Easy Dinner Rolls Recipe

It's not a complete dinner without rolls, right? Virtually any evening meal is elevated with the addition of dinner rolls. However, no one needs to know just how easy these are to throw together. You don't need many ingredients to make dinner rolls from scratch, and of that already short list, you likely already have many of the ingredients sitting in your pantry. And, you can whip these rolls up in under an hour, so it's really a win-win recipe.

Recipe developer and health coach Miriam Hahn brings us this recipe for easy dinner rolls that are a great addition to many meals. "These rolls are very versatile," Hahn says. "They go well with any type of meat main dish, soups, chilis, salads or pastas." She even suggests serving them with some of her other recipe creations including this hearty fall salad or these lentil meatballs. But don't get us wrong, they are amazing on their own, simply with butter or maybe a drizzle of honey.

For this recipe, you will need butter, water, milk, honey, active dry yeast, flour, salt, and cooking spray. Hahn loves to use honey in this recipe as "it adds a hint of sweet and makes these rolls extra delicious."

Into a medium saucepan, add the butter, water, milk, and honey. Place the saucepan on the stovetop over low heat until the butter is melted. Then, pour the mixture into a large bowl. Using a food thermometer, check the temperature of the melted butter and milk mixture. Once it reaches 110 F, add the yeast and stir. Allow the yeast to activate by letting it sit for 5 minutes, until the top gets bubbly and foamy.

Now, add the flour and the salt to the mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Onto a floured surface, turn the dough out. Then, knead it for about 5 minutes, until the dough appears smooth.

With a few simple swaps, you can make this dough dairy free. Hahn says, "These are my go-to for the holidays and if you have guests with food restrictions they can be made plant-based with Earth Balance butter and a non-dairy milk. They taste the same both ways!"

To keep the dough from sticking, spray a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Then, add the dough and cover with a damp dish towel. Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes, in which time it will rise and double in size. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400 F.

Remove the dough from the bowl and cut it into 15 even sections. Then, roll each section into round balls and place into a large 9x13-inch baking dish. If you are preparing the dough ahead of time, Hahn notes that at this point you can "prep the rolls in a baking dish and keep it in the fridge to bake right before serving."

Now, for the part you've been waiting for! Bake for 15 minutes, and you will have fresh golden dinner rolls. Remove them from the oven and brush them with butter while they are still warm. Are you drooling yet? Hahn notes that "these store well for a few days in a Ziploc on the counter. You can put them in the microwave to warm them up or if you have a warming drawer you can re-heat in there while you make dinner."