Warm, soft, homemade pull apart dinner rolls smeared with melted butter are the perfect side for all types of dinner recipes. This no-knead dinner roll recipe will become a staple in your house!
Why this recipe works
If you need a roll recipe that you can make in about an hour or so that requires no kneading, this is it. Look no further. These homemade pull apart dinner rolls are always requested at every holiday and family gathering.
My family insists that I make a double batch of these rolls every Easter, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. They also make a great side for crockpot roast beef, sirloin pork roast, or basically any meal you see fit to serve them with.
Ingredients you will need
Get all measurements, ingredients, and instructions in the printable version at the end of this post.
YEAST – Quick-acting dry yeast is the way to go with these rolls. I use SAF Instant Yeast, but any brand of quick rise or instant will work fine. Quick-acting yeast absorbs water quicker than regular yeast, making the rise time faster. This is also known as rapid-rise, quick-rise, and fast-rise yeast.
FLOUR – We use all-purpose flour here, if you want to use whole wheat flour use half wheat flour and half all-purpose. Your rolls could be too dense if you substitute all of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour. When measuring flour, be sure to use the scoop and sweep method. It’s amazing the variation in weight between scooping with your measuring cup and scooping into your measuring cup. Too much flour can result in dry, crumbly rolls.
How to Make Homemade Pull Apart Dinner Rolls
These step by step photos and instructions are here to help you visualize how to make this recipe. You can Jump to Recipe to get the printable version of this recipe, complete with measurements and instructions at the bottom.
- Dissolve yeast in warm milk with sugar in an electric mixer bowl. Stir in 1 cup flour, oil, and salt. Beat until smooth.
EXPERT TIP– Use an instant thermometer to test the temperature of your milk. If it’s too hot it will kill the yeast and could cause the dough to be too sticky as well.
- Stir in remaining flour, scraping dough from side of bowl, until soft dough forms.
- Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about 45 minutes.
EXPERT TIP– Make sure that you cover the dough bowl with a towel when you set it aside to rise in a draft-free place.
- Heat oven 400 degrees F. Punch down dough in center and fold over a few times. Prep a 12 cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Pinch off 1 inch balls of dough and quickly roll in palm of hands. Put 3 balls into one muffin cup, brush with melted butter; sprinkle with coarse salt.
- Bake until crust is light golden brown, about 15 minutes. Immediately remove from pan. Store loosely covered.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can use active dry yeast instead of instant, just make sure you proof the yeast by following the instructions.
Yes you can use bread flour, simply substitute equal amounts of bread flour as you would all purpose.
Anytime you do not bake bread right away it continues to rise. Even by putting it in the refrigerator which will slow the rise considerably, it will not stop it. The more a yeast dough rises, the more it changes the final texture.
The dough should be a bit sticky when you set it aside to rise. However, you should be able to handle it without it being a complete mess. A trick I use is to spray my hands with non-stick cooking spray. As a last resort, you can sprinkle the dough with a bit of flour and fold it over a few times. Use caution though, too much additional flour will dry out the dough.
To store these rolls, first wrap them in aluminum foil and place inside a sealed ziplock bag or air-tight container. Keep at room temperature for up to 4 days.
This recipe makes 12 piping hot soft rolls just begging for butter. Gently pull them apart and watch the steam come out.
More Roll and Biscuit Recipes
- Garlic Cheese Rolls
- Bretzel Rolls
- Parmesan Garlic Rolls
- Homemade Hawaiian Rolls
- Homemade Biscuits
- Herb Buttermilk Biscuits
- Garlic Knots
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Homemade Pull Apart Dinner Rolls
IMPORTANT – There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Print It Rate ItIngredients
- 1 package quick-acting yeast also known as instant yeast
- 1 ⅓ cup milk at 105 to 115F degrees
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon butter melted
- coarse salt for topping
Things You’ll Need
Before You Begin
- We use all-purpose flour here, if you want to use whole wheat flour use half wheat flour and half all-purpose. Your rolls could be too dense if you substitute all of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour.
- When measuring flour, be sure to use the scoop and sweep method. It’s amazing the variation in weight between scooping with your measuring cup and scooping into your measuring cup. Too much flour can result in dry, crumbly rolls.
- Quick acting yeast is the way to go with these rolls. I use SAF Instant Yeast, but any brand of quick rise or instant will work fine. Quick acting yeast absorbs water quicker than regular dry yeast, making the rise time faster. This is also known as rapid-rise, quick-rise, and fast-rise yeast.
Instructions
- Dissolve yeast in warm milk with sugar in electric mixer bowl. Stir in 1 cup flour, oil, and salt. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour, scraping dough from side of bowl, until soft dough forms.
- Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about 45 minutes. Make sure that you cover the dough bowl with a towel when you set it aside to rise in a draft-free place.
- Heat oven 400 degrees F. Punch down dough in center and fold over a few times. Prep a 12 cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pinch off 1 inch balls of dough and quickly roll in palm of hands. Put 3 balls to one muffin cup, brush with melted butter; sprinkle with coarse salt.
- Bake until crust is light golden brown, about 15 minutes. Immediately remove from pan. Store loosely covered.
Nutrition
Big thanks go out to Jill of Simple Daily Recipes for sharing this recipe.
This recipe originally appeared here on Dec 27, 2008 and has since been updated with new photos and expert tips.
Amanda Davis
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Amanda says
Thanks everyone!
Susan – great story! Bread does bind families :)
Amy – That's great! So glad you loved them as much as we did :)
I actually made a double batch of these today. I parbaked some of them and they are cooling on the counter. I plan to freeze those and bake them up next week sometime and see how they do. The others are all rolled, buttered and sprinkled and sitting in the fridge waiting for the ham to get closer to done. Then I'll pop them in the oven for Easter dinner :)
Anonymous says
These look sensational. I can't wait to try them!
Amy says
Just made these for dinner and they are AMAZING!! I did half and half whole wheat flour and white flour and they are so yummy! I normally am terrible at baking bread, but these were so quick and easy. Thanks for posting!
gail says
These look fantastic! LOVE them – I am bookmarking them. YUM!
Cakelaw says
What yummy looking rolls! Who'd buy them again after seeing these?
Lo says
I'd argue that something this good is certainly worth repeating — so I won't fault you for that. Plus, I've been there. Am trying to envision what I'm going to think about today's posts in another… oh, three years! :) scary!
Susan says
I have to tell you something about bread. I truly believe bread is what binds families together. When I was growing up we didn't have a lot of money. We couldn't go to the movies or to the arcade, etc…with our friends, but the one thing we truly enjoyed doing, which seemed like an activity back then, was making bread. There was something about the time spent together, talking, taking turns kneading and pounding and reading stories while waiting for the dough to raise, that would make me feel just as wealthy as the other kids. What we lacked in money, we made up for in generous ammounts of homemade bread and time spent together. The smell of bread baking always brings a warm, family feeling to me.
I always love a good bread/roll recipe and this is going to be one for my recipe box. They look fantastic.
The Damsel In DisDress says
holy cow those look FANTASTIC!!!
Kathleen says
Ok so I meant CARB o holic. LOL
Kathleen says
I adore homemade rolls. They are the best part of dinner for me. Did I mention I'm a total caroholic?
Tia says
they do look mighty yummy!
biz319 says
I am a sucker for good rolls – these look delicious!!
mike says
These make "making rolls" look easy. I love the shape of them! Homemade rolls are so "forgotten" these days – nice to see. They look fantastic!
Michelle says
A good dinner roll can make a simple dinner the best dinner ever! Wonderful photos!
Ingrid says
Okay, you've convinced me…I need to give this a try. :)
~ingrid
bexbakes says
Those look great! I love homemade rolls.
Amanda says
Thanks guys! Easy to throw together and quick too YUM
Von says
I love the way you shaped rolls! They look so soft! Will definitely try these one day =]
Megan says
These do look amazing Amanda. I'll have to give these a try.
The Sugar Queen says
Amanda, these look great!