In Photos: How To Make Soft Homemade Dinner Rolls
The method is as simple as stirring together a few liquid ingredients in one bowl, a few dry ingredients in another bowl, and then combining them. Then you just add eggs and keep kneading in flour until you get the right consistency. Easy peasy!
Step 1: Combine Liquid Ingredients
Let’s start with the liquid ingredients.
Combine milk, cream, melted butter, and sugar in a bowl. The milk and cream should be warm but not hot (think of a baby’s bath). If it’s too hot, the mixture will kill the yeast, so be gentle!
Sprinkle the yeast all over the surface of the liquid, and set it aside for a few minutes to dissolve.
Step 2: Mix Dry Ingredients
While that is doing its thing, whisk 2 cups of the flour together with the salt.
Step 3: Combine Wet & Dry Ingredients
Once the yeast has dissolved, pour the liquid mixture into the dry.
Stir everything together until it’s well combined, then let the mixture rest for about 10 minutes.
Step 4: Add Eggs & More Flour
Next you can add the eggs! Eggs give an added richness to this bread that is so good.
The last step to making this bread dough is to add more flour, until you get the right consistency. Add it in slowly (about ½ cup at a time), mixing well, until the dough gathers itself into a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl cleanly.
Keep in mind that you may not need all the flour! Or you may even need a little more flour than the amount listed in the recipe card.
Making bread is often more intuitive, and it’s more important to get the consistency right than it is to follow exact measurements, particularly when it comes to flour.
Step 5: Shape Rolls & Let Rise
Now that the dough is made, you can shape the rolls. This part is fun!
Divide the dough into 24 equal portions. I like to use a digital kitchen scale for this. My rolls were around 1.75 ounces each, but yours may need to be a little bigger or smaller, depending upon how much flour you used.
Keep the dough balls covered with plastic wrap as you work.
Grab a piece of dough and knead it around 3 times to smooth it out, then roll it into a tight ball with your hands. Try to stretch the dough over the top of the roll so it’s nice and smooth.
It might look like this on the bottom.
Repeat this with all 24 portions of dough, evenly spacing them on a baking sheet or 9×13-inch pan that’s been lined with a greased sheet of parchment.
Then cover the rolls with a sheet of plastic wrap that’s been misted with non-stick spray. Set them in a warm place to rise for about an hour.
After one hour they should be doubled in volume!
If your rolls don’t look like this, don’t proceed to the next step. Give them more time to proof; it might be too cold in your kitchen. And be sure to check the expiration date on your packet of yeast. Your yeast could be expired or you may have killed it if your liquids were too hot.
Step 6: Bake
These dinner rolls will bake in the oven for around 18 to 22 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when they’re really puffy and golden on their tops.