Homemade Rolls
There is nothing quite like homemade rolls. These homemade rolls are everything a roll should be and go with everything. They’re light, fluffy, incredibly moist and full of flavor!
Best Homemade Rolls
I have four boys and a handsome cowboy husband, and when I want to really impress them, I make my homemade rolls. I mean, I don’t want to brag or anything, but these rolls are pretty dang good. I have spent 14 years perfecting this recipe, so I would hope by now, I have it figured out.
My husband is the typical cowboy who loves a hearty meal and always has to have bread or toast with his meal. I will make a pan of these homemade rolls and they go with everything! My boys also love to just eat them with my homemade raspberry jam (find that recipe here). You can even just eat them plain and they’re still good!
As intimidating as it may seem, these rolls are actually super easy to make! I have detailed how to make these rolls below and I think you’re going to be surprised by how easy it is to make your own homemade rolls.
The Cowboys’ Rating: 10/10
Every time I make a new recipe, I have my family rate the recipe out of 10. By the time, these recipes make the blog, they’ve been tried and tested by some of my hardest tiny critics!
What Ingredients Are Homemade Rolls?
- Bread Flour or All-Purpose Flour – I use all-purpose flour or bread flour for this recipe. Either works great.
- Yeast – The yeast that I use for this homemade bread recipe is active dry yeast.
- Warm Water – Although I never check the actual temperature of my water, lukewarm water is what I use. This activates the yeast.
- Egg – The egg helps bind the dough together and makes the bread soft and fluffy.
- White Sugar – Sugar helps the texture and flavor of the rolls. Additionally, it also helps bread rise so it has a fluffier consistency.
- Salted Butter – Butter is a key ingredient in homemade rolls. I like to put the butter on my counter for about an hour before I make bread to bring it to room temperature.
- Salt – Salt is very important for bread. It has a few roles in making homemade bread turn out. First, it helps to control the rate of yeast fermentation which is very important. Additionally, it strengthens the gluten in the bread. And finally, it helps with taste! If you have every tried bread that the salt has been left out of, it is not good!
- Nonfat Dry Milk – I have always used nonfat dry milk instead of regular milk in bread recipes. I swear by it. I think that it gives the bread a better, fluffier consistency.
Tools You’ll Need
- I always use my KitchenAid to make bread, but you can use a Large Mixing Bowl with a Danish Dough Hook
- Measuring Cups & Spoons
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Spatula
- Bread Scraper
- Baking Sheet
- Silicone Baking Mat
- Flour Sack Dish Towels to cover dough
Homemade Rolls Recipe
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a bowl, combine warm water and yeast together. Set aside and let sit for 5 minutes until frothy.
- In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, sugar, nonfat dry milk, and salt and mix until well combined.
- Add in shortening and work into the dry ingredients until it is crumbly in appearance.
- Add water and yeast mixture along with egg to the dry ingredients and begin mixing.
- Gradually add flour one cup at a time to form a soft dough. Once all flour has been added, continue kneading or mixing for another 2-3 minutes. When done, the dough should be slightly sticky to the touch.
- Cover the dough with a towel and let rise until double in size (about an hour).
- Once dough has risen, generously flour a surface on the counter and scape the dough out of the bowl and onto the floured surface.
- Knead a few times, then cut dough into 2 even pieces.
- From there, cut dough into 15 even pieces.
- Form balls, making sure to tuck the ends of the dough underneath.
- Spray a 9×13″ baking dish generously with cooking spray and set aside.
- Place the rolls in the baking dish. (I do 5 rows of 3).
- Repeat process until all rolls have been made.
- Place the rolls in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until the top of the rolls are golden brown.
- Remove rolls from oven and let cool.
- Enjoy!
Storage and Freezing
I store my homemade rolls in a gallon Ziploc bag on the counter. At our house, my pack of boys devour my rolls in less than 24 hours, so I don’t usually store it in the fridge. However, if you don’t have a pack of boys who eat everything in sight, you can store these homemade rolls in the fridge in an airtight container or a Ziploc bag. It will last up to 7 days.
Did you know that rolls freeze well? It’s true! If I want to make a double batch and freeze them, I will place the rolls in a Ziploc bag and make sure to press out as much of the air as possible. Then I put them in a second Ziploc bag and place them in the freezer. These can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To thaw out the rolls, I just take the desired amount out of the freezer and let them thaw on the counter still in the bag. As it comes to room temperature, it absorbs the moisture in the bag and is perfectly moist and delicious.
Try More of My Easy Recipes
Homemade Rolls
Equipment
- 9×13" baking dish
Ingredients
- 2 cups lukewarm water
- 2 tbsp active dry yeast
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1/3 cup salted butter
- 2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 5 1/2 cups flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a bowl, combine warm water and yeast together. Set aside and let sit for 5 minutes until frothy.
- In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, sugar, nonfat dry milk, and salt and mix until well combined.
- Add in shortening and work into the dry ingredients until it is crumbly in appearance.
- Add water and yeast mixture along with egg to the dry ingredients and begin mixing.
- Gradually add flour one cup at a time to form a soft dough. Once all flour has been added, continue kneading or mixing for another 2-3 minutes. When done, the dough should be slightly sticky to the touch.
- Cover the dough with a towel and let rise until double in size.
- Once dough has risen (about an hour), generously flour a surface on the counter and scape the dough out of the bowl and onto the floured surface.
- Knead a few times, then cut dough into 2 even pieces.
- From there, cut dough into 15 even pieces.Form balls, making sure to tuck the ends of the dough underneath.
- Spray a 9×13" baking dish generously with cooking spray and set aside.
- Place the rolls in the baking dish. (I do 5 rows of 3).
- Repeat process until all rolls have been made.
- Place the rolls in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until the top of the rolls are golden brown.
- Remove rolls from oven and let cool.
- Enjoy!
