These dinner rolls are a versatile recipe and can be used to make anything from a standard loaf to a bloomer.
Once you've kneaded the dough by hand you'll need to leave around an hour for the dough to rise.
These dinner rolls are best eaten on the day of baking but they can be frozen (see tip below).
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Yields:
12
Prep Time:
40 mins
Cook Time:
20 mins
Total Time:
1 hr
Cal/Serv:
160
Ingredients
150ml
(5 fl oz (¼ pint)) milk
15g
(½oz) butter
450g
(1lb) strong white flour, plus extra to dust
7g
fast-action dried yeast
oil, to grease
1
medium egg, beaten, to glaze
poppy seeds, optional, to sprinkle
Directions
Step 1
Heat milk in a pan until hot, but not boiling. Take off heat, add butter and 150ml (5fl oz) water. Stir to melt butter, then cool to room temperature.
Step 2
Sift flour into a large bowl and mix in yeast and 1tsp fine salt. Make a well in centre and pour in cooled milk mixture. Use a wooden spoon to mix to a soft, slightly sticky dough (add a little more water if needed). Scrape on to a lightly floured surface (reserving bowl) and knead until smooth and elastic – about 10min. Form into a ball. Grease cleaned-out bowl, add dough and cover with greased clingfilm. Leave to rise in a warm place until dough is doubled in size – about 1hr.
Step 3
Punch dough down in bowl and divide into 12 equal pieces (weigh for best results). Shape rolls as you like (for shaping ideas, see our shaping dinner rolls guide), starting with most intricate shapes. Arrange on lightly greased baking sheets, spacing apart. Cover with greased cling-film (oil-side down) and leave to prove in a warm place until soft and pillowy - about 20min.
Step 4
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan) mark 7.
Step 5
To decorate, dust some rolls with flour, brush others with egg to glaze and sprinkle over poppy seeds, if you like. Bake for 12-15min until golden and the rolls sound hollow when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack before serving.
GH Tips
TO STORE Rolls are best eaten on day of baking.
TO FREEZE Once cool, freeze in a food bag for up to 3 months. To serve, defrost at room temperature and refresh in an oven preheated to 220°C (200°C fan) mark 7 for 5min.
TO MAKE A STANDARD LOAF Shape punched-down dough to fit a greased 900g (2lb) loaf tin. Cover with greased clingfilm (oil-side down) and leave to prove until well risen – about 40min. Bake in an oven preheated to 220°C (200°C fan) mark 7 for 30min or until golden and loaf (out of tin) sounds hollow when tapped underneath. Remove from tin and cool on wire rack.
Follow our guide to turn your simple rolls into a number of intricate shapes. They’re easier to do than you might think!
The twist Roll dough into a long sausage, twist ends together and keep twisting gently until you have one twisted length.
The plait Divide dough into three equal pieces and roll each into a long sausage. Press three ends together and plait dough down to other ends. Tuck any loose dough underneath.
The knot Roll dough into a long sausage and tie into a simple knot.
The rosette Roll dough into a long sausage, then loop (with ends facing up). Working one at a time, thread ends through loop, working in a circle, until hole in middle of loop has been filled with dough.
The ‘S’ Roll dough into a long sausage. Roll ends in opposing directions into spirals, meeting in the middle. Press spirals together gently to stick.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
