Soft Buttermilk Dinner Rolls
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These Buttermilk Dinner Rolls are light and fluffy, super soft, a bit sweet, extra delicious and simple to make! This will be the only dinner roll recipe you’ll ever need!
I firmly believe everyone should have a great recipe for dinner rolls in their arsenal. I hope you add this perfect little recipe for the most perfect buttermilk dinner rolls to yours! They’re so light and fluffy, a bit sweet from the honey and oh so soft, quite easy to make and fool proof if I may say so myself!
Why Buttermilk?
Let’s talk about the buttermilk in these dinner rolls because the buttermilk plays a very important role here. First of all, the buttermilk will add complexity and depth to your dinner rolls. It’s what makes these dinner rolls super soft and light and what keeps them from browning too quickly so that you end up with rolls that are baked perfectly on the inside yet golden on the outside.
Ingredients
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Buttermilk – Our star ingredient! Buttermilk is critical for soft, tender, buttery rolls.
- Honey – We need some sweetness in our rolls today and honey works perfectly. Maple syrup can be used as a substitute if that’s what you have on hand.
- Butter – Unsalted as we want to control our salt and melted before adding.
- Eggs – The binding agent of our roll recipe and for our final egg wash.
- Flour – All purpose works perfectly fine. If you’d like to make these rolls gluten free be sure to add 1 1/2 teaspoons of xanthan gum alongside your gluten free flour.
- Yeast – Instant yeast is needed for this recipe, instant yeast doesn’t require the need to activate and set aside.
- Salt – Salt is so important for any baked goods!
- Sesame seeds – Sprinkled over top and totally optional. Poppy seeds or other seeds such as sunflower seeds can also be used instead.
How To Make Soft Buttermilk Dinner Rolls
- Preheat your oven: To 200 F degrees then turn off. This is to provide a warm and draft free environment for your dough while it rises.
Forming the dough
- Combine wet ingredients: In a medium size bowl whisk together the buttermilk, honey, melted butter and eggs. Set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients: In the bowl of your mixer add the 3 cups of flour, instant yeast, salt and mix to combine, using your dough hook attachment.
- Create your dough: Add the buttermilk mixture to the mixer bowl and mix for 3 to 5 minutes until the dough comes clean from the side of the bowl. If the dough is too wet or too sticky add more flour as needed, but no more than 4 cups. The dough should be soft.
- Allow the dough to rise: Place the dough in a large metal or glass bowl that has been lightly greased or sprayed with cooking spray, cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in the prepared oven. Allow the dough to rise for about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.
Assembly
- Prepare the pan: Spray a 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray or grease with butter. Set aside.
- Assemble the dough: Lightly flour your work surface and remove the dough from the bowl on to the work surface. Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces before rolling each piece into rounds and place into the prepared baking pan. Place a clean kitchen towel over the top or cover with plastic wrap and place back in the oven and let rise again for another 30 min or until doubled in size.
- Prepare the oven for baking: Remove the rolls and preheat the oven to 375 F degrees.
- Finish the rolls: Brush the rolls with a beaten egg then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 15 or 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Some Tips
- Be sure to check the expiry date of your yeast as it’ll affect the effectiveness of these rolls.
- If using active dry yeast, please make sure you activate it first by dissolving it in a bit of warm water. If it does not begin to froth up, do not continue with the recipe.
- To keep your yeast fresh and longer lasting, unopened yeast packages or jars should be stored in a cool or dry place such as your cupboard.
- It is so important to let your rolls double in size! This will ensure that your rolls are light, tender, and fluffy.
- Egg wash is important for ensuring a glossy golden brown finish to our rolls.
Leftovers
You can store these buttermilk dinner rolls right on the counter wrapped in foil or plastic wrap for up to 5 days. You can freeze these rolls easily, just place them separately on a baking sheet and freeze before transferring to a freezer bag or airtight container. They will last for up to 6 months and can be thawed right on the counter when ready to eat.
Craving More Rolls? Try These Delicious Recipes:
- Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
- Texas Roadhouse Rolls
- Classic Dinner Rolls
- Parker House Rolls
- Honey Rolls
- Homemade Slider Buns
- Best Ever Dinner Crescents
- Saffron Raisin Buns
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Soft Buttermilk Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup honey
- ⅓ cup butter (unsalted and melted)
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour ((or more if needed))
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg (beaten for egg wash)
- 2 tablespoon sesame seeds
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 200 F degrees then turn it off. This is to provide a warm and draft free environment for your dough while it rises.
- In a medium size bowl whisk together the buttermilk, honey, melted butter and eggs. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer add the 3 cups of flour, instant yeast, salt and mix to combine, using your dough hook attachment.
- Add the buttermilk mixture to the mixer bowl and mix for 3 to 5 minutes until the dough comes clean from the side of the bowl. If the dough is too wet or too sticky add more flour as needed, but no more than 4 cups. The dough should be soft.
- Place the dough in a large metal or glass bowl that has been lightly greased or sprayed with cooking spray, cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in the prepared oven. Allow the dough to rise for about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.
- Spray a 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray or grease with butter. Set aside.
- Lightly flour your work surface and remove the dough from the bowl on to the work surface. Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into rounds and place into the prepared baking pan. Place a clean kitchen towel over the top or cover with plastic wrap and place back in the oven (no need to preheat the oven again) and let rise again for another 30 min or until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees.
- Brush the rolls with the beaten egg then sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 15 or 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
I made it the second time today, they are definitely better risen than the first time as I used all purpose flour, not wheat. I couldn’t wait until they were cool to try, and I found it tasted a little undone, eventhough I baked it for 20 minutes, and the toothpick came out clean. Is this normal for not waiting for it to cool?
Oh I love my bread rolls warm too, trust me, but they shouldn’t have really tasted unbaked. Maybe they needed a couple more minutes in the oven.
Lovely.. thanks for sharing..
Glad you liked it!
Could you please advise if I can make these without a-stand mixer?
You can definitely knead all the ingredients together by hand as well. Let us know how everything turns out for you!
Buns were awesome knead by hand about 10 minutes
That’s wonderful! We are so glad you enjoyed them!
Excellent definitely making them again
So happy you enjoyed them!
I baked bread for the first time, and it was a success! I was always intimidated by bread baking. I did ended up with around 4 cups flour total since my dough was just too soft with just 3 cups of flour to start. I also used soured milk, and it was so soft and yummy! Thank you for the recipe!
This makes us so happy to read! Glad you had a great first time bread making experience!!
It came out great for our Thanksgiving dinner. I used my homemade kefir instead of buttermilk!! Thank you.
These rolls are seriously delicious. I’ve been making bread for years and have several recipes for rolls that my family enjoyed very much. These are now their favorite. I’ve been making them for family dinners for about 3 years now.
I’m so glad you like them!
First time making anything with yeast! I have tried to make breads in the past but every time, I think I kill the yeast. Made these rolls for the family last night and they went in 5 minutes. Absolutely delicious!
Made these rolls for pulled pork sammie’s. My family devoured them.
Hi, are you able to freeze the dough before cooking?
Freeze the dough after shaping into rolls, then the thawing can act as your second rise.
This is a great recipe. I made it. I did use some whole wheat flour (about 1/3 of the total flour), just because I can’t quite bring myself to make 100% white bread, but it still made delicious, light, buttery buns. I am impressed. I’ll be using them for veggie burgers tonight. I think next time I’ll replace all the flour with whole wheat bread flour and see how it goes!
Jo, seriously, these were excellent! I had another recipe I used once or twice but wasn’t satisfied with it. I went looking for a new buttermilk roll recipe and found yours. It was easy to make and the end result was superb. Nice and high roll but not too dense, just light and fluffy. The smell and taste of the buttermilk in the roll was delicious. And even today, one day after baking them, they’re still very fresh. This is one of those keeper recipes that will be made over and over.
That’s fantastic to hear! Thank you for the rave review 🙂
This is my second time making the rolls. I absolutely love them and all your recipes. I have passed on your site to so many friends who are now saying the same thing. Thank you !
I made this earlier and they were absolutely perfect! I’m trying out new dinner roll recipe for our upcoming Thanksgiving dinner and this is the ONE! Thanks Jo!
I made these rolls to take to my relative’s house for Thanksgiving.
They were a huge hit and very delicious. They were eating them hot out of the pan before I could get them to the Thanksgiving table.
I only used the original 3 cups of flour in my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook for about 5 mins on med low…. The Instant Yeast took all of the guess work out.
Thanks Jo… I will be making these rolls often. 🙂
So glad they turned out for you and you liked them! 🙂
I made the rolls and they are great. I want to make them for my residents for thanksgiving. How long can they be made in advance?
If you make them now and store them in the fridge, they will last until and be perfect for Thursday.