BHA & BHT Free Soft and Buttery Dinner Rolls
Pillowy, golden, and brushed with melted butter straight out of the oven — these dinner rolls are the kind of thing that disappears from the table before anything else does. Store-bought rolls are a minefield of preservatives like BHA and BHT, which show up in packaged breads more often than most people realize, so baking from scratch is genuinely the cleanest path to a safe, additive-free result. Every ingredient here is straightforward and easy to verify: whole milk, flour, egg, sugar, salt, and real unsalted butter — nothing processed or ambiguous on the label. The method is patient but not complicated, letting the dough develop slowly through two rises so you get that soft, pull-apart texture that only comes from doing it right. A finishing brush of melted butter and a pinch of flaky sea salt takes them from homemade to genuinely impressive. Whether they're alongside a holiday roast or a weeknight soup, these rolls earn their place at the center of the table every single time.
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Learn more →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
- flaky sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)
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. Add the flour all at once. Fit the stand mixer with the dough hook and mix on low speed until a shaggy dough forms and no dry flour remains, about 2 minutes.
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