For many years, I searched high and low to find the perfect dinner roll recipe. There was a restaurant in town that we'd been to many times since I was a little girl and they had the best rolls. Like the absolute, hands down, without a doubt BEST. Then they closed down and so no more rolls.
The criteria for my "perfect roll recipe" included a light and fluffy inside and a buttery outside. They had to tear apart easily and have a soft center. So the search went on. I tried a recipe every so often, usually on holidays, and nothing seemed to impress. Many of the recipes were super involved, which can be fun, but since we usually make rolls just at the holidays and we do everything from scratch, I liked the idea of having a roll recipe that was quick and easy...but still completely homemade.
Along came this recipe...one that I just stumbled upon many moons ago and tucked inside a notebook and long forgot about it. Until I was gathering recipes for Thanksgiving several years back...that was the inaugural holiday for these rolls in our home, and we haven't looked back since.
A soft, fluffy center with a buttery outside are a match made in heaven with these rolls...they're super easy to pull together and only take about 30 minutes from start to finish. They're the absolute best straight from the oven, torn open with your fingers and slathered with a bit more butter on the inside.
One thing I love about this recipe is you can easily adapt the use of flour to your personal taste. Sometimes we do all white flour, other times we do half white and half wheat. We don't prefer the taste of all wheat flour, so it's nice to be able to adapt to our preferences. Feel free to do the same!
My Family's Very Favorite Dinner Rolls
3 Tbsp. yeast
1/2 cup pure cane sugar
1 3/4 cup warm water
5 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
3/4 Tbsp. salt
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 400*F.
In a mixing bowl, combine yeast, sugar and warm water. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes or until bubbly.
Add the flour, butter, salt and eggs. Knead until smooth- about 1 or 2 minutes- adding a bit more flour if necessary.
Divide the dough into equal parts and shape into rolls...whatever size you like. Place in a greased round pie plate or cake tin, making sure the dough balls are touching one another.
Let rise for 10 minutes on the top of a warm, preheated oven.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown on the top. Brush with melted butter upon coming out of the oven.
Serve warm with your favorite soups, salads or holiday meals.
Enjoy!