls, homemade bread, cinnamon rolls none of that. So thanks guys for helping me overcome my fear of yeast! It’s a beautiful world over here on the other side!
Today I’m going to be making a recipe I adapted from Grandma Barb’s yeast rolls. We call these, “Those Big Ol Rolls” in my family.
They are starting to become my go-to because the boys can play with the dough and somehow they still come out good. I guess that’s why my grandma Barb used this recipe for Thanksgiving. Us kids would help shape and butter them (and I’m pretty sure overworked the dough) and they were always so pillowy-soft and tender.
These homemade yeast rolls are so soft, chewy and squishy yall! The recipe can be adapted in so many ways. I’ve thrown in mashed potatoes to make buttery potato rolls and even pineapple juice and more sugar to create Hawaiian rolls.
The flavor of these dinner yeast rolls is so perfectly mild. Like a really, really good white bread, which makes them perfect for making leftover Thanksgiving turkey sliders.
Want more rolls? Check out these gorgeous buttery dinner rolls!
My FAVORITE Thanksgiving Recipes
Get the Recipe: Homemade Dinner Yeast Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (can use plain, honey butter or herb butter)
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, over medium-low heat, combine milk, buttermilk, honey, brown sugar, and shortening.
- Stir until shortening has melted, do not boil.
- Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool to 115 degrees F.
- Meanwhile, whisk together 1 ¼ cups flour and yeast in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Once the liquid mixture reaches the appropriate temperature, add it into the flour-yeast mixture, stirring to incorporate.
- Mix in the egg and salt.
- Gradually add the remaining flour, using a rubber spatula to incorporate.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead just until the dough is smooth (may need to add a tad bit more flour to keep the dough from sticking to your hands but be sure not to add too much. After kneading the dough should be soft and smooth, not dry and crumbly)
- Place dough into a large greased bowl, and turn the dough so that it is coated in oil.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place into the oven with the pilot light on or in a very warm location to rise.
- Let dough sit until it is doubled in size (about 1 ½ to 2 hours)
- Remove plastic wrap and punch dough to remove air.
- To create the rolls, remove about 2 tablespoons of dough and flatten on the palm of your hand.
- Brush with melted butter and fold both sides onto each other.
- Place seam side down into a greased 9 x13 casserole dish.
- Repeat until all rolls have been created.
- Brush the tops with butter.
- Cover with plastic wrap and return to oven with pilot light on or to a warm location.
- Let rolls sit for about 60 minutes or until they have filled out in the pan.
- Remove from oven and preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Remove plastic wrap and bake rolls for 12-14 minutes. *
- When done, brush the hot rolls with remaining butter.
- Serve hot.
Video
Notes
Can you make clover roll shaped rolls (using cupcake/muffin pans) with this dough?
I have your cookbook and love the stories as well as recipes. On this yeast roll recipe, can I make it and put half in freezer for later use. It’s just my husband and me.
Is it possible to leave the honey out? Will this change the recipe drastically?
You can leave out the honey and replace it with sugar.
Will this recipe still work without the honey?
Can I use butter instead of shortening?
Yes, the texture will be a bit different though.
Has anyone made them without using shortening OR lard?