November 24, 2024 Bread

Easy Yeast Rolls for Beginners: Only 7 Ingredients

This Easy Yeast Rolls recipe for Beginners will have you baking every weekend!! Our mission here is to make baking accessible to everyone, and that’s why we’ve crafted the perfect guide to help you master the art of creating these delightful homemae dinner rolls with ease. Even if you’re a beginner baker, we promise you’ll be amazed at the delicious rolls you’ll create. Make these soft dinner rolls for special occasions or just for a weeknight meal.

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Originally Published January 20, 2023

Modified November 24, 2024

baked rolls with butter over the top and a blue towel

Ingredients you’ll need for these easy yeast rolls for beginners:

Flour – this is the staple ingredient for this recipe. We use King Arthur All purpose flour, no need to use bread flour
Active dry yeast – this particular type of instant yeast will help leaven the rolls providing an airy, light texture. We use Red Star active dry yeast.
Salt – as with all recipes, salt makes things taste better! Alongside the butter in these rolls, it adds an extra layer of savory goodness to every bite.
Eggs – Large eggs are used in this recipe. Get them out and set them on the counter to come to room temperature.
Warm milk – Using whole milk instead of warm water in this recipe gives the rolls a richer flavor, and incredible texture.
Sugar – White table sugar jump starts the yeast and adds just a hint of sweetness to this dough.
Butter – we use salted butter in this recipe, which is what we keep on hand in our house.

yeast rolls in a pan with one roll on a plate and a blue napkin

Step 1 (Dough Prep)

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt, Set aside. Whisk the yeast and sugar into the warm milk and let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk the eggs and butter into the milk mixture. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour the milk into the middle. Use a stiff spatula to mix the wet and dry ingredients together thoroughly.
Cover the bowl with a warm moist tea towel for 15 minutes.
Uncover the dough and dump out onto a lightly floured work surface. Dust the dough with flour and knead for 5 minutes or until the dough forms a stiff ball. Place the dough ball seam side down into a greased bowl. Cover the top of the dough 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil to prevent cracking. Cover the bowl with a warm moist tea towel. Place the covered bowl in a warm place to rise. It should take about one hour for the dough to double in size.

Step 2 (Proving)

The second step of this recipe is proving, which is the process of letting the dough rise.

You might be wondering: why do we need to let our dough rise? Well, there are a few reasons why rising makes such a big difference to your finished product:

It improves texture by adding air bubbles into the mix – those little pockets of air will make sure that when they bake they become fluffy and soft instead of dense and heavy like an old brick would!
It improves flavor by letting sugar caramelize – this means that when baked properly (i.e., not burnt), your homemade bread rolls will taste exactly as good as bakery bought rolls!

Step 3 (Shaping)

Shaping the dough is simple. Decide how many rolls you want and divide out the dough by cutting it into that many pieces.With this recipe, you can make 24 large rolls that you can bake up in one pan. You may also divide the dough balls out into smaller pieces on a lightly floured surface, shape rolls and place 3 small balls into muffin tins to make clover leaf rolls. If you put all the rolls into a baking pan, they will bake with crunchy tops and tender and fluffy centers.

Pour out dough onto the floured surface. Using floured hands, pat dough out to be about the size of the pan you will be using. Use a bench scraper to cut the dough long ways into 2 halves. Now cut each of those long halves again longways. Now cut across the middle. Now cut those into 3 pieces. You will have 24 pieces. At this point, you can roll these into balls using a stretching method. Simply make an okay sign with your thumb and pointer finger, and push the dough through the okay hole. Using the pointer finger of your other hand, push the dough through. It kinda forms a little balloon! Now place that twisted side down into the corner of the buttered baking dish, and repeat with all. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap that has been lightly sprayed with oil. These make pretty big rolls, so you can also use a bigger pan, or 2 pans, and make smaller shaped rolls.

Left hand forming a ball of dough dinner roll

Squeezing the bread dough through the fingers

Step 4 (Second Proving)

Allow these rolls to rise for a second time. This will take another hour, depending on how warm your kitchen is. Place rolls in a warm area, like near the stove or in the laundry room, if the drier is going. Rise times will vary depending on the temprature of your house. You can also put them inside your oven, where it is usually warm. It’s important that they don’t get too hot though—80-90°F / 26-32°C is ideal—and make sure they’re still covered with plastic wrap while proofing here as well since air flow is necessary for proper gluten development.

yeast bread rolls that have proved and ready to bake

Step 5 (Bake)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Pop the rolls into the hot oven and bake for 35 minutes, or until golden brown on top. To check for doneness, insert a digital thermometer and look for an internal temperature of 185-190F. If rolls begin to brown, but are not yet done, loosely cover with a sheet of foil for remainder of cooking.

Step 6 (Gloss with Butter)

Once the rolls are pulled out of the oven, you will want to rub them with butter to give them that glossy and delicious look. This will not only make them look amazing, but the taste is pure heaven. Just un-wrap the end of a stick of butter, and rub it over the tops and sides until they are all glossy and ready to serve.

yeast rolls with a hand rubbing butter over the top

Variations

Once you’ve mastered the basic recipe, it’s time to make some variations. Making clover-leaf rolls is so easy! Just make smaller balls of dough and add 3 each to each spot in a muffin tin! You can also add flavorings to your bread dough before shaping and baking your rolls. Try adding herbs like rosemary or chives into the dough at the beginning. You could sprinkle them with everything but the bagel seasoning before they go in the oven for some additional flavor!

Once they’ve gone through their first rise and you are forming the balls, feel free to fill them with whatever you like: pesto and cheese; pepperoni, salami slices—the possibilities are endless! The filling should go in first so when they bake up again after shaping into balls/rolls, they’ll ooze out all over everything else inside there too – yum!

It’s true: homemade yeast rolls recipes require more time than store-bought ones do (not necessarily money though!). But once you see how easy this process really is for making soft flavorful loaves at home–and how much better tasting than store bought versions–we think it will become an instant favorite around here too!

clover leaf dinner rolls in a muffin pan

Can I freeze the dough balls to bake fresh later?

Absolutely! Frozen yeast bread dough balls can typically be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Ours never last this long! It’s recommended to use them within this time frame for optimal quality and to ensure the yeast remains active. Beyond 3 months, the dough balls may still be safe to eat, but the quality and rise of the baked bread may be compromised. It’s always a good idea to label the container or bag with the date of freezing to keep track of the storage time.

Can I freeze the dough balls to bake fresh later?

Absolutely! Make-ahead options of this easy recipe can be stored in the freezer. Frozen yeast bread dough balls can typically be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Ours never last this long! It’s recommended to use them within this time frame for optimal quality and to ensure the yeast remains active. Beyond 3 months, the dough balls may still be safe to eat, but the quality and rise of the baked bread may be compromised. It’s always a good idea to label the container or bag with the date of freezing to keep track of the storage time.

How to freeze dough balls to bake later:

Step 1: Form the dough balls

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. This will prevent the dough balls from sticking and make it easier to remove the frozen dough balls.
Take a portion of the yeast dough and divide it into equal-sized portions, typically about the size of a golf ball or desired roll size.
Roll each portion between your palms to form a smooth ball.
Place the formed dough balls onto the parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Repeat the process, leaving space between each dough ball to prevent them from sticking together during freezing.
Continue forming dough balls until all the dough is used or you have the desired number of yeast dough balls.

Step 2: Freezing the Yeast Dough Balls

Place the cookie sheet with the formed dough balls into the freezer.
Allow the dough balls to freeze for at least 1-2 hours or until they are firm and solid.
Freezing times may vary depending on your freezer temperature and the size of the dough balls.

Frozen un-baked yeast rolls in a plastic freezer bag

Step 3: Storing the Frozen Yeast Dough Balls

Once the dough balls are frozen, remove the cookie sheet from the freezer.
Transfer the frozen dough balls into a freezer bag.
Label the container or bag with the date and type of rolls for future reference.
Seal the bag tightly, ensuring no air can enter.
Return bag to the freezer for long-term storage.

Step 4: Thawing and Baking the Yeast Rolls

When you are ready to bake fresh soft yeast rolls, remove the desired number of dough balls from the freezer.
Place the thawed dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving space between each ball for rising and spreading.
Cover the dough balls loosely with oiled plastic wrap.
Allow the dough balls to thaw and rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours or until they have doubled in size.
Preheat your oven and follow above instructions to bake rolls.

Note: Frozen yeast dough balls can typically be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Remember to adjust the baking time accordingly if you are using a different recipe or size of dough balls.