No stand mixer, no knead, no special equipment required. These No Knead Dinner Rolls are perfectly soft and fluffy and are astonishingly effortless to make. Just combine the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon – that’s it! It’s the easiest recipe for bread rolls in the whole world!
This recipe for bread rolls will blow your mind!
These dinner rolls are:
made without kneading;
without a stand mixer or any other electric appliance;
take 2 minutes of active effort to mix the dough;
have golden tops and are soft and fluffy on the inside.
Every single time I make these, I am in utter awe of how effortless they are, and how amazing they taste. They are in every way just as good as classic dinner rolls, made by kneading the dough by hand (tired arms, tired arms!) or using a stand mixer.
I truly believe to my very core that only those with a refined palette and/or baking experts can tell the difference between these No Knead Dinner Rolls and traditional kneaded-tired-arms dinner rolls!
See how soft and fluffy they are??
Kneaded vs No Knead Dinner Rolls
In the interest of being completely open and honest, here are the differences that I notice between kneaded dinner rolls and these No Knead Dinner Rolls:
The kneaded rolls stay a wee bit more moist for longer. ie. they are slightly better the next day compared to the No Knead ones. But actually, homemade bread, muffins etc, being preservative free that they are, are always best consumed fresh so I don’t see this as a major disadvantage. Neither the kneaded nor No Knead rolls are great the next day. They lose their moisture and both need to be warmed up before serving to make them moist again. It is just that with the kneaded ones you could possibly get away with not warming up (but they aren’t great), whereas the No Knead ones definitely need warming up;
Kneaded rolls rise a wee bit more. Not noticeable for normal people, and you’d never say the No Knead ones aren’t soft and fluffy. They are, they really are. It’s just that the kneaded ones rise a touch more with the same amount of yeast.
I’m so convinced of the merits of no-knead breads however, that I have since posted No-knead Artisan Bread and Focaccia – both spectacular loaves in their own right that don’t require single minute of kneading!
Dump-and-mix NO KNEAD Dough
In terms of the prep, the batter is literally a dump-and-mix job. There is a major difference in rise time compared to kneaded dough which can rise in 30 – 45 minutes for the 1st rise, then around the same for the 2nd rise after forming the rolls. For these No Knead Dinner Rolls, the dough is much wetter than kneaded dough, so it takes longer to rise. 1.5 – 2 hours, depending on how warm it is where you are. If you use my ridiculous-but-effective tip of rising the dough in your (empty! warm!) dryer, it takes 1.5 hours. 🙂 (See recipes notes for details)
You can see in these photos how different the dough is compared to traditional bread dough. It’s not knead-able, it’s way too sticky. It’s almost more like a muffin batter!
Quick little tip: To get a beautiful golden surface, the dough needs to be rolled tightly and smoothly into balls. With sticky dough, this is tough to do. So here’s my work around: Press the dough down lightly, then bundle it up like a money-bag (mmm…Thai Money Bags…). Flip it over and you have a nice smooth surface with the dough stretched tightly = smooth golden surface. I demo this in the recipe video too (below recipe).
Make-ahead and bake on demand
Another big bonus for these rolls: you can roll the dough into rolls then refrigerate overnight (uncooked) and bake them fresh when you’re ready to serve! It’s quite amazing actually, I wasn’t sure it would work but it does.
Easter is coming up! That’s why I decided to squeeze these in so soon after sharing Hot Cross Buns (which you can make using this No Knead technique, the recipe is in that post). I know some people think baking with yeast is daunting. But I swear to you, watch the video. See how soft and irresistible these rolls come out. And be prepared to be blown away by how easy these are to make!
Carb Monsters unite! – Nagi xx
More No Knead Breads & Flavour variation options!
Cheese and Bacon Rolls (use this no knead dough for that recipe)
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
No Knead Dinner Rolls recipe video! No laughing at the Baby Hands – you’ll cop a serious eyeful in this video!
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SOFT NO KNEAD Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
Buns:
- 1 tbsp dry yeast (Note 1)
- 1/4 cup caster/superfine sugar , or sub with normal white sugar
- 1/2 cup warm water (Note 2)
- 4 cups bread flour + extra for dusting (Note 3)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt , cooking/kosher salt
- 1 cup milk, lukewarm, whole or low fat, (Note 2)
- 50g / 3 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter , melted and cooled
- 2 eggs , at room temperature, beaten with fork
Brushing:
- 1 tbsp butter , melted
Instructions
- Place the yeast and 2 teaspoons of the sugar in a medium bowl, then pour in water. Leave for 5 minutes until it froths.
- Place flour, remaining sugar and salt in a bowl. Mix to combine.
- Make a well in the centre. Add milk, butter, eggs and pour in the yeast liquid, including all froth.
- Mix until combined with wooden spoon – it will be like a thick muffin batter. Not pourable, but thick and sticky.
Rise #1:
- Leave dough in the bowl, cover with a wet (clean) tea towel and place in a warm place (25C/77F+) to rise for around 1 1/2 – 2 hours or until almost tripled in volume. See Note 4 for how I do this (you will laugh – but it works every time!). Dough surface should be bubbly (see video or photos in post).
Forming Balls (watch video, it’s helpful):
- Line a 31.5 x 23.5 cm / 9 x 13″ tray with baking paper with overhang.
- Remove tea towel and punch dough to deflate, then mix briefly in the bowl to get rid of the bubbles in the dough.
- Dust work surface with flour, scrape dough on work surface. Dust top of dough then shape into a log. Cut log into 4 pieces, then cut each piece into 3 pieces (12 in total).
- Take one piece and press down with palm, then use your fingers to gather into a ball, flip (so smooth side is up) then roll the dough briefly to form a ball. This stretches the dough on one side and that’s how I get a nice smooth surface on my roll. (For this step, use as much flour as needed to handle dough and avoid piercing inside into the wet dough)
- Place the ball with the smooth side up on the tray. Repeat with remaining dough. Line them up 3 x 4.
Rise # 2:
- Spray surface of rolls (or cling wrap) with oil (any), then place cling wrap over the tray.
- Return tray to warm place and leave for 30 – 45 min, until the dough has risen by about 75% (less than double in size).
- Partway through Rise #2, preheat oven to 200C/390F (standard) or 180C/350F (fan/convection).
- Bake for 15 – 18 minutes, or until the surface is a golden brown and the roll in the centre sounds hollow when tapped. The surface colour is the best test for this recipe.
- Remove rolls from oven. Brush with melted butter.
- Use overhang to lift rolls onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool to warm before serving.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
When he got sent to the naughty corner and he was wondering whether he was allowed back in….
Couldn’t you freeze the balls on a cookie sheet and then bag them? That way, they wouldn’t stick together. By the way, I’ve made this recipe in loaves, too, and they turn out fabulous. I make all our bread from scratch, so I was so happy to find this recipe! It’s the one my husband always asks me to make. So, thank you! ~Le
Gosh yes that’s a great idea Le!!!
My deserted island food would be ice cream
Come on MY ISLAND!! 😂
this recipe works for break too but how long do you bake it for
For break?? Sorry I’m confused Anna!!
*bread?
It says at top of the recipe, Cook Time 15 minutes. Just remember when baking bread this is an estimate. I would turn the bread at 10 minutes for uniform browning and then check at 15 and decide if it needs more time or not.
I would like to make and bake what I need while freezing the rest unbaked. Can you tell me how I could do that?
Hi catherine! please see the recipe notes! N x
It’s easy to freeze bread. When you form the rolls, just take the ones that you want to freeze and put them in an air tight container. Use something that they don’t get crushed before baking. Then when you want to bake, remove from the freezer and put on your sheet pan. Put in a warm place. They will thaw and then begin to rise. Once they have risen you are ready to bake.
I worked in a bakery for a chain supermarket.
Did you know all their ‘fresh baked’ rolls start as little frozen balls of dough?
We set them up on pans to rise the night before.
Early in the morning, the first shift comes in and ‘fresh bakes’ them 🙂
This brings me to the question of “does anybody think these might be suitable
to freeze dough balls in quantity so they have them ‘fresh’ whenever they crave them?
Love hearing that Ruth!!!
You should be able to freeze them just like any other dough. Just make sure you use something between layers so they don’t stick together.
I made these today, and they are absolutely DIVINE..THANKS
Fantastic! So great to hear that Adriane, thanks for letting me know! N xx
what temp do you bake these rolls. don’t under stand what you mean.
Please see the recipe, the oven temp is in there! N x
I just made it tonight. my family loves it although it turned out a bit harder outside. the dough was quite wet and sticky so I had to dust more flour. what should I do? I live in bangkok and now the weather is humid.
thank you for the easy and delicious recipe.
You just need to adjust the recipe a little. When you have high humidity or elevation sometimes you need to make small adjustments. I would try to mix next batch with maybe an additional 1/2 cup of flour. Then once you see the results you can continue to adjust up or down from there.
Hi Rungluk! Do you mean it was crusty instead of soft?? How odd!
Never made bread before, and the bread came out great! I still need some practice with the whole rolling, and getting them all the same sizes. Thank you for the recipe.
I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this John!!! Thanks for sharing your feedback! N xx
Hi
Can these be made with out egg?
My daughter is dairy and egg allergic
Thanks
I’m afraid no Richard. Sorry. 🙁 N x
Has anyone tried this gluten free? I have Pamela’s bread flour and would love to try them.
Just checking Diana, I think a friend did, just waiting to hear back!
My partner has an obsession with dinner rolls. When I met him, he’d established an entire fridge roll with a piece of cheese for dinner and call it good. Even though I cook, I’ve kept my distance from baking. I tried your rolls today, doubling the sugar and bake time (bad oven). After a few bites he made me swear I’d only make these and no more fridge doughs (like Pillsbury). These rolls are really wonderful.
I’m so happy to hear you both enjoyed this Chrissi!! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. N x ❤️
I must say these dinner rolls are the best. Thank you for sharing your recipes with us.
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this Nessa!! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. N x ❤️
Can you put some filling in these rolls.Thank you.
Most definitely! Do it before you bundle up into a roll 🙂 N xx
Hi and thank you for sharing this easy simple bread roll recipe. I have been trying many bread roll recipe and so far non of it had been successful until I tried yours. Do u have any tips on how to keep it soft for the next week because my family loves bread rolls and I would hate to make it every other day. I am wanting to make a big batch enough for a week at a time.
Freeze them. Bread freezes wonderfully, even more than once.
And bread thaws pretty fast 🙂
My three foods? Like yours: 1. bread’nbutter. 2 spaghetti’nmeatsauce. 3. rye’ndietpepsi.
Wow, I love your way of making things ONE thing 🙂
I’m so pleased to hear that Vie! Thank you for letting me know! N xx
I just made them and I love the results. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Fantastic to hear Dayana! Thank you for leaving a review. N x ❤️
OMGoodness, these are awesome!! I made them last night with my meal of pot roast and my family thought they were store bought. Love, love, love. Oh and my 3 food items would be #1 cheese (for sure), #2 all kinds of potato foods (come on, the variety is infinite and goes so well with cheese!) and #3 BACON!!!!!!
Fantastic to hear Tammy! N x ❤️
Do you know if high altitude (above 6500 ft) has an effect on the recipe? I would love to make these!
P.S. If you say ‘bread with butter’ then it counts as one! 😉
I love hearing that Marylin! Thanks so much for letting me know you enjoyed this – N x ❤️
These are great rolls. I made some in Melbourne, Australia today. I even did your dryer trick, which my son thought was quite amusing. Very good.
Oh, what is the DRYER TRICK, I must have missed it😬
That’s great to hear Carl! Thanks for leaving a review! N x
Has anyone tried making a whole wheat roll using this recipe?
Hi Julie, yes quite a few readers have reported that it’s great with whole wheat!