Easy soft and fluffy bread rolls
This easy recipe makes the softest, fluffiest bread rolls and requires only a handful of ingredients. Perfect for hamburgers, sandwiches or served with soup. This dough recipe also makes the best homemade dinner rolls.
Ingredients needed
These bread rolls couldn’t be simpler. The soft texture of these rolls can be attributed to the milk, butter and egg in the dough. An enriched dough always delivers the softest, fluffiest bread and these rolls are no different.
- Flour. I used all purpose flour but cake flour can also be used. Bread flour can be used but the end result might not be as light and fluffy. Whole wheat flour can be used as well.
- Instant yeast.
- Milk. This is an enriched dough so it uses milk, butter and egg but feel free to use warm water if preferred.
- Butter. Vegetable oil, olive oil or canola oil can also be used. I used salted butter but unsalted butter can also be used.
- Egg.
- Sugar.
- Salt.
How to make bread rolls
- Make the dough: Combine instant yeast with warm milk (you can use water too) and sugar and whisk together. Allow this mixture to stand for 5 minutes until frothy. Combine 3 cups of the flour (for these rolls, as they are so soft and fluffy, really any flour will work. All purpose, cake, bread or wholewheat) with a teaspoon of salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. You could also make this dough by hand in a large bowl. With the mixer running, pour the yeast mixture in and allow to incorporate. Add a beaten egg and beat in the softened butter. At this stage, the dough might look very wet and sticky. Add the remaining cup of flour, 1 tablespoon at a time to the dough, allowing it to mix in well after each addition. You might not need all the flour. The dough needs to be soft and smooth and just a little bit sticky.
- Allow the dough to proof (rise): Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp dish towel. Let the dough rise for an hour or until doubled in volume. At this stage you can also place the dough in the refrigerator overnight to proof, but make sure to cover well with plastic wrap. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 8 even pieces. Roll each piece into a ball then place onto a baking sheet or pan lined with parchment paper. You might need to prepare two sheets, depending on their size. The buns shouldn’t be too close to each other as they will rise while baking. Cover the bread rolls again and allow to rise for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven.
- Bake the bread rolls: Brush the proofed dough balls with egg wash then place in the oven and allow to bake for 15-20 minute or until they are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from the oven and immediately brush with melted butter. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Make ahead and freezing instructions
- Make ahead: The dough can be prepared up to two days in advance and kept covered in the fridge. Remove from the fridge an hour before baking to allow the dough to come up to room temperature. Baked rolls will last up to a day in an airtight container.
- Freezing: Baked rolls can be frozen wrapped in foil and placed in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. To thaw, remove from the bag and loosen the foil slightly and allow to thaw overnight. They can be served once thawed or reheated in the oven. Dough balls can also be frozen and baked from frozen until golden brown and risen.
What to serve with bread rolls
- Bacon cheese burgers
- Easy healthy chicken broccoli soup
- Easy Portuguese prego rolls
- Fried chicken sandwich
Easy bread recipes
Servings: 8
Calories: 215kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm milk
- 10 g (2tsp) instant yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3-4 cups flour (any white flour can be used: Cake, all purpose or bread)
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup butter softened
For the egg wash
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp melted butter for finishing
Instructions
- Whisk milk, sugar and yeast together. Allow to stand for 10 minutes until foamy.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the flour and salt.
- With the mixer running, add the milk mixture and allow to knead in. Add the egg and allow to beat in.
- Add the butter, allow to knead in. At this point the dough will be quite sticky, add the remaining cup of flour one tablespoon at a time, until the dough is soft, smooth and just slightly sticky.
- Cover with plastic or a damp dish towel and allow to rise for 1 hour. While the dough is rising, prepare two sheet pans by lining them with parchment or baking paper.
- Transfer the dough to a floured surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a ball then place on the prepared sheet pans. Take care not to place them too close together as they will continue rising.
- Cover again and allow to rise for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Whisk the egg and water together for the egg wash.
- Brush the dough balls with egg wash then place in the oven and allow to bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and risen. Once baked the bread rolls will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Remove, brush with a little butter and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Calories: 215kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 447mg | Potassium: 179mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
It came out amazing! My granddaughter kept complimenting on how good they are. She’s 11 years old.
I’m so pleased to hear that, Paula!
The buns came out looking perfect and delicious.
Can you use almond flour as a substitute? We just found out why daughter is allergic to wheat.
Unfortunately not – the almonds don’t have enough structure to form fluffy bread rolls. I would try a gluten-free all purpose flour instead.
I did this by hand and it still turned out amazing! I also did half whole wheat and half unbleached AP flour, definitely do three cups and then kneed that fourth cup in as you need it to stop it from being sticky.
This recipe is definitely my go-to for rolls. The rolls turn out perfectly every time, and they don’t take forever to make. Folks that I have made them for thought they were from a professional bakery, lol. Thanks for the great recipe.
Thank you, this is an amazing recipe and I have finally had success with making beautiful soft bread rolls.
I made no changes and made them exactly as recipe stated but I did make smaller rolls and a few long buns. All came out wonderfully.
I tried to make this but it came out super dense. Is there a change that I need to make for high altitude?
Hi Mathew. I’m at about 1400m above sea level and don’t have any issues with this recipe. What was the dough’s consistency before forming the rolls? It should be quite light and soft, not heavy for its size at all.
Hi I made these bread rolls after asking if they needed sugar to activate yeast. It was a different way of making bread for me and so easy they were delicious, thank you for sharing, I will definitely make them again
Hi! I just tried your recipe, the rolls looked great and the texture was good but they have a very yeasty taste. I used a teaspoon of yeast and left it to rise for one hour and then 30 minutes once rolled into buns, as instructed. Do you have any advice? Thanks
It could be the brand of yeast you’re using?
omg, i love this recipe! fail proof every time i make them!
Good recipe! Using a bread machine, I actually found that using 1/2 cup butter as well as 1.5 cups warm milk–instead of the 1/4 cup butter and 1 cup warm milk in this recipe, all else equal–helps improve the texture. The dough expands more, is softer, and settles better into a smooth, round roll shape with my modifications. I’m going to take my rolls to a bonfire tomorrow!
Question: what am i doing wrong to make the dough so tough and hard to knead? I am using plain flour but did not use all 4 cups. It is proofing now in the sun so hopefully it still rises.
It could be that your flour is absorbing more moisture. The dough should be soft and ever so slightly tacky – not sticky. I would start by adding the flour, one cup at a time, until you have a soft dough that forms.
is it necessary to grease the bowl before proofing? as for bread? the recipe sounds great, do you use rapid rise yeast?
It isn’t entirely necessary, I often don’t if I’m in a rush. It just helps the dough release from the bowl without too much trouble.
This is our favorite sandwich roll recipe. Turns out like the bread at our favorite sandwich shop. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Great recipe, easy, quick, delicious results.
wheres the oven temperature
In step 7 in the recipe card.
What are the steps to freezing these rolls? Do you pull them and let stand to proof then bake?
Love this recipe. Very easy and the family loves them.
First time to try your recipe and now I’m waiting for the first proofing to finish 🙂 should I be able to do a window pane test with cake flour? I kneaded the dough by hand for a little over 30 mins but still couldn’t do it and I didn’t want to overknead and make a tough bread so I just let it be. Proofing going well so far though!
No, you don’t need to be able to do the window pane test with this recipe. The dough should just be soft and smooth.
Tried making different rolls and yours are best so far but still not quite right.
Can I ask, top, middle or bottom of oven. And my oven has bottom heated plus grill on the top. Should it just be the floor heated.
Many thanks
John
I would heat only the bottom element and bake the rolls in the middle of the oven. You could give them a few minutes under the grill on top if they’re not browning to your liking.
Hello, thank you for sharing your recipes. I just want to ask can i used 2 cups bread flour and 2 cups cake flour for this recipes. And using this recipes for loaf bread? Thank you?
You can sub the flours, yes. I do have an easy white bread recipe. You can find it here: https://simply-delicious-food.com/easy-white-bread/
2nd time I’m making this recipe! This time I added the full 4 cups of flour all at once because I forgot I was supposed to reserve it and add slowly, once I realized I threw in some extra splashes of milk to help moisten the dough and incorporate the extra dry flour into the liquid, turned out lovely!! Previously I’ve stayed away from enriched doughs because they’re a bit more complex and I was worried it was more opportunities for me to mess up, but this is lovely and so simple once you get into making it! I don’t have a stand mixer but I used a handheld mixer with dough hooks, that worked just fine as well <3
Ahhhh man Alida! Ive been making your recipes for a few years now and once again this did not disappoint at all. Thank you so much for the recipes.
You have made my day! Thanks so much.
Delicious rolls!
I made them vegan by replacing the egg with aquafaba and the dairy with vegan dairy products.
Turned out terrific!
Your website is so lovely – I always look forward to your latest recipe popping into my e-mail inbox!
Thank you so much Helen.
i have tried making these rolls 3 times. the first time they were a bit heavy so today I tried again, First batch did not turn out at all. So tried again, the dought is proofing but it does not look good. My yeast was good. I did not need to add very much of the 4 cup of flour. I really don’t know what i am doing wrong. The only thing I can think off is I live in Calgary and we are at a high altitude
Hi Kim. I am so sorry you’re having trouble with this recipe. High altitude baking definitely needs some adjusting, however, we are at 1330m altitude and this recipe still works for me. I am going to retest this recipe, and maybe make a little Instagram video showing what the dough looks like, etc. and maybe that will help? I’ll let you know when it’s live.
Thank you.
Why can I not see the milk yeast and sugar quantities
They are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Hi in order to have the yeast rise I used 2 TBSP of yeast instead of 2 TSP . Thank You for your recipe .
Yum! I’m a newbie to the world of bread & these came out awesome. Super straightforward & a huge hit at dinner. Thanks a million for sharing your recipe, it’ll be a new staple in my home for sure.
Thanks so much for your feedback Anna. 🙂
cannot see oven temperature for rolls??
In step 7 of the recipe card you’ll see the oven temperature.
My dearest Alida
Thank you for a lovely super soft and yummy buns. I just finished baking them and they turn out so well, even though I made my dough by hand. Lovely recipe. You’re such a super star. Love love the recipe, yummy…
Looking forward in trying more of your recipes.
Love Vuyo
Thanks so much Vuyo. Your comment has made my day.
Hi Alida,
Any idea why instant yeast would not foam? I tried it more then once and made sure to use new yeast but still did not work.
When left to proof the dough did rise a bit but rolls where unfortunately not soft and fluffy at all.
Thank you.
It could be that the yeast is just not active anymore? It also depends on the flour you used, if you used stoneground flour the rolls might be a little denser than if you use cake or commercial flour.
Dear Alida
Just baked your lovely Easy soft and fluffy bread buns. Very easy recipe to follow and they are delicious. Such a lovely recipe to use in times like these. Bake some bread and share it with your family. #stayhome #besafe
I am so happy to hear that they turned out well for you. Stay safe! x
This recipe is flop proof
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that.
Hi Alida. I dont have a mixer… can i do this by hand? Will it come out the same?
Absolutely! Mix the dough in a large bowl until it comes together then tip put onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is soft and smooth. Place in a bowl and allow to rise as per recipe instructions. 🙂
Thanks for these by-hand instructions. But why bury them in the comments? I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only person who doesn’t have a stand mixer. It would be nice to have these instructions in the body of the recipe.
Are you supposed to add the 3 cups of flour and reserve the last cup of flour for then adding one Tablespoon at a time?
Yes, you might not need the full 4 cups.