Name: Grandma's Best Homemade Dinner Rolls
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 147 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup warm water; 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (equivalent to one packet); 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk; 1 large egg; 1/2 cup salted butter; 1/4 cup honey; 2 1/2 cups Spelt flour (freshly ground (if using other flour types see notes section for adjustments)); 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I use organic, unbleached); 3/4 teaspoon salt (can add up to 1 teaspoon if using unsalted butter)

These homemade dinner rolls were destined to be shared. Light, fluffy, with the perfect combination of spelt and all-purpose flour, then slathered with butter hot from the oven, what's not to love? These will certainly be your go-to dinner rolls for all your holiday meals.

A cast iron skillet with fresh made bread rolls.

When grandma wasn't able to do all the holiday baking anymore, the responsibility of making her incredible dinner rolls got passed down to me. (No pressure, right?)

Truthfully, I didn't mind one bit because grandma's recipe is the best there is! Over the years I've even tested and adapted it to where they're the perfect combination of fluffy and nutty (from the fresh ground spelt flour), and then made irresistible with the freshly melted butter slathered all over the top as they come hot from the oven.

This is one recipe you'll definitely want on your holiday tables this year, but you will certainly want to give them a try before then!

If you have my book, The Made From Scratch Life, then you're already familiar with this recipe. But if this is your first time making homemade rolls, or maybe your first time using fresh-milled flour, then be sure to read through this post for all my best tips and tricks.

Why I Love This Recipe

When you think of homemade dinner rolls you think of steaming hot soft bread that's slathered with butter, am I right? But far too often people think whole wheat can't be light and fluffy like white flour. And though I do use white flour in my kitchen (albeit organic and unbleached), I like to use it in combination with fresh-milled flour so we're still getting the great health benefits of the whole grains.

This recipe has been adapted throughout the years, and now my family literally gets mad at me if I don't bring them to our holiday meals! In fact, one year I opted to make homemade croissants (as in, takes three days to make them!) and my family let me know the rolls needed to be included for all future holidays.

Lesson learned, I will now come with rolls, even if I decide to bring something extra!

Woman standing behind a counter full of ingredients for making rolls.

Ingredients Needed

This recipe may look very similar to other homemade dinner rolls, but there are a few key ingredients that are major players.

Yeast - This recipe calls for yeast, of course I do love me a good sourdough bread (especially this best beginner sourdough sandwich bread), but sometimes there's no stand in for yeasted breads, so you'll always find a bag of yeast in my pantry (PRO TIP: If you won't use up all your yeast before it goes bad, store it in the freezer to prolong the shelf-life!).
Cultured buttermilk - the buttermilk does something magical in bread products. In fact, that's why I love it for buttermilk biscuits, buttermilk muffins (and even buttermilk fried chicken!). If you don't have buttermilk, store-bought plain or homemade yogurt is a decent stand in and will work for this recipe. If you don't have either, you can take 1 tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar and add it to two cups milk, let it sit for 5-10 minutes and use that instead, though this is never a replacement for true homemade cultured buttermilk!
Softened butter - you don't have to let the butter melt completely as I did in the video above, however if you get distracted, melted butter works just fine, too! You could sub canned coconut milk for a dairy-free option.
Honey - I prefer using honey in my baked bread goods over granulated sugar. The honey helps turn these rolls a nice golden-brown and add just the perfect amount of sweetness (not too much, but just right!).
Fresh ground spelt flour - If you've never baked with freshly milled flour before, let me be your biggest encourager! It adds so many health benefits and an incredible flavor profile that can't be beat by any rolls from the grocery store! (Read more on the health benefits of home-milled flour here.) You can also check out this post for more info on griding your own grains at home, and check out this post if you're thinking of buying your own grain mill.
All-purpose flour - If you don't have access to fresh-milled flour, you can use just all-purpose flour, or a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat flour. Normally I like to bake without all-purpose flour, but I've also noticed that spelt flour tends to make flatter loaves of bread or rolls, so doing a combination here gives us the best of both worlds. Read more here for picking the Best Flour for Baking- Home Baker’s Flour Guide 101 and Where to Buy Grains in Bulk – My Favorite Sources based on what you're baking.

Stainless steel mixing bowl with water and yeast.

How to Make Homemade Dinner Rolls

1. Mix warm water and dry yeast together in a bowl and stir to combine with a whisk.

2. Set aside and allow the yeast to bloom for a couple of minutes.

3. Add buttermilk, egg, softened butter, and honey into the bowl and stir to combine.

A woman's hands holding a measuring cup catching fresh milled flour from a Mockmill home grain mill.

A measuring cup inside a large mason jar getting a scoop of flour.

A woman mixing dough with a Danish dough whisk.

4. Add flours and salt and mix by hand using a dough whisk until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl (can use a stand mixer for this step if desired).

You're looking for a wet and tacky dough to start. When using fresh ground flour, it will continue to absorb moisture for 10-15 minutes (unlike store-bought flour that absorbs very quickly).

To know if your dough is tacky enough, grab a ball of dough and press it between your fingers. It should want to stick to your fingers, but if you move them quickly enough, it will pull away and stay in a ball.

A light yellow KitchenAid mixer mixing dough for rolls.

5. Using the kneading attachment to your stand mixer, mix your dough on low for about four minutes, then turn the mixer off to give your dough a rest.

A woman holding a piece of bread dough up doing a windowpane test.

6. The dough should now form a nice ball. Test the dough by pinching off smaller than a golf-ball size piece of dough, then stretch it out between your fingers into a "windowpane". If you can stretch it enough to see light through the dough without it tearing, then your dough has been kneaded enough.

If the dough tears before you can get it thin enough to see light through it, then let it rest for about four minutes, then knead it on low for another two minutes and do the windowpane test again.

A woman's hands spraying a stainless steel bowl with cooking spray.

7. Remove the dough from the bowl, add some oil to your bowl to keep the dough from sticking, then place the dough back into the bowl, giving it a quick turn so all sides are coated in oil.

Cover the bowl with a tea towel and place in a warm, draft-free area of your kitchen to rise for one hour (or until doubled in size).

This may take more or less time depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

A woman's hands forming rolls with a cast iron pan of rolls in the forefront.

Two cast iron pans with bread rolls being covered with a tea towel to rise.

8. Remove dough from the bowl and place it on the countertop. Divide the dough into 15-16 equal portions. You can get precise and weigh out your dough to ensure equal-sized rolls, but I just eyeball it!

9. With each ball of dough, you want to create surface tension by pulling the dough in and around itself (much easier to watch the video at minute 15:50).

10. Place each ball of dough, seam side down into a greased pan (or well-seasoned cast iron skillet) leaving adequate space between each roll to allow the rolls to double in size.

11. Cover rolls with a slightly damp tea towel and allow them to rise until doubled in size.

Keep in mind when the rolls hit the hot oven they will rise a little bit more!

Two cast iron skillets with risen bread rolls sitting on a stovetop.

Freshly baked rolls being slathered with butter.

12. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and bake rolls for 12-15 minutes.

Rolls should be just starting to turn golden brown on top when they're done.

13. When they're fresh out of the oven, take a stick of butter and rub it over the tops of the rolls generously.

If you can, it's best to let the rolls cool for 30 minutes before eating, otherwise, the centers may turn a bit gummy!

A roll cut in half and spread with butter.

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]

Why I Love This Recipe
Ingredients Needed
How to Make Homemade Dinner Rolls
Tips & Tricks
More Recipes You May Enjoy
Grandma's Best Homemade Dinner Rolls

Tips & Tricks

If you've never worked with fresh-milled flour before, just know it is slightly different than working with all-purpose or even store-bought whole wheat flours. Read more of my tips on baking with fresh-milled flour here.
When using fresh ground flour, it will continue to absorb moisture for 10-15 minutes (unlike store-bought flour that absorbs very quickly). To know if your dough is tacky enough, grab a ball of dough and press it between your fingers. It should want to stick to your fingers, but if you move them quickly enough, it will pull away and stay in a ball.
Don't keep adding more liquid to try and get your dough wet enough, just be patient! When in doubt, give your dough five extra minutes to sit before deciding if you need to add more flour or more liquid.
If you are short on time and need a faster recipe, try my Quick Dinner Rolls 25 minute recipe!

More Recipes You May Enjoy

Did you make this recipe? If so, I'd love for you to leave me a star rating in the recipe card below, then tag me on social media so I can see! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.

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📖 Recipe

Grandma's Best Homemade Dinner Rolls

MelissaKNorris

Light and fluffy with the perfect combination of fresh-milled flour and all-purpose flour, these dinner rolls will be your go-to recipe for all future meals (whether it's a holiday meal or not!).

4.72 from 25 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 12

Rise Time 2

Total Time 2 27

Course bread

Cuisine American

Servings rolls

Calories 206 kcal

Ingredients

▢ 1/2 cup warm water
▢ 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast equivalent to one packet
▢ 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk
▢ 1 large egg
▢ 1/2 cup salted butter
▢ 1/4 cup honey
▢ 2 1/2 cups Spelt flour freshly ground (if using other flour types see notes section for adjustments)
▢ 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour I use organic, unbleached
▢ 3/4 teaspoon salt can add up to 1 teaspoon if using unsalted butter

Instructions

Mix warm water and dry yeast together in a bowl and stir to combine with a whisk. Set aside and allow the yeast to bloom.
Add buttermilk, egg, softened butter, and honey into the bowl and stir to combine.
Add flours and salt and mix by hand using a dough whisk until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl (can use a stand mixer for this step if desired).
Using the kneading attachment to your stand mixer, mix your dough on low for about four minutes, then turn the mixer off to give your dough a rest.
Test the dough by doing the "windowpane" test (see post above for directions).
If the dough tears before you can get it thin enough to see light through it, then let it rest for about four minutes, then knead it on low for another two minutes and do the windowpane test again.
Remove the dough from the bowl, add some oil to your bowl to keep the dough from sticking, then place the dough back into the bowl, giving it a quick turn so all sides are coated in oil.
Cover the bowl with a tea towel and place in a warm, draft-free area of your kitchen to rise for one hour (or until doubled in size).
Remove dough from the bowl and place on the countertop.
Divide the dough into 15-16 equal portions. You can get precise and weigh out your dough to ensure equal-sized rolls, but I just eyeball it!
Place each ball of dough, seam side down into a greased pan (or well-seasoned cast iron skillet) leaving adequate space between each roll to allow the rolls to double in size.
Cover rolls with a slightly damp tea towel and allow them to rise until doubled in size (about one hour).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and bake rolls for 12-15 minutes.
Rolls should be just starting to turn golden brown on top when they're done.
When they're fresh out of the oven, take a stick of butter and rub it over the tops of the rolls generously.
If you can, it's best to let the rolls cool for 30 minutes before eating, otherwise the centers may turn a bit gummy!

Notes

For all-purpose or bread flour use 3 & 3/4 cups flour.
For store-bought whole wheat start with 3 and 1/2 cups flour and only add more if it's too sticky to handle.
See notes in the blog post above on how to do a "windowpane test".
Read the notes in the blog post on using fresh-milled flour and how it acts differently than store-bought flours.
Don't skip the step of melting butter on the tops of the freshly baked rolls! Trust me!

Nutrition

Calories: 206kcalCarbohydrates: 30gProtein: 5gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 174mgPotassium: 50mgFiber: 3gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 207IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 15mgIron: 2mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Howdy, I'm Melissa!

I’m so glad you're here. This is the place for all of us who loved Little House when we were young and thought Laura was our best friend. It's where we grow dinner in the backyard and think everything looks and tastes better when it comes from a Mason jar. Here, you'll find my favorite from-scratch recipes, herbal remedies and tutorials, and all my gardening tips from my 20+ years of growing and raising our own food.