My big mama made the best yeast rolls so I’ve started making as many versions of them as possible for the site. These Honey Butter Dinner Rolls are seriously the best thing you will taste especially warm out of the oven with a thick pat of my cinnamon honey butter. I keep them soft and tender. I know yeast can be intimidating but I’ve got step by step photos below to help you out.
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How to make Honey Butter Dinner Rolls
Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients until well combined. Next, stir up the milk and egg mixture, making sure to keep the milk between 115-120F to avoid curdling or egg cooking. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry and stir them together until a stiffer, yet tacky dough forms. Harmony loves to play with the dough so we did a little kneading with our hands.
Step 2: Proof the dough until doubled in size, which takes about 40-60 minutes. Be sure to keep the dough covered in a warm room. Once proofed, form the dough into rolls and line them up in a greased pan.
Step 3: Allow the rolls to rise for a second time, about 30-40 minutes or until doubled in size again.
Step 4: Bake until golden brown, or until a thermometer registers 190-200F, about 35 minutes.
Step 5: Stir together melted butter, honey, ground cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl until well combined.
Step 6: Top the rolls with the cinnamon honey butter, and serve!
Honey Butter Dinner Rolls Recipe
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Ingredients
For the Dough
- 5 cups all-purpose flour plus 1/4 cup for shaping
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2 1/4 tsp Fleischmann’s® RapidRise® Instant Yeast (1 packet)
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter melted (plus 1 tbsp, softened, for pan)
- 2 large eggs plus 1 yolk beaten
- 3 tbsp honey
For the Cinnamon Honey Butter
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
Instructions
For the Dough
- In a large mixing bowl, mix 4 cups of flour, sugar, salt and yeast together with a wooden spoon. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients.
- Heat milk in saucepan over medium heat until very warm (110-120F), but not scalding.
- Add milk to the well along with melted butter, eggs and honey. Stir together until evenly mixed. The dough will look like thick muffin batter. Start adding the remaining cup of flour in 1/4 cup increments, watching closely as a tacky dough forms. Use your hands to continue to combine the dough for about 5-8 additional minutes until a stiffer and tacky dough forms (you can also knead for additional time here if you want a softer product in the end). You want to make sure the flour is incorporated and the dough is soft to the touch and only slightly sticky.
- Cover lightly with plastic wrap and a wet towel and place in a warm spot to proof, until doubled in size, about 40 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with a wet towel and place in a warm spot to proof until doubled in size, about 40 minutes
- Heat oven to 350 F degrees and place the rack in center position.
- Grease 13×9 inch pan with 1 tablespoon softened butter.
- Lightly flour work surface. Remove dough from bowl and cut into three large, even pieces. Cut thirds into six pieces each. If using a scale, each ball was about 70-75 grams each.
- Place the ball of dough on the work surface, cupping your hands gently over the dough, press slightly and work in a circular motion to shape into a tight round.
- Place rolls in the prepared pan. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and wet towel and return to a warm place until rolls are doubled in size, about 35 minutes.
- Remove the plastic wrap and place in a preheated oven. Bake until golden brown, or until a thermometer registers 190-200F, about 35 minutes.
- Cool in a pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
- Top with cinnamon honey butter (recipe follows). Serve immediately.
For the Cinnamon Honey Butter
- In a small bowl, stir together melted butter, honey, ground cinnamon, and salt until well combined.
Notes
How to store & reheat Honey Butter Dinner Rolls
You can store these rolls in an airtight container on the counter. As for that cinnamon honey butter, it can be refrigerated for up to a week or frozen for a couple of months. Thaw it on the counter, no microwaving! To reheat the rolls, wrap them in foil and warm in a 350°F oven until they’re nice and toasty.How long will Honey Butter Dinner Rolls last in the fridge?
Kept at room temp, they’ll stay soft and yummy for a good 2-3 days. But if you’re anything like me, they might mysteriously disappear in 24 hours. I’m not saying I eat them all… But I’m also not saying I don’t!Can I freeze honey yeast rolls?
These rolls freeze like a dream! Pop ’em in a freezer-safe bag, and they’ll stay fresh for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy, just thaw them at room temp, reheat in the oven, and brush with some melted butter.Nutrition
Recipe Substitutions
- Flour: Swap the all-purpose flour with a good gluten-free flour blend that’s designed for baking.
- Honey: You can use maple syrup as a swap.
- Butter: Salted butter works just fine. Just ease up on the added salt in the dough. And if you’re outta butter for the dough, you could sub in margarine.
- Yeast: If you don’t have Fleischmann’s® RapidRise® Instant Yeast (You should, boo!), you can use active dry yeast, but make sure to let it proof in warm milk with a bit of sugar first.
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Recipe Tips
- Warm Up Your Milk Right: Get that milk nice and warm, around 110-120°F. If it’s too hot, it can mess with the yeast, but too cool, and the yeast won’t activate right. Think baby-bottle warm.
- Get That Dough Tacky, Not Sticky: Add flour a little at a time until the dough is soft and just tacky to the touch. Knead it well to get that smooth, elastic texture.
- Give Your Rolls Room to Rise: Make sure they’re spaced just enough to grow a bit in the pan. They’ll double up during the second rise, so don’t crowd ’em!
- Brush with Butter While Warm: As soon as those honey butter dinner rolls come out of the oven, brush them with extra melted butter. It makes all the difference, boo!
Recipe Help
Yes! No stand mixer or hand mixer is necessary to make these. Kneading is really optional as well but if you select to do a little kneading to soften the dough, do it by hand. Start out by stirring with a spoon until you can’t anymore and then knead it with your hands. Just keep on kneading until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is soft to the touch and only slightly sticky. You’ll feel the burn, but it’s worth it! If you sense that something has gone wrong in your process, you can easily troubleshoot with this information.
When completely baked, dinner rolls will pull away from the sides of the pan and feel firm to the touch. The bread might even sound a bit hollow when tapped. If you’re really not sure, use a thermometer; it should read somewhere between 190-200F when inserted to the middle of a roll.
Absolutely! You can prep the dough and let it rise, then cover it tightly and pop it in the fridge overnight. Just let it come back to room temperature before you shape and bake.
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Easy Recipe ~ Delicious!!
Didn’t work for me. Dough never came together
Can they be made with regular active yeast instead of instant?
These dinner rolls are incredibly amazing!! My family loved it.
What a great idea to use cinnamon honey butter on these dinner rolls! It definitely adds a warm, comforting flavor that is perfect for fall and Thanksgiving!
These cinnamon honey rolls are so light and tender, with such a sweet delicious taste. I love eating them warm on their own straight out of the oven.
There is nothing like the aroma of freshly baking bread. Thanks for this great recipe!
These were so delicious they only lasted 5 minutes on the table!