Easy Dinner Rolls Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my dinner rolls not light and fluffy? ›

Too much flour, or not the right kind, could be to blame. Dough made only from flour with a high or even average amount of protein (like bread flour or all-purpose flour) can become tough from overmixing. Protein gives bread structure in the form of gluten—the more you mix and move the dough, the more gluten you get.

Either, you added too much flour or you possibly used all bread flour. Alternately, not giving your dinner rolls enough time to proof and get puffy before baking could yield dense rolls.

Using old ingredients (rancid nuts, "old" shortening) will cause yeast breads to taste old or have an "off" taste. Purchase new ingredients if those on hand are questionable. Date ingredients on outside of container to help you remember how long they have been stored.

The secret to soft, light rolls, if you're looking for something like a dinner roll, is an enriched dough that contains butter or other dairy, eggs, or both. If you want something more bread-like, you want a high hydration dough that's been properly kneaded and given at least two bulk fermentations before shaping.

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

Before you begin shaping the rolls, you'll need to make the dough, cover it, and let it rise. Some recipes call this first rise the bulk proof or first proof. Before you even uncover the risen dough, make sure you have a clean work surface, a bit of flour, and a sharp chef's knife or bench scraper on hand.

If you're only a day or two away from your party, you can also just refrigerate either the dough or the shaped rolls — they'll keep just fine without even needing to go to the freezer. Whichever method you end up using, three days in the fridge or a month in the freezer is about the maximum that I recommend.

Your bland bread could be the result of rushing the process. Try a slow overnight rise in the refrigerator. Plan ahead to proof your loaf overnight. This hands-off time in the icebox will slow the fermentation process in your dough and result in a complex-flavored loaf.

What gives bread the best flavor? ›

Fat. If you're looking to ramp up the taste of your favorite bread recipe, we recommend adding a bit of fat. A fat like butter, olive oil or coconut oil in small quantities will help your bread achieve a higher rise and it will also boost its flavor by tenfold.

Make sure the shaped bread doesn't rise too long before baking – it should only double in size. If it rises too much, the dough will collapse on itself during baking and the bread will have a dense, coarse or dry texture.

Adding dry milk powder to your bread dough will help your loaf rise higher. In addition, the loaf will stay soft and hold moisture longer which again means it will last longer. It also helps brown the crust. If you want a lighter fluffier bread loaf just add 2 Tbsp of dry milk to the flour per loaf of your bread.

All it takes is a small amount of dough enhancer per loaf to create a much lighter and fluffier result. Using a dough enhancer like Vital Wheat Gluten works to improve the texture and elasticity of the dough and elongate the strands of gluten. Doing so allows more room for the gas in the dough to develop and rise.