Incredible Dinner Rolls (bread machine)

It took countless batches of dinner roll failures over the course of two years to finally perfect a recipe to my tastes. This one has everything I love in a dinner roll: soft, light, slightly sweet, and simple to make. They are just incredible, especially when warm and served with butter.

Incredible Dinner Rolls
Printable recipe

1 egg
3 Tablespoon butter
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
2 ¼ teaspoon (1 package) bread machine yeast*

Crack the egg into a Ziploc bag and place it in a bowl of hot tap water, so that it will come quickly to room temperature.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, then stir in the milk and heat the mixture until it reaches 110-115 degrees, or until it feels very warm to the touch.

Squish the egg while it’s inside the bag until it looks lightly beaten. Empty it into the bread machine pan; add the milk mixture, and then top with the remaining ingredients in the order listed. Set the machine to the dough cycle.

When the machine starts to mix the dough faster, check on it and, if necessary, use a spatula to help incorporate the flour. I always have to do this, but that may be because my machine is old and sub-par.

Once the cycle is complete, remove pan and punch down dough. If you’re making 12 large rolls, spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray. If you’re making 20 standard-size rolls, spray two 9-inch round cake pans.

Divide the dough in half, and then divide each half into 6-10 pieces, depending on the amount you want to make. Shape each piece into a ball as you pull off the dough, and place in pan(s), spacing evenly.

Cover with clean cloth(s) and allow to rise in a warm place for about 30-45 minutes, or until rolls are doubled in size.** Preheat oven to 375 while your dough is rising.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden-brown. When done, remove from oven and rub the end of a cold stick of butter over the tops of the rolls. Serve warm & with lots of butter.  :)   If making in advance, store them in an airtight container (I always use a gallon-size Ziploc bag) and reheat them in the oven when you’re ready to serve them (be sure to remove them from the bag first!)

*Also marketed as “rapid-rise” and “instant” yeast.
**I most often use my oven for rising bread. I preheat it to its lowest setting (170 degrees) once the dough begins its first rise in the bread machine and turning it off when it’s done preheating, that way it’s warm but not too hot once I place the pans in to rise. That works the best. (If you use this method, you’ll have to remove them after they’re done rising, preheat the oven, and let the rolls rest on the counter until it reaches 375.) If the top of your oven gets warm when you preheat it, you could also set your pans up there. The last trick I use is to place the pan on a heating pad set to low.
***You could also make these by hand or using your stand mixer with dough hooks, letting the dough rise in an oiled bowl for one hour or until doubled after kneading. I don’t know how long you’d have to knead it, though. I’d estimate 10 minutes.