These easy dinner rolls are about to become your new best friend. You don’t even have to knead them! They take just over an hour from start to finish. Originally published October 29, 2012.
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I was having trouble finding something to wear this morning. This is to be expected when you are pregnant and starting to show. (And by “show” I don’t mean that you look remotely pregnant. Instead you look like you just got done eating 5 lbs of Mexican food.) I ended up wearing a pair of creamish-tan tights to match my skirt. This in spite of the fact that years ago my best friend told me jokingly that these same tights “look like the pallid color of death.” I guess they are appropriate for Halloween time. I should’ve just added some fake blood.
Eric and I made Halloween gingerbread houses with some friends the other night. Check it.
Here’s mine…
And here’s Eric’s. Can you see the rabid gummy zombies (artfully dipped in red sprinkles for blood) chasing down the gumdrop man, who is heading for the axe? He wanted to make a chain saw, but couldn’t quite figure out how to do that using candy. I’m pretty sure he wins the Awesome Award. I’ll take the Ho-Hum Award with no complaints.
Why you’ll love this Easy Dinner Roll Recipe
Let me introduce you to your new best friend. Our family calls these Reesy Rolls. I’m sure they used to be called something else, but Eric’s sister Reesy loved these rolls so much growing up that everyone just calls them Reesy Rolls now. I know they look like muffins, but don’t be fooled. These are real deal yeast rolls, done in one hour flat. (Which I realize doesn’t sound very fast, but for legit yeast rolls, it’s pretty dang good.) And did I mention easy? No kneading. No roll-shaping. Just dump, stir, rise, bake, eat. Win, win, win. These rolls are soft and pillowy, and make you want to douse your entire life in butter.
Easy Dinner Rolls Ingredients
Here’s a quick shopping list to help you gather your ingredients. See the recipe card below for the full ingredients and instructions!
- Active dry yeast
- Granulated sugar
- All purpose flour
- Kosher salt
- Egg
- Unsalted butter
How to make Easy Yeast Rolls for beginners
Here’s a quick overview of how to make these easy beginner yeast rolls. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the complete instructions.
- Dissolve yeast in water.
- Add 1 cup of the flour and all remaining ingredients. Beat until smooth.
- Add the remaining flour and beat until smooth, scraping sides. Cover the bowl and let rise.
- Stir down the dough and spoon into muffin cups, then let the rolls rise.
- Bake until they start turning golden on top.
Easy Dinner Roll Substitutions and Variations
Consider these rolls your blank canvas for creating a masterpiece. Here are some ideas!
- Add raisins or Craisins to the dough for a fruity teatime bun.
- Gently stir in shredded cheddar cheese and chopped pickled jalapeño peppers for a cheesy, spicy dinner roll.
- Brush the finished rolls with garlic butter to accompany your spaghetti.
- Add orange zest and ⅛ tsp of ground cardamom to the dough.
- Put half the amount of batter into each muffin tin, spoon in a teaspoon of jam (any flavor!) and then put in the other half of the batter.
- Substitute the sugar in the rolls with honey, then brush the tops of the rolls with honey butter after they come out of the oven.
- Brush the tops of the finished rolls with olive oil and sprinkle with a little flaky sea salt and chopped fresh rosemary.
Favorite ways to serve Easy Yeast Rolls
My favorite way to serve rolls is by putting them straight into my mouth as quickly as possible ;-) But when I’m exercising a little more self control, I love serving them with soup or as part of a nice dinner. Here are some of my favorite dishes to serve them with.
Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup (30 Minutes) << while you’re at it with the easy rolls, why not make an easy soup? This one is done in 30 minutes.
Crock Pot Beef and Barley Soup << you can make this one on the stove or in the crock pot. This is a winter time STAPLE at my house!
Honey Balsamic Pork Ribs in Crock Pot << ribs + rolls + an easy salad or veggie = ultimate Sunday dinner.
Easy Fall-Apart Crock Pot Roast with Carrots (Slow Cooker) << if your mashed potatoes haven’t soaked up the pot roast gravy, let your rolls in on the party too.
Zucchini Lasagna Recipe << nothing like cheesy, veggie packed pasta with a nice warm roll.
Quick Yeast Rolls Storage
Rolls can be stored in a Tupperware or ziplock on the counter for up to 3 days. If you’d like to freeze them, just make sure they’ve cooled completely before you put them in the freezer in a tightly sealed container or bag. They’ll last for about 3 months there, where you can pull them out on a busy day and still win dinner.
Easy Yeast Roll Recipe FAQs
Dinner rolls can get hard and tough for a few reasons. Here are some perils that may befall the unaware baker (and how to avoid them).
Don’t over work your dough. It’s easy to avoid this when making these rolls, which don’t require any kneading at all.
Use all purpose flour, not bread flour. Bread flour has a high gluten content and makes for great chewy baked items, like pizza dough or crusty sourdough, but that’s not what we’re going for in a dinner roll.
Measure your flour carefully. Fluff the flour, then scoop it into the measuring cup.
Tough homemade rolls, tragedy indeed! The key to avoiding tough rolls is to carefully measure the correct kind of flour. Fluff the flour with a spoon, then use the spoon to scoop it into your measuring cup before gently leveling off the top. Make sure to use all purpose flour when called for, and not bread flour. While bread flour creates excellent pizza crust or chewy french baguettes, it’s not what you want in a soft homemade dinner roll.
Yes, rolls need to rise for at least a little bit before you bake them. This gives the yeast a chance to do its job and make your rolls the fluffy, puffy marvels of carby deliciousness.
Active dry yeast and instant yeast are different–but not that different. You can mix instant yeast right into dry ingredients, while active dry yeast should be activated by putting it in water first. As you can see, this recipe calls for putting the active dry yeast in water as the very first step.
Yes, you can over knead yeast rolls. You’ll be able to tell if the dough becomes difficult to stretch. One of the reasons this recipe is so great is that it requires no kneading at all!
This depends on whether we’re talking about brushing on an egg wash or brushing on butter. An egg wash (not used in this recipe!) is intended to give rolls or bread a shiny, golden brown color as they bake. Brushing on butter after rolls or bread bake gives them a buttery sheen but doesn’t darken them in color. Of course, the butter also makes them even more buttery (yes please). You don’t need to brush these easy yeast rolls with butter after they come out of the oven, but far be it from me to stop you!
More Roll Recipes to Try
Aunt Shirley’s Famous Homemade Dinner Rolls << it’s not a holiday around here if we don’t have Aunt Shirley’s rolls.
Easy Fluffy One Hour Dinner Rolls << soft, pillowy, and full of buttery flavor!
Soft and Fluffy Parker House Rolls << potato flakes give these rolls a cloud-like texture.
Big Fat Crescent Rolls, yeah << absolutely addictive and so pretty for your holiday table.
Samoan Coconut Rolls (Pani Popo) << If you like King’s Hawaiian Rolls, get ready for your mind to be blown by this homemade upgrade.
Braided Dinner Rolls Recipe from In the Kitchen with Honeyville
Quick Dinner Bread Rolls with Green Onions from Ahead of Thyme
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Easy Yeast Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon yeast, (1 tablespoon)
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 cup warm milk
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons shortening*
- 1 large egg
- 2 & 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Instructions
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, dissolve 1 tablespoon yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and 1 cup warm milk (both liquids should be around 105 degrees F. Warm tap water is usually perfect.)
- Add 3 tablespoon granulated sugar and stir. Let sit for 5 minutes until you can see bubbles forming from the yeast. (If the mixture is completely flat and there are no bubbles, game over! You killed your yeast with too-hot water. Start over! Better to realize now that later when your rolls don't rise!)
- Add 1 cup of the flour and all remaining ingredients. (1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, 3 tablespoons shortening, and 1 egg.) Beat with the paddle attachment until smooth.
- Add the remaining flour (1 and 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons). Beat this mixture until smooth, scraping sides. Beat for another 2 minutes. The dough will be very sticky. Do not add more flour!! This is not a normal dinner roll recipe, we want this dough very loose.
- Cover the bowl and let rise 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Coat a muffin tin with nonstick spray, all over the flat top, and making sure to grease well in each cavity of the pan.
- Spray a 1/4 cup measuring cup all over with nonstick spray, or grease with butter. Scoop a portion of the dough with the measuring cup. Carefully drop iit into the first muffin spot, coating your hands with oil if necessary.
- Continue spooning the dough into the muffin tins until they are equally filled. If you want them to look nice on top, take a moment to turn each roll over so the tops are smooth. Use a spoon or your fingers to smooth over the top. See photos.
- Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.
- Let rise 20 minutes in a warm spot, on top of the fridge is good. You can let them rise a little longer if you have time, to make them extra puffy. The rolls should rise up over the edge of the pan.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 13-15 minutes, or until they start turning golden on top. Lift the edge of one muffin to see if the bottom is turning golden. Don't take the pan out until the bottoms are starting to brown.*
- Remove the rolls from the pan as soon as they come out of the oven, and let cool on a wire rack so the bottoms don't get soggy. Serve right away with butter and jam!
Yum, yeast.
Dousing my entire life in butter? What a great suggestion! I love butter like I think most women love sugar. I can overload on sugar. I don’t know if that has happened yet with butter.
Definitely making these tonight for the missionaries!
And good luck on your adventures with yeast bread, Janice ;-)
this is the recipe for me, i’m sure i can do this! can i use rapid-rise yeast, or just the regular stuff?
Yeah rapid rise will work just fine.
I’m in the rise for 30 minutes part of this recipe and my dough is NOT rising. My packet of yeast says it’s equivalent to 2 1/4 teaspoons. This was the only yeast available at my grocery store. Could it be because it’s not a full tablespoon of yeast? Or does it not really rise much in this process?
Hi Laura, sorry to hear your dough wasn’t rising. It’s important for this recipe that the dough is quite wet and sticky – meaning that not too much flour has been added – or the yeast won’t be able to do its work during the short rise time. Also, though the recipe does call for a packet of yeast, it also specifies that it should be a tablespoon. I recommend trying this again making sure to add a full tablespoon of yeast (from a larger container) and using the “fluff and scoop” method to measure the flour: fluff up the flour with a spoon, then gently scoop it into the measuring cup and level it off. I hope your next batch turns out perfectly!