Soft Dinner Rolls Recipe Bread Machine - these buttery, flaky, and soft dinner rolls made from scratch will rival anything you’ve filled up on at a restaurant! Using a bread maker will make things even easier, and in no time you’ll be a bread-making expert!
There’s nothing like the smell of fresh-baked bread right out of the oven. Except for maybe a basket of soft, homemade dinner rolls right at your fingertips! Breaking open one of those golden buns, exposing that soft pillowy center, and allowing the steam to escape is all kinds of amazing.
Slathering it with melted butter or using it to sop up gravy or sauce, either way, buttermilk dinner rolls are a must-have for all your holiday meals!
If you’ve ever wondered how to make soft dinner rolls from scratch this recipe couldn’t be easier. Whether you’re a pro at working with yeast or this is your first time, this easy-to-follow recipe will guide you every step of the way.
Take out that bread maker, dust it off, and let’s get going! They’ll be the first things to go once your family gets ahold of them, but this recipe is so easy you won’t mind making them over and over again!
Do I Need a Bread Maker for this Recipe?
Technically you don’t need a bread maker, but it will make your life easier if you do use one! The bread maker does the kneading for you, which not only saves you energy but time too!
Especially during the holidays when you’ve got a lot going on, being able to turn your attention to other things while the bread maker does its thing can be a game-changer.Part of what makes this a simple recipe is there is no heavy kneading by hand but still getting the best results!
Alternatively, you could use a stand mixer with a dough handle, or perhaps a no-knead bread recipe is where it’s at!
Ingredients
- Warm water - Warm water helps to activate the yeast. Too cold and it won’t activate it, too hot and it will kill it. Warm water is important!
- Dry active yeast - Readily available in most grocery stores or bulk stores. It is needed to give the bread its rise.
- Warm buttermilk - This Will give the bread its slightly tart flavor and rich moisture. The acid will react with the other ingredients and also help with making the rolls light and fluffy.
- Butter softened - Needed for the dough itself and for brushing the rolls before baking.
- Egg - A common binding agent used in baking bread. It helps to create a lovely structure that holds together nicely.
- Sugar - Yeast feeds on sugar and along with the warm water it allows the yeast to become active.
- Sea salt - Brings out the other ingredients which round out the flavors.
- All-purpose flour - You can also use bread flour if preferred.
How to Make Soft Dinner Rolls From Scratch
Step 1: First, add all of the ingredients into the bread machine.
Step 2: Next, turn the machine on "dough mode" and let it run. This is when you can leave it and get a few other things done (like grease the baking dish). Or you know, have a cup of coffee!
Step 4: After, the machine is done making dough, transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into 20 balls.
Step 5: Now, place the balls into a greased large pizza pan, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let them rise in a warm, draft-free area until doubled in size.
Step 6: Near the end of the rise time, preheat the oven to 350F.
Step 7: Finally, brush the rolls with 2 tablespoons of melted butter or 2 whisked egg yolks, and bake until golden in color for about 20-25 minutes on the middle oven rack.
Step 8: Allow them to cool and enjoy while still warm!
PRO TIP: Everyone’s environment is different. It normally takes about 45 minutes - 1 hour to double, but give or take some time depending on the temperature of your home and where you leave your dough.
Tips for Best Results
- Test your yeast! There’s nothing worse than using yeast to make the dough only to find out it’s no longer active. Test a bit with warm water and let it sit in a bowl. If it bubbles and starts to foam it’s still active. If not, discard it and pick up some fresh yeast.
- As eager as you are to get the dough in the oven, do not skimp on the rise time. If soft, fluffy dinner rolls are what you’re after, they need to rise!
- For a sweet addition, along with the melted butter, you can brush them with a little honey as well!
- Spoon and level flour. Measuring the flour correctly is an important step in any baking recipe. This means you use a spoon to scoop out the flour and add it to the measuring cup. Rather than using the measuring cup to scoop it out which will give you more flour than needed. Then use the back of a knife to level it off.
- For a little savory option, sprinkle with coarse salt on top of the melted butter instead!
Storing & Freezing Dinner Rolls
Once rolls come out of the oven if you would like to keep them warm as long as possible, keep them in the pan and cover with a towel to trap the heat.
Any leftover buns can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
To freeze, you want to transfer them to a freezer-friendly Ziploc bag once they have cooled. The sooner they’re frozen, the longer they’ll maintain their freshness.
How to Reheat Dinner Rolls
If they are frozen, you’ll want to thaw them at room temperature first and then pop them in the microwave to reheat. You can also use the oven, but they may not be as soft this way.
How to Serve Buttermilk Dinner Rolls
For breakfast - Despite their title as dinner rolls, these really are fantastic buns for any time! Use them for breakfast sandwiches filled with bacon or sausage patties, and a fried egg. You could also spread your favorite jam or nut butter on it and enjoy it with a cup of coffee!
For lunch - Turkey, ham and cheese, or beef sliders are always a good idea! Use them for pulled pork or chicken or serve on the side of soup, stew, and chili.
For dinner - A basket on the table is always a good idea! Sopping up the sauce from lasagna, or pasta, using it as an appetizer, or a little something extra for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.
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📖 Recipe
Bread Machine Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- ¼ cup warm water
- 2 ¼ teaspoons dry active yeast
- 1 cup warm buttermilk
- ½ cup butter softened, plus 2 tablespoons of melted butter for brushing rolls before baking - optional
- 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks for brushing the rolls instead of butter - optional
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
Instructions
- Into the bread machine add all of the ingredients.
- Turn machine on "dough mode" and let it run it. When machine is done making dough, lightly flour the surface with flour and divide the dough into 20 rolls.
- Place balls into greased with oil pizza pan, cover with clean kitchen towel and let rise in warm place until double inside, about 45 minutes - 1 hour.
- Now, preheat the oven to 350F. Brush the rolls with 2 tablespoons of melted butter or 2 egg yolks, and bake until golden in color for about 20-25 minutes on the middle oven rack. Enjoy while warm.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Happy Cooking!
Christine
I don’t understand your instruction for bread machine dinner rolls when you say to leave out 2 tsp of butter and 1 TBS of buttermilk. Do you mean remove it from the ingredients before they are placed in the bread machine? So 1 cup of buttermilk minus 2 TBS goes into the machine? Half a stick of butter minus 2 tsp goes in the machine? You don’t indicate using those ingredients later, and there is no mention in the video. Confusing.
Munchkin Time
Hi Christine! I am so sorry about the confusion. You add all of the ingredients in without leaving anything out. I hope it makes more sense now, and I will update the recipe.