Pecan Free Classic Dinner Rolls

Total time2 hr 15 min

Prep time25 min

Cook time20 min

4.7

(20)

Few things beat pulling apart a freshly baked dinner roll that's still steaming, with a golden crust giving way to a pillowy, buttery interior. These rolls get their incredible softness from whole milk and a generous amount of butter worked right into the dough, creating that classic pull-apart texture everyone reaches for first at the table. The dough is built with straightforward pantry staples — flour, egg, yeast, sugar, and salt — so there's nothing hidden or unexpected in the ingredient list, which is a genuine relief when you're cooking for a crowd with mixed dietary needs. Shaping the rolls into tight, smooth balls and letting them rise until they're just touching in the pan is what gives you that satisfying tear-apart quality once they come out of the oven. A double hit of melted butter — one brush before baking, one right after — is the move that makes the tops glossy, rich, and impossible to resist. These are the kind of rolls that disappear before the main course even hits the table, so consider doubling the batch.

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Ingredients

12 servings

For the dough

1 cup whole milk
2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
3 tbsp granulated sugar, divided
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tsp fine salt
1 large egg, room temperature
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces

For brushing

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

1
Warm the milk in a small saucepan over low heat until it reaches 105–110°F (40–43°C) on a kitchen thermometer — warm to the touch but not hot. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle in the yeast and 1 tbsp of the sugar, and stir briefly. Let stand for 5–10 minutes, until the surface is foamy and the mixture smells yeasty.
2
Add the remaining 2 tbsp sugar, the salt, and the egg to the yeast mixture. Fit the stand mixer with the dough hook and mix on low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Add the flour all at once and mix on low until a shaggy dough forms and no dry flour remains, about 2 minutes.

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