Honey Free Soft and Buttery Dinner Rolls
These pillowy, golden dinner rolls get all their richness from whole milk, butter, and a single egg — no sweeteners beyond plain granulated sugar anywhere in the recipe. That matters more than you might think, because plenty of store-bought rolls and even homemade recipes sneak in honey or agave for browning and flavor, making them a minefield if you're avoiding it. Here, the sugar does the work of feeding the yeast and helping the crust develop that deep, caramelized color without any substitutions needed. The dough comes together in a stand mixer, and the slow butter incorporation during kneading is what gives each roll that impossibly soft, almost brioche-like crumb. A generous brush of melted butter straight out of the oven — and an optional pinch of flaky sea salt — puts them over the top. They bake up puffed and touching in the pan, which keeps the sides tender while the tops turn a gorgeous deep gold. Serve them warm from the pan and watch them disappear before they even have a chance to cool.
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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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