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My favorite 1-Hour Soft and Buttery Dinner Rolls recipe is easy to make by hand or with a stand mixer and absolutely heavenly served warm out of the oven.
Is there anything better than a freshly-baked pan of homemade dinner rolls?
Actually, yes — this easy dinner rolls recipe that can be ready to go in just one hour!
This recipe has been my go-to for years and always yields the most perfectly soft, fluffy, buttery rolls. But I especially love it because the ingredient list is simple, the rise times are minimal, and the dough can be easily made either by hand or with the help of a stand mixer. And everything can come together quickly in just an hour or so, which makes this recipe more do-able on busy weeknights when you’re craving some homemade bread, and also super-helpful on holidays when you’re trying to multi-task all the things.
Many of you have also asked about make-ahead options with this recipe over the years, so I have updated the post with instructions for how to make the bread dough in advance. And I have also included some fun variations if you would like to make your rolls more garlicky, herb-y, cheesy, or whatever other add-ins sound fun.
Bottom line, this dinner rolls recipe is a keeper and never lets me down. So if you are looking for a good one to add to your repertoire, bookmark this one and give it a try!
1-Hour Dinner Rolls Recipe | 1-Minute Video
Homemade Dinner Rolls Ingredients:
Before we get to the full recipe below, here are a few notes about the ingredients that you will need to make this homemade dinner rolls recipe:
Water and milk: These will serve as our base liquids for the bread dough. I used dairy milk, but you are welcome to sub in a plain plant-based milk (such as oat milk or almond milk) instead.
Melted butter: Which we will both bake into the rolls and brush on top.
Honey: To add just a hint of sweetness.
Active dry yeast: This recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of yeast. So if you are purchasing your yeast in 0.25-ounce packets, you will need slightly more than one packet.
Flour: I have only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour. But if you try out different flours, please let us know how it goes in the comment section below!
Salt: Which we will mix into the rolls to bring out all of those delicious buttery flavors. Feel free to sprinkle a bit of flaky salt on top of the warm rolls just before serving too!
Tips For How To Make Dinner Rolls:
The full recipe is included below for how to make these dinner rolls, but here are a few helpful tips to keep in mind too:
Be sure that your yeast has not expired. This is one of the most common reasons for why a batch of bread dough does not rise. Double-check the expiration date on any yeast that may be hanging out in your pantry. And if the yeast does not begin to puff and bubble up after 5 minutes once it has been added to the wet ingredients, toss out the batch and start over with new yeast.
Double-check the temperature of the liquid ingredients. When heating the liquid ingredients (water, melted butter, milk and honey), it’s essential that they be within the temperature range of 100-110°F. If the mixture is too hot, it can kill the yeast. If it is too cool, the yeast may not activate. The mixture should feel warm and not hot to the touch, but I always recommend testing the mixture with a cooking thermometer just to be sure.
Don’t skip the rise times. They are essential to helping the dough rise and create that soft and fluffy texture we’re going for.
No worries about perfection. When portioning the dough into 12 rolls, don’t worry about them all being perfectly equal in size. They will all bake up together in the pan, and if some are slightly larger or smaller, hakuna matata. :)
Possible Recipe Variations:
Here are a few other possible variations that you could make to this dinner rolls recipe:
Make-ahead option: For make-ahead dinner rolls, follow the recipe through the step that you shape the individual rolls and place them in the baking dish. Then tightly cover the baking dish and refrigerate for up to 48 hours. Transfer the dish to the counter and let it warm up to room temperature for 2 hours before baking, and then bake as directed.
Make it vegan: Use plant-based milk and butter and your preferred sweetener in place of honey.
Add garlic: Add in 1 teaspoon of garlic powder to the bread dough to make the rolls more garlicky, and/or you could also simmer some minced garlic with butter to brush on top of the rolls after baking.
Add herbs: Add in 1 to 2 tablespoons of finely-chopped fresh herbs (such as rosemary or parsley) to the bread dough to add flavor to the rolls, and/or you could also mix some fresh herbs in with the melted butter to brush on top of the rolls after baking.
Add cheese: You can also mix in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of freshly-grated cheddar cheese to make cheesy rolls. (Or I also love mixing in some freshly-grated Parmesan, and then sprinkling some on top of the rolls during the final 5 minutes of baking.)
More Favorite Bread Recipes:
Looking for more easy bread recipes to add to your repertoire? Here are a few of my faves…
My favorite 1-Hour Soft and Buttery Dinner Rolls recipe is easy to make by hand or with a stand mixer and absolutely heavenly served warm out of the oven.
Prep your oven and baking dish. Heat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray, and set aside.
Heat the liquids. In a microwave-safe bowl (or saucepan, see below), stir together the water and melted butter, then add in the milk and honey and stir until combined. Microwave the mixture for 1 minute and give it a stir. Continue microwaving the mixture in 15 second intervals, until it reaches 110°F. It will be warm but not hot to the touch. (*Alternately, you can heat the mixture over medium-low heat in a saucepan until it reaches 110°F.)
Add yeast. Pour the liquid mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast evenly on top, give it a quick stir with a fork to combine, and let the yeast activate for 5 minutes until it is foamy.
Add dry ingredients. Add in 3 1/2 cups of flour (not all of the flour) and the salt.
Mix. (See alternate instructions in the notes below for how to knead the dough by hand.) Use the dough-hook to mix in the dry ingredients on medium-low speed until combined. If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, add in 1/4 cup more flour at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is only slightly sticky to the touch. (Only use up to 4 cups of flour total.) Continue mixing on low speed for 4-5 minutes until the dough is smooth. Then form the dough into a ball with your hands and transfer it to a greased bowl.
Let the dough rise. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or paper towel, and let it rise briefly for 15 minutes.
Form the rolls. Gently punch the dough down and divide into 15 equal-sized pieces. Form each piece into a ball and place the dough balls in the greased baking dish. Cover the dish again with a damp towel or paper towel and let the dough balls rise for an additional 15-20 minutes.
Bake. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes, or until the rolls are lightly golden brown on top and cooked through.
Brush with more butter. Transfer the baking dish to a wire cooling rack and brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter.
Yeast: I typically purchase my yeast in bulk. But if you are using the 0.25-ounce packets, they each contain 2.25 teaspoons of yeast. So you will need slightly more than one packet to yield 1 tablespoon.
How to knead the dough by hand: If you do not have a stand mixer, no prob! For step 5 (mixing the dough), simply stir the dry ingredients into the dough as much as possible. Then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 5 to 7 minutes until smooth, adding up to 1/4 cup of extra flour if the dough is too sticky.
The rolls came out great! It’s the first time I’ve attempted rolls and I’m not always successful with bread so it was awesome to have them turn out well. Thank you for sharing!
I have made these twice now in a matter of 2 weeks! The easiest recipe!! Thank you!! So soft and delicious!! Even a few days later!! A definite keeper!!😍👍
These are so delicious! I will be making them again and again. Have you ever tried freezing the rolls after forming them before the second rise and taking them out of the freezer to rise and then bake?
Kyleigh Kleist —
I am interested in this as well. I would love to know if you can freeze them and then defrost them and they turn out the same.
Jennifer —
Haven’t tried this was, but I bake and freeze them all the time.
Erin —
This has become my go to roll recipe. It is so quick and easy to make even if you are someone who struggles to make bread.
Love this recipe! I’ve made these twice and have been super happy with how they’ve turned out each time. Only thing I’ve noticed is that I have had to add more than the 3.5-4 cups of flour (about 4.5 cups each time) to achieve the “slightly sticky” texture recommended in the directions
Hi can these rolls be frozen after baking or is it better to freeze them before baking them? I want to make them ahead of time. Also can I replace some of the white flour with pastry flour and will it affect the rolls?
Mele —
Making these the first time, and the were delicious & will making more tomorrow & thank you for the recipe🥰
Lisa Rae Kerr —
I would like to know if these can be frozen and if so better to freeze cooked or not
My family loves this recipe! I follow the recipe exactly. I use it all the time! It’s also perfect because my grandson is allergic to eggs! A wonderful go to for my needs!
I decided to do a test run of the recipe before Thanksgiving. I had a hard time believing this could be completed in 1 hour. It took me a little longer because I wanted to put the dough ingredients together perfectly, but now that I know the steps it’s doable. The rolls came out so soft and tender with great flavor. This will be my go to roll recipe.
Made them today for thanksgiving dinner. They were a hit. I did make them a little too big and got 12 but they cooked perfectly. thank you for such a great recipe.
Made these for thanksgiving after waiting too long and all the stores being sold-out of rolls. What a treat because these were amazing. Only problem was that when I adjusted the recipe to 2x the instructions didnt shift to 2x. So while the ingredients listed 7c. flour, the instructions said to add 3.5, no more than 4, per the original 1x recipe. Thankfully I was just adding flour as needed after starting with 3.5 and figured I was doing too much, but it was so sticky! By the time it was nice and soft I was prob closer to the 7 needed, so it all worked out, but I didnt spend some time worrying I had done it incorrectly.
A delicious recipe, that everyone at the table enjoyed! Look forward to marking them again!
Has anyone had any issues with making this recipe ahead of time? I made these rolls for Thanksgiving and cooked them right away and they were DELICIOUS! But I just made some last night for my in laws Thanksgiving today, and when I took them out of the refrigerator all the dough balls had morphed together and they smelled sour. Tried baking them anyway just to see if it was the normal process but it definitely was not. I’m not sure where I went wrong, I followed the recipe and then did exactly what the make-ahead directions said.
These were amazing!! Not gonna lie, I miscalculated my flour amount when cooking today and did not have 4 cups. I was so upset thinking I would have to throw away the batch because it was so sticky. But I sprayed my hands with cooking spray and did my best to form balls anyway and baked them. So delicious despite not being 100% right!
I really love this recipe!! It’s simple enough to do any time and are always delicious! My husband asks for them frequently. I’ll keep making these forever.
Thank you! I’m usually in charge of rolls for Thanksgiving and I did not have time for my usual recipe. Oh. My. Word. These are AMAZING!!! I highly recommend these and they were a huge hit!
Okay.. let’s just start of by saying I suck at making breads and rolls but I can bake just about anything else 😂 This was the first time I made rolls and they turned out PERFECT! Such an easy recipe to follow that didn’t take 6 hours. So yummy & fluffy! Definitely adding this to my go to roll recipe! Thank you!
The recipe turned out good! I misread in a hurry and waited 5 minutes to stir the yeast. I reread it, and stirred and waited another 5 minutes but it still worked! I didn’t put in as much honey or salt. We could tell there wasn’t enough salt. But for making rolls, the recipe is great and better if you follow instructions!
Absolute perfection! Followed the recipe exactly, using oat milk. Added 2 tbsp of melted butter on top when they came out of the oven. Came out perfectly soft, pillowy, warm, buttery. Could not be more pleased. I will play around with putting them in the fridge for a day or two before baking, so I can bake only a few each day.
These rolls are amazing! First time making yeast rolls and I’m shocked how well these turned out. 15 minutes was the perfect bake time, but I did have to pull them out & paint with melted butter then broil for about a minute until they browned. Perfection! My own personal taste…I will be adding a little extra salt in the next batch.
I always bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. I prefer my rolls to be brown on the bottom and top. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly and they were delicious. I prefer a metal pan and do reduce the temp to 350 degrees for a 13×9 glass dish.
So easy and came out AMAZING! I had these rising on the stove as I cooked dinner. Let them rise for probably 30 minutes. Served warm with honey butter!
I tried this with bread flour and it came out unrisen and almost uncooked, despite 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Could it be the bread flour? I’m so confused!
We absolutely love the flavor and texture of these rolls!
My husband is wondering if I can make a loaf of bread from this recipe. Do I need to do anything different with the recipe? What proofing time and baking temperature would you recommend? It looks like there is enough for two 1 lb loaves… is that correct?
Thank you!
This recipe is fantastic! My family LOVES these rolls and I have made them several times already. I am trying to convert the recipe to grams/weigh measurements to have more consistency in the dough and prefer to keep it on the hydrated/sticky side. I have a large family so quadruple the recipe and make 60 buns each time. The buns are so soft and stay fresh the following day and beyond. Do you happen to have the nutritional information on this recipe?
I will be trying these tomorrow. After looking for a good roll recipe, I chose this one because I didn’t have to read a 27 paragraph story about your time in a quaint Vermont town where you got stranded and decided to move to because the food and people made you happy.
I love the suggestions and thorough explanations! I have found 2 of your recipes that are going in my favorites. I look forward to trying more.
These are amazing rolls! My husband doesn’t want me to give any away because he doesn’t want the secret out! 🤣 seriously he’s wanting two batches a week 🤦🏼♀️
It’s my first time making bread & they get better every time ❤️
I was so excited to make these. Unfortunately they didn’t work out. Only used 4 cups of flour. I could even form a ball – even after trying to add some additional flour. Hoped it would help and let it rest. The dough was way too sticky and couldn’t form the rolls with greased or floured hands. After already spend an hour to get to this point, I sadly had to throw it all away. I’m not a baker, but have baked before. This wasn’t an easy 60 min recipe.
The rolls came out great and the recipe actually only took an hour to make! (I’ve seen so many recipes that take longer to make than what is stated.) My husband loved them and requested that I add them to our regular rotation of recipes. I did brush the tops with a garlic and herb butter for a bit of extra flavor and as a bit of an expirament I stuffed half of them with cheese and ground hamburger.
Wow! Made these tonight to go along with my homemade turkey soup. My husband LOVES them, as did I! I halved the recipe & they turned out perfectly. Next time I will make a full batch, they go FAST!! So easy, delicious, & did I mention easy! Haha! This recipe is definitely a keeper, thank you so much for sharing it.
Just made these for dinner. NEVER made bread before. In wanting to learn how to make bread, this was a PHENOMENAL recipe. They were light, fluffy, and buttery. In fact, I used tallow instead of butter. 100% recommend. My husband loved it. Great with honey.
The rolls came out great! It’s the first time I’ve attempted rolls and I’m not always successful with bread so it was awesome to have them turn out well. Thank you for sharing!
I have made these twice now in a matter of 2 weeks! The easiest recipe!! Thank you!! So soft and delicious!! Even a few days later!! A definite keeper!!😍👍
These are so delicious! I will be making them again and again. Have you ever tried freezing the rolls after forming them before the second rise and taking them out of the freezer to rise and then bake?
I am interested in this as well. I would love to know if you can freeze them and then defrost them and they turn out the same.
Haven’t tried this was, but I bake and freeze them all the time.
This has become my go to roll recipe. It is so quick and easy to make even if you are someone who struggles to make bread.
My now go to recipe for dinner rolls. Easy and so delicious!
Can you freeze these rolls?
Buttery sweet and delicious!!!
Perfect every time
Love this recipe! I’ve made these twice and have been super happy with how they’ve turned out each time. Only thing I’ve noticed is that I have had to add more than the 3.5-4 cups of flour (about 4.5 cups each time) to achieve the “slightly sticky” texture recommended in the directions
Hi can these rolls be frozen after baking or is it better to freeze them before baking them? I want to make them ahead of time. Also can I replace some of the white flour with pastry flour and will it affect the rolls?
Making these the first time, and the were delicious & will making more tomorrow & thank you for the recipe🥰
I would like to know if these can be frozen and if so better to freeze cooked or not
My family loves this recipe! I follow the recipe exactly. I use it all the time! It’s also perfect because my grandson is allergic to eggs! A wonderful go to for my needs!
I decided to do a test run of the recipe before Thanksgiving. I had a hard time believing this could be completed in 1 hour. It took me a little longer because I wanted to put the dough ingredients together perfectly, but now that I know the steps it’s doable. The rolls came out so soft and tender with great flavor. This will be my go to roll recipe.
Made them today for thanksgiving dinner. They were a hit. I did make them a little too big and got 12 but they cooked perfectly. thank you for such a great recipe.
Made these for thanksgiving after waiting too long and all the stores being sold-out of rolls. What a treat because these were amazing. Only problem was that when I adjusted the recipe to 2x the instructions didnt shift to 2x. So while the ingredients listed 7c. flour, the instructions said to add 3.5, no more than 4, per the original 1x recipe. Thankfully I was just adding flour as needed after starting with 3.5 and figured I was doing too much, but it was so sticky! By the time it was nice and soft I was prob closer to the 7 needed, so it all worked out, but I didnt spend some time worrying I had done it incorrectly.
A delicious recipe, that everyone at the table enjoyed! Look forward to marking them again!
Has anyone had any issues with making this recipe ahead of time? I made these rolls for Thanksgiving and cooked them right away and they were DELICIOUS! But I just made some last night for my in laws Thanksgiving today, and when I took them out of the refrigerator all the dough balls had morphed together and they smelled sour. Tried baking them anyway just to see if it was the normal process but it definitely was not. I’m not sure where I went wrong, I followed the recipe and then did exactly what the make-ahead directions said.
My problem is that the dough I make doesn’t really rise. What do I do?
Is bread flour ok to use?
Can I make the rolls ahead of time and bake later?
Can you put this bread dough in a loaf pan and make as a loaf of bread?
Can this bread dough be put in a loaf pan and made as a loaf of bread?
Perfect recipe to bake dinner rolls with my 7 year old! I did end up needing 4 1/4 cups in total.
These were amazing!! Not gonna lie, I miscalculated my flour amount when cooking today and did not have 4 cups. I was so upset thinking I would have to throw away the batch because it was so sticky. But I sprayed my hands with cooking spray and did my best to form balls anyway and baked them. So delicious despite not being 100% right!
I have been looking for the perfect yeast roll recipe (I have tried a few)……and this is it! In my opinion, the honey is the key. Absolutely delicious!
I really love this recipe!! It’s simple enough to do any time and are always delicious! My husband asks for them frequently. I’ll keep making these forever.
Thank you! I’m usually in charge of rolls for Thanksgiving and I did not have time for my usual recipe. Oh. My. Word. These are AMAZING!!! I highly recommend these and they were a huge hit!
Okay.. let’s just start of by saying I suck at making breads and rolls but I can bake just about anything else 😂 This was the first time I made rolls and they turned out PERFECT! Such an easy recipe to follow that didn’t take 6 hours. So yummy & fluffy! Definitely adding this to my go to roll recipe! Thank you!
I’ve made these twice a week since thanksgiving. Absolutely love them.
The recipe turned out good! I misread in a hurry and waited 5 minutes to stir the yeast. I reread it, and stirred and waited another 5 minutes but it still worked! I didn’t put in as much honey or salt. We could tell there wasn’t enough salt. But for making rolls, the recipe is great and better if you follow instructions!
Absolute perfection! Followed the recipe exactly, using oat milk. Added 2 tbsp of melted butter on top when they came out of the oven. Came out perfectly soft, pillowy, warm, buttery. Could not be more pleased. I will play around with putting them in the fridge for a day or two before baking, so I can bake only a few each day.
Can these be frozen to make later? Or to reheat later? Or do they not freeze well?
This recipe was great! Since I am only cooking for two, I cut the recipe in half and made 6 larger rolls in a loaf pan. Definitely making again!
I make this as often as I can especially for holidays and they’re always a hit!
These rolls are amazing! First time making yeast rolls and I’m shocked how well these turned out. 15 minutes was the perfect bake time, but I did have to pull them out & paint with melted butter then broil for about a minute until they browned. Perfection! My own personal taste…I will be adding a little extra salt in the next batch.
Made these rolls vegan the first time and they turned out great. They are also great dough for cinnamon rolls!!
I always bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. I prefer my rolls to be brown on the bottom and top. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly and they were delicious. I prefer a metal pan and do reduce the temp to 350 degrees for a 13×9 glass dish.
So easy and came out AMAZING! I had these rising on the stove as I cooked dinner. Let them rise for probably 30 minutes. Served warm with honey butter!
I tried this with bread flour and it came out unrisen and almost uncooked, despite 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Could it be the bread flour? I’m so confused!
We absolutely love the flavor and texture of these rolls!
My husband is wondering if I can make a loaf of bread from this recipe. Do I need to do anything different with the recipe? What proofing time and baking temperature would you recommend? It looks like there is enough for two 1 lb loaves… is that correct?
Thank you!
This recipe is fantastic! My family LOVES these rolls and I have made them several times already. I am trying to convert the recipe to grams/weigh measurements to have more consistency in the dough and prefer to keep it on the hydrated/sticky side. I have a large family so quadruple the recipe and make 60 buns each time. The buns are so soft and stay fresh the following day and beyond. Do you happen to have the nutritional information on this recipe?
Thank you so much!
I will be trying these tomorrow. After looking for a good roll recipe, I chose this one because I didn’t have to read a 27 paragraph story about your time in a quaint Vermont town where you got stranded and decided to move to because the food and people made you happy.
I love the suggestions and thorough explanations! I have found 2 of your recipes that are going in my favorites. I look forward to trying more.
These are amazing rolls! My husband doesn’t want me to give any away because he doesn’t want the secret out! 🤣 seriously he’s wanting two batches a week 🤦🏼♀️
It’s my first time making bread & they get better every time ❤️
Can fat free milk be used?
I was so excited to make these. Unfortunately they didn’t work out. Only used 4 cups of flour. I could even form a ball – even after trying to add some additional flour. Hoped it would help and let it rest. The dough was way too sticky and couldn’t form the rolls with greased or floured hands. After already spend an hour to get to this point, I sadly had to throw it all away. I’m not a baker, but have baked before. This wasn’t an easy 60 min recipe.
I’ll be making these this afternoon, can these be frozen and if so at what stage would that be done.
Sticky mess not sure what I did wrong
Sooo yummy. Quick, easy and sooo soft. Remind me of my grandma.
I’ve made this recipe 3 times now and it is delicious and simple. The best combo! I’ve also used the dough to make cinnamon rolls.
The rolls came out great and the recipe actually only took an hour to make! (I’ve seen so many recipes that take longer to make than what is stated.) My husband loved them and requested that I add them to our regular rotation of recipes. I did brush the tops with a garlic and herb butter for a bit of extra flavor and as a bit of an expirament I stuffed half of them with cheese and ground hamburger.
Wow! Made these tonight to go along with my homemade turkey soup. My husband LOVES them, as did I! I halved the recipe & they turned out perfectly. Next time I will make a full batch, they go FAST!! So easy, delicious, & did I mention easy! Haha! This recipe is definitely a keeper, thank you so much for sharing it.
these are so easy and they came out fabulous, so soft and tasty
Just made these for dinner. NEVER made bread before. In wanting to learn how to make bread, this was a PHENOMENAL recipe. They were light, fluffy, and buttery. In fact, I used tallow instead of butter. 100% recommend. My husband loved it. Great with honey.