The Best Sweet Yeast Dinner Rolls With Fresh Milled Flour
These are The Best Sweet Yeast Dinner Rolls Made With Fresh Milled Flour! They are perfect for a dinner party or just for a nice family dinner. And, the come together pretty quickly while you are making dinner. Also, my very favorite way to make these dinner rolls is to make the dough the day before, let them rise, shape them, and then cover and pop in the fridge overnight. Pull them out 1-2 hours before dinner, and let them come to room temperature. Lastly, bake them! Fresh yeast dinner rolls warm and ready to go for you meal without very much effort! Win-win!
How Do I Make My Rolls Taste Yeasty?
The best way to make your rolls have a stronger yeast flavor, without adding any additional ingredients, is to give them time. But, too much time, and they will overproof quickly. So, I recommend making the rolls the night before you want to serve them. So, this is my little trick, step by step:
- Make the roll dough, and let it double in size for the first rise (about 1-2 hours.)
- Shape the rolls, and place them in a parchment paper lined 9×13 baking pan.
- Cover with cling film wrap, and place them directly in the refrigerator.
- Allow the rolls to do their second rise slowly in the refrigerator.
- The next day, get the rolls out of the fridge, and let them sit on the counter for 1 to 2 hours, until they are room temperature.
- Bake them at 350*F for 20-25 minutes.
- Then, right after they come out of the oven, brush them with butter.
- Enjoy that yeasty flavored goodness!
Why Are My Dinner Rolls Not Light & Fluffy?
There are a couple reasons why dinners rolls may not turn out light & fluffy. Here is a list to help you trouble shoot the problem.
- Your yeast was not good, or your liquid was too hot, killing the yeast.
- Too much flour in the dough causes a very dense roll. I like a higher hydration dough to give me a super light, fluffy, and airy roll.
- The dough was not kneaded long enough! Knead until it passes the window pane test! I have a short video HERE if you are interested showing a pass & fail of the window pane test.
- Another reason for dense rolls is over cooking them. Make sure to bake them only until they reach 190* F, so they don’t dry out!
- Lastly, they did not rise long enough.
Why Are My Dinner Rolls Bland?
One reason for bland dinner rolls, is either because too much flour was added, making the salt, flour, sugar ratio off. Another reason for bland dinner rolls is not enough salt or the salt was forgotten. Even on a sweet roll, salt is necessary for flavor, and proper rising. Thirdly, if the dough did not rise long enough, it would not develop the yeasty flavor we all love in our dinner rolls. See above, where I mention how to make your rolls have a strong yeast flavor.
Is It Better To Use Milk Or Water For Yeast Rolls?
This question depends on what you are looking for in a yeast roll. Most recipes say milk is better, because milk will make a softer roll, and it will also help with browning the roll. Milk will also sweeten the roll a bit. But, some will argue that milk affects the gluten structure of bread, so it will be slightly more heavy. I wrote this recipe with water, but feel free to sub for milk 1:1. Just make sure the milk is heated so it doesn’t affect the gluten development.
Ingredients For These Fresh Milled Flour Yeast Dinner Rolls
- 3&1/2 cups fresh milled flour (420g) (I milled 2&1/4 cup hard white wheat berries)
- 1 cup warm water (240g)
- 4 TBSP softened butter (56g)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar (74g)
- 2 eggs (room temperature)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2&1/2 tsp instant yeast
Instructions For Making These Sweet Yeast Dinner Rolls With Fresh Milled Flour
- Firstly, Mill The Flour
- Heat water in microwave for 60 seconds. (You could sub for milk if you prefer)
- Pour warmed water, softened butter, brown sugar, eggs, and salt in mixer, mix until combined.
- Then, add the flour & mix until incorporated. This is a sticky dough.
- Now, let the dough sit and rest for about 15 minutes for the fresh milled flour to start absorbing the liquids.
- After the rest, add your instant yeast, mix in.
- Knead dough until it passes the window pane test. (see video)
- Spray the dough ball with oil & cover for 1-2 hours, until dough has doubled.
- On an oiled surface, divide dough into 12 equal pieces.
- Then, Roll & shape each pieces into a ball, making sure there is surface tension. (see video)
- Place in a parchment paper lined 9×13 baking dish.
- Then, cover. Now, you can make these the same day, or if you prefer a strong yeast flavor, make a day in advance.
- If making same day, let the dough rise for about 40 minutes until they appear “puffy”
- Preheat oven to 350*F during the end of the rise.
- Bake at 20-25 minutes
- Brush the rolls with butter after coming out of oven.
- Best enjoyed warm!
- **For a stronger yeast flavor – at step 12 put them covered in the fridge overnight. Then, the next day, get them out and let them come to room temperature. Bake, and enjoy that stronger yeasty flavor!
If You Want To Learn More About Milling Your Own Flour, I have a Fresh Milled Flour 101 post. I Recommend Starting With That Post.
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Checkout My Other Recipes:
Cinnamon Rolls with Dates (or Not)
Sweet Yeast Dinner Roll – Whole Wheat – Yeasty Flavor Tip!
The Best Yeast Dinner Rolls Made With Fresh Milled Flour
Ingredients
- 3&1/2 cups Fresh milled flour (420g) (I milled 2&1/4 cup hard white wheat berries)
- 1 cup warm water 240g
- 4 TBSP softened butter 56g
- 1/3 cup brown sugar 74g
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp salt
- 2&1/2 tsp Instant yeast
Instructions
- Mill The Flour
- Heat water in microwave for 60 seconds. (You could sub for milk if you prefer)
- Pour warmed water, softened butter, brown sugar, eggs, and salt in mixer, mix until combined.
- Then, add the flour & mix until incorporated. This is a sticky dough.
- Now, let the dough sit and rest for about 15 minutes for the fresh milled flour to start absorbing the liquids.
- After the rest, add your instant yeast, mix in.
- Knead dough until it passes the window pane test. (see video)
- Spray the dough ball with oil & cover for 1-2 hours, until dough has doubled.
- On an oiled surface, divide dough into 12 equal pieces.
- Roll & shape each pieces into a ball, making sure there is surface tension. (see video)
- Place in a parchment paper lined 9×13 baking dish.
- Then cover. Now, you can make these the same day, or if you prefer a strong yeast flavor, make a day in advance.
- If making same day, let the dough rise for about 40 minutes until they appear "puffy"
- Preheat Oven to 350*F during the end of the second rise
- Bake at 20-25 minutes
- Brush the rolls with butter after coming out of oven.
- Best enjoyed warm!
- **For a stronger yeast flavor – at step 12 put them covered in the fridge overnight. Then, the next day, get them out and let them come to room temperature. Bake, and enjoy that stronger yeasty flavor!
Video
Notes
*This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
DEFINITLY a Five star recipe! Soft pillowy. Fully Whole Grain and WOW! Yummy and light and soft! I finally have a roll recipe that works, I’m sosooooooo excited. Proud and dancing happy about it. Each time I make a dinner roll, they are heavy and dense, with fresh flour. I loved these! I used 100g of Kamut as part of it, as you suggest in other recipes. So soft! This rivals any store bought bread (which mostly I’m not trying to do, but my rolls are just TOO hearty… UNTIL now. You’d think I won the lottery. I am so jazzed over here. So happy. Dancing about. This year at Thanksgiving we will have a soft roll! Woo hoo!!
Yay! I am so happy to hear this! It is so exciting when you et such amazing results! Nice job! 🙂
Can these be frozen before baked? And what stage would I do that at?
Yes, you can freeze them right after shaping into rolls. Then, thaw them in the fridge the night before you want to bake them. Let them sit on the counter to come to room temperature (about 1-2 hours) the day you are baking them. Then, bake as directed. Let me know how it goes! Happy Baking! 🙂
Thank you so much for this, I’m so excited to try. If I put them in fridge overnight, can I wait until afternoon next day to pull them out to bring to room temp and bake for dinner? Or would that be over-proofing? Thanks!
Yes, you can cover them before the second rise and place in the fridge. Put them on the counter to come to room temp (normally 1-2 hours) Then bake. 🙂
If I use active dry yeast rather than instant yeast, what do I need to change in the process?
Yes, you can use active dry yeast, just use some of the liquid from the recipe, and a pinch of sugar in a small bowl, then stir in the active dry yeast. Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes (it should get nice and foamy), during that first rest period in the recipe before the yeast goes in. Then, when the recipe calls to put the instant yeast in, put that mixture in, and continue the recipe.
So good! These will be our go-to rolls from now on!
I used milk instead of water. Using 2 eggs instead of 1 (like most roll recipes) must be the key to these super soft and well-risen rolls!
Awesome! So happy to hear that! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Could I sub the brown sugar for honey? TIA!
Yes! you can sub 1:1 for honey. 🙂
Best rolls I’ve ever made. I’ve been baking breads and miling flour for two years. These are the best. Thank you
Awesome! I am so happy to hear that! We love them too! 🙂
You helped me on this recipe back in April!
I have gotten a Mock mill and have been more careful with the rise.
I have been successful!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much for your help. Everything (yeast bread) I make now is wonderful!!!
This recipe is really really good. And I appreciate your vids because you are so real and down to earth. And you helped me! Thanks. Great blog and you tube!
Awesome! I am so happy to hear that success story! Thanks so much! Happy Baking! 🙂
This is my very first time milling and bking bread. I live up in the North Carolina Mountains where Halene hit us. I am trying your recipe tonight because I have family coming by to help around here before we get hit with rain and next week snow. So I will be making these beautiful rolls with your wonderful step by step recipe that I can understand, I love all your recipes I can’t wait to try. Thank you so much. Wish me luck. Monica.
Yay! It’s so exciting! If the humidity is high or it is raining, I do find it may be necessary to increase the flour amount, but you still want t wet and sticky dough, that is what makes these light and fluffy after baking. Here is a short video I made on shaping a wet and stick dough into rolls. https://youtu.be/3s8ddDARaKo?si=sQoy305_YVHfGtI2
You got this! The more you bake with fresh milled flour the easier it gets! 🙂
I think when you video recipes to show on tv you should use all purpose flour since that’s what people use! I’m sure there’s a difference for amount you use for recipes with all purpose flour and fresh mill!
My whole channel and blog is about how to make things with fresh milled flour. 🙂
Mine didn’t look as pretty as yours, but they sure were delicious and were gobbled up at our Memorial Day picnic. All the recipes that I’ve tried have been amazing – pancakes, bread, naan, banana chocolate chip muffins. So grateful to have these recipes at the start of my FMF journey!
Awesome! I am so happy to hear that! Thank you so much! 🙂
WOW! I got my mill last week and these are the most amazing rolls I’ve ever had. So soft and flavorful. This is replacing every holiday roll from now on. No contest and SO easy!
Yay! I am so happy to hear they were a hit! Nice job! Thanks so much 🙂
Hello! Can you use hard red wheat for this recipe? Do we need to change anything if so?
Thanks!
Yes you can sub for hard red in this recipe (and pretty much any of my recipes that call for hard white.) Sometimes when switching you need to increase the flour by just a small amount (maybe a TBSP or two per cup)
Great recipe and tips. I made this after making a sourdough bread with fresh milled flour that flopped. I’m new to making my flour and the kneading tips and reminding me to get the window pain test to pass were key. I appreciate the details and those other tips that make this easy for a newbie to the home milled flour world. These came out fluffy, tender and tasty. A great recovery after making a loaf that made bricks look soft. Thank you.
Awesome! I am so glad to hear that! Thanks so much! 🙂
Can I dubble this recipe?
Yes! I double it often! 🙂
Is there a good way to freeze these? I’m trying to pre make things for the postpartum time frame coming up and my family loves these rolls!
We like to bake these, let them cool, then freeze same day to lock in the freshness. Then, just set them on the counter to thaw to room temperature.
Not only have I been struggling with FMF, but it is our own grain, and the learning curve has been steep! I am so thankful I found your site! I just made these for the local fall fair, and am thrilled to say they brought in 1st place!
Yay! I am glad you found me too! Congratulations! Nice job! 🙂
Hi! Someone might have already asked this but I was wondering if these could possible be frozen? I’ve made them a lot before and they are soooo good. Would love to freeze some to use when I’m postpartum if they will still be good!
Yes, you can freeze the roll dough balls, and place them in the fridge the night before to thaw. Then put them on the counter to come to room temperature (usually 1-2 hours.) OR we like to bake them completely, then let them cool all the way, and freeze in freezer bags, then pull them out for 1-2 hours to thaw at room temp. I hope that helps! Congratulations! 🙂
I see you say to bring the dough balls to temperature if storing them in the fridge. Is this where the second rise is happening? Or is it happening in the fridge slowly? My main question is if I have time to make these in the morning and I do their first rise on the countertop then shape them and put them in the fridge, How many hours prior to baking should I be pulling them to allow for a second rise? (If I do it all in one day Just spread out). Hope that makes sense. Thank you!
Yes, the second rise happens as they come to room temperature, and still will rise a bit more in the oven as well. It normally takes 1-2 hours for them to come to room temp after refrigeration, so I would say on average 1.5 hours unless your kitchen is really warm, then less. OR pretty chilly, then closer to 2 hours in that case. I hope that helps! Happy Baking! 🙂
These turned out so good. However, I’m wondering how long you mix with your mixer before getting to the windowpane phase. I had to mix mine for probably 30 minutes. I almost gave up as I thought I did something wrong. But I kept on and the dough finally came together and the rolls were amazing. Thanks so much for the recipe.
Im a kitchen aid style mixer, I used to knead about 30 minutes. In my Ankarsrum average around 18-20 minutes, in my Bosch mixer it normally kneads for 6-8 minutes for a single batch. Longer if doubling the recipe.