Easy Dinner Rolls Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my dinner rolls not light and fluffy? ›

Too much flour, or not the right kind, could be to blame. Dough made only from flour with a high or even average amount of protein (like bread flour or all-purpose flour) can become tough from overmixing. Protein gives bread structure in the form of gluten—the more you mix and move the dough, the more gluten you get.

Either, you added too much flour or you possibly used all bread flour. Alternately, not giving your dinner rolls enough time to proof and get puffy before baking could yield dense rolls.

Sprinkle with fresh herbs.

After that healthy brush of melted butter, sprinkle some finely chopped fresh herbs over the rolls. Use whatever you have on hand. Herbs like rosemary, thyme, sage, and oregano are all great contenders.

Using old ingredients (rancid nuts, "old" shortening) will cause yeast breads to taste old or have an "off" taste. Purchase new ingredients if those on hand are questionable. Date ingredients on outside of container to help you remember how long they have been stored.

Flour isn't going to make the difference. In fact, use a high-protein flour for both, i.e. a “bread” flour. The secret to soft, light rolls, if you're looking for something like a dinner roll, is an enriched dough that contains butter or other dairy, eggs, or both.

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

There may be several reasons for a dense, cake like texture in bread. It may indicate the kneading wasn't enough for the gluten to develop properly, or the dough was proved for too short a time or the dough may have been too dry. It is also worth checking the flour you used.

Use a thermometer (I like the Thermapen) to assess the doneness of pan breads, freeform loaves, and soft rolls. A temperature of 190°F at the center will yield bread that's fully baked (soft and moist) but not over-baked (tough and dry).

If you're only a day or two away from your party, you can also just refrigerate either the dough or the shaped rolls — they'll keep just fine without even needing to go to the freezer. Whichever method you end up using, three days in the fridge or a month in the freezer is about the maximum that I recommend.

Butter: adds flavor, body, texture and softness. Do not substitute butter – it is integral ingredient for these dinner rolls. Salt: any rolls or bread would virtually be flavorless without salt! Garlic Salt: is my secret ingredient in both my homemade pizza dough and this dinner roll recipe.

How do I make my homemade bread more flavorful? ›

Quickly, try adding a malt or honey into the mix to level up your bread's flavor. Malt, a sweetener that is available in powder and liquid form, can easily be added to almost any bread recipe. When choosing a malt to use, it's essential to use a non-diastatic version.

Any holes present should be attributable to steam leavening. The holes will have occurred during the baking process as a result of steam build up due to the water content of the mixture.

Longer fermentation gives bread stronger flavors. “A yeasty aroma and acidic flavors start to develop, adding more flavor to the finished bread,” Blakeslee said. Some bakers choose to do the extra step of making a sponge in order to add a slight sour and tangy flavor to the bread.

There may be several reasons for a dense, cake like texture in bread. It may indicate the kneading wasn't enough for the gluten to develop properly, or the dough was proved for too short a time or the dough may have been too dry. It is also worth checking the flour you used.

Rolls that are not light and fluffy can be the result of using too much flour (not measuring the flour correctly, as we mention above), or not using the type of flour your recipe calls for. Another reason for dense tough rolls is overmixing, which will produce too much gluten.

Yeast – Before you start baking, check to make sure that your yeast hasn't expired. If it's not fresh, the rolls won't rise, and they'll be dense and flat instead of soft and fluffy.