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We all know a Homemade Yeast Rolls Recipe is a holiday menu staple. This recipe is easy enough to make all year!

Homemade Yeast Rolls:

I love good homemade rolls on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter or any other special occasion! Even on Sunday dinners after church, my mom and grandmother would make rolls now and then so they are a bit nostalgic for me! Of course, there were times we also had the traditional packaged King’s Hawaiian Rolls. Those are great if you’re out of time or oven space but I’m excited to share this true from-scratch roll recipe!

I wanted a smaller roll recipe this year since in general we will be having smaller-scale holiday dinners. No need to make two or three dozen rolls, unfortunately. This won’t always be the case, but I was glad to be able to use this recipe this Thanksgiving. It makes one pan of 8 good size rolls.

Preparing a Yeast Dough

If you aren’t a breadmaker —so many people aren’t!– don’t fret. This is a straightforward recipe that you can do even if you have limited or no experience working with yeast doughs.

First, Start out with a regular mixing bowl or stand mixer. I always use my stand mixer with a regular beater attachment (not the whisk). You can change the beater attachment to the dough hook after the first few ingredients are added.

If you don’t have a stand mixer, just use a regular bowl and large mixing spoon for the first few ingredients. Set out a second smaller bowl or container, since you will mix your yeast and warm milk separately. I like to use a large graduated pitcher or Pyrex bowl.

Tips for Activating Yeast for Homemade Yeast Rolls:

Ensuring the milk is the right temperature for your yeast is an absolute must! If it’s close to boiling, it’s way too hot. If it’s barely warm, it won’t activate the yeast either. It needs to be about 110 degrees, meaning if you stick your finger into the milk, it should be too hot to keep in after a few seconds. If it’s scalding, it needs to cool down first!

Your yeast should start to get frothy at the surface of the milk after 10 minutes. If you use Instant Active Dry Yeast, it’s much faster! I try to find Instant Yeast for this reason…I’m impatient! 🙂

Rising Dough:

Let the dough rise in a ball, covered in a warm place for at least 1 hour or until it doubles in size. If it doesn’t completely double in that time, you can give it a little longer. However, it’s best not to rush this rising time. If you do the rolls will be dense and less flavorful.

Brush Yeast Rolls dough balls with butter

Rolling and More Rising…

Homemade Yeast Rolls need 2 separate rises. The first rise is in the covered bowl, and the second will be after you roll out your dough and separate them/shape them into actual rolls. Baste with butter before the second rise to give them a delicious and flavorful coating on top!

The second rise usually completes in a shorter timeframe. Again, it’s best to let them sit undesturbed until they double in size or are close to it.

I sometimes let them rise for most of the way (around 30 minutes) and then pop them gently into the oven. Be careful not to let them rise too long on their second rise, since they can actually fall (deflate) when they are set into the oven.

Be aware that they will do some final rising as they cook, so don’t stress about it if the rolls don’t look perfect yet!

Bake and Enjoy! These rolls only cook for 12-15 minutes or until middles are no longer doughy. To test this, gently separate two rolls with a butter knife. If they are not sticky and doughy in the middle, they are done.

Add butter and jelly and enjoy this Homemade Yeast Rolls Recipe warm!

Print Your Homemade Yeast Roll Recipe Here!

Homemade Yeast Rolls (Small Batch)

Name: Homemade Yeast Rolls (Small Batch)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 27 s
Total time: 2 h 27 s
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 cup Milk, warm; 2 tablespoons Dry Yeast (Instant or Active Dry; not Bread-maker Yeast); 3 tablespoons Brown Sugar; 1 Egg; ¼ cup Butter, melted; 1 teaspoon Salt; 3 cups All Purpose Flour; For the glaze:; 2 tbsp. Honey; 2 tbsp. Butter, melted

This small batch yeast roll recipe is perfect for Sunday dinners, holidays and more!

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 27 seconds

Additional Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 27 seconds

Ingredients

1 cup Milk, warm
2 tablespoons Dry Yeast (Instant or Active Dry; not Bread-maker Yeast)
3 tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Egg
¼ cup Butter, melted
1 teaspoon Salt
3 cups All Purpose Flour
For the glaze:
2 tbsp. Honey
2 tbsp. Butter, melted

Instructions

Add the warm milk, dry yeast and 1 tbsp. of brown sugar to a dough mixer vase. Let it activate for 5-10 minutes, or until it’s foamy.

Start processing with the dough attachment, and add the rest of the brown sugar, egg, butter, salt and flour (1 cup at the time).

When it’s well integrated, transfer to a table and knead for 3-5 minutes, or until dough is soft and has an elastic/stretchy texture.

Transfer to a bowl and cover – let it rise until it doubles (about 1 hour)

Cut in 8 balls and transfer to a butter covered tray.

Preheat oven to 350º.

Mix the glaze ingredients.

Brush the buns with the glaze.

Cover rolls lightly with thin towel or paper towel and allow to rise once more for about 30 minutes.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden. Serve warm.

Notes

No refrigeration needed. Store in an airtight container if not consuming immediately. Best served warm.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 313Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 388mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 2gSugar: 8gProtein: 8g