Easy, homemade buttermilk dinner rolls that you can make ahead and freeze. The come out tender and buttery, light as a feather every time ! Use them just like the brown and serve rolls!
The grocery stores are stacking their aisles sky high with packaged brown and serve rolls right now. We always had them growing up — my mom was not a baker by any stretch of the imagination. When Thankgiving dinner was moved to my house we still had them but they were right alongside my homemade rolls.
Guess which my kids prefer?
I still serve the brown and serve type at the holidays, and yes, they are still served right next mine.
My buttermilk dinner rolls are easy to make and best of all you can make a big batch of them up to three months ahead of time! You can choose to bake them until they are golden brown or you can bake them just until done and freeze them to be browned in a hot oven when you are ready to use them. I prefer the brown and serve method because I think it makes them taste fresh. Make a double or triple batch of these once a month and you can have fresh, hot dinner rolls whenever you like.
Buttermilk dinner rolls are just a step above the regular kind. For generations bakers have known that buttermilk lends a special flavor, tenderness, and undefinable texture to breads of all kinds. It makes yeast breads rise higher and lighter and they stay fresh longer — although, to be honest, we rarely have homemade rolls more than a few hours after they come out of the oven.
I like to dust the tops with a little flour. It doesn't do a thing but I like the way it looks.
Make-Ahead Buttermilk Dinner Rolls
Print SaveIngredients
- ¼ cup warm water The easiest way to check temp is to pretend it is a baby's bathwater. If you would bathe a baby in it it is just right., 105-115°F
- 1 oz yeast
- 1 tablespoon mild honey, tupelo, orange blossom, alfalfa, blueberry...these are all perfect
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 cups to 3 ½ all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole fat buttermilk at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ stick unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon egg yolk lightly beaten with 1 water
Instructions
- Stir together water, yeast, and honey in a small bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)
- Stir salt into 3 cups of flour and then add yeast mixture, buttermilk, and butter, stirring until it makes a soft, sticky dough.
- Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead, adding just enough more flour to prevent sticking, until smooth and elastic, 6 to 10 minutes.
- Form dough into a ball and transfer to an oiled large bowl, turning to coat.
- Cover bowl with kitchen towel and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 ½ hours. The top of your fridge, in the oven with the light on, on top of the counter when the dishwasher is running are all good places. If your kitchen is very chilly it may take a little more time. If it is warm it may take a little less. You will know it has doubled when it looks like it has and you can push your finger in it and the dent will remain.
- Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead several times to remove air.
- Cut dough into 18 equal pieces.
- Form a smooth ball with each piece, or roll into a rope and make a knot..Pretend it's Play-do.. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough, arranging balls 1 inch apart on baking sheet.
- Cover loosely with kitchen towel and let rolls rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 ¼ hours.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Brush rolls lightly with egg yolk and water mixture. This is an egg wash and will make the crusts more golden and beautiful. You can omit if you want.
- Bake until rolls are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on bottom, 15 minutes. For Brown and Serve rolls * See Note Below
Mary
I don't know what I did wrong. The yeast activated beautifully, and the dough was so nice. It has been sitting for over an hour and just laying there. Hasn't raised at all. I am so sad about that.
Marye
It sounds like something was too hot and killed off the yeast?
Mary
What kind of yeast did you use? Active Dry, Instant, or cake yeast? Thank you. I am excited to try this recipe!
Marye
Active dry.
Malcolm
What does 1/2stick of butter weigh
Marye
2 ounces
Mary Guerber
Hi Marye. My question is about the honey in this recipe. One entry says 1 Tbs. honey and another entry in this same recipe says 2 Tbs. Which is correct or does it matter? Also, can these rolls be baked in muffin pans, and if so, how big a ball should I use? I made the 1st batch and baked them on a cookie sheet but I think I put them too far apart because they spread out a little too much or didn't raise as much as I thought they would. But they tasted wonderful (I used the "brown & serve method). After I froze them, I took them out of the freezer, let them sit on the counter for about 10 minutes then put them in the 425 oven for 10 min. And OMG! These were the best things since sliced bread (pun intended). They had a nice crispy crust and bottom but were tender and fluffy inside! Thanks for this recipe. I want to make them for Thanksgiving dinner!!
Marye Audet
It depends on how sweet you like them - I do it both ways. you can do them in a muffin tin. Make the balls a little bigger than a golf ball. 🙂