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….
Hello!
Thank you for a memory. I remember as a child my mother made rolls almost exactly like that! I live about 4400 feet above sea level ans would love to try this using fresh ground wheat fur. ( I have a stone grinder). What would you suggest?
Hi Lori! I’m sorry to say I don’t have experience in wheat fur. I’ve been researching high altitude baking it and am pretty sure that if you are generous with the flour when cutting / rolling out i.e. enough so you can just handle it, then it should be fine. The dough for this recipe is actually very forgiving – because it’s so soft, yeast “works” easily. Hope that helps!
Haha wheat FLOUR
BA HA HA! I seriously though that was some kind of fancy type of flour!!!! Fresh ground flour should work fine, I haven’t done it myself but can’t think of a reason why it wouldn’t. Only tip is to weigh rather than use cup measures – like parmesan, I suspect 1 cup of freshly ground flour will weigh less than store bought ground. 🙂
Sadness. Apparently this recipe doesn’t like high altitude, or something. I read the recipe over. Reread a couple more times, then proceeded to follow to a T. After the first rise, I had a thick batter that would not hold a shape even if I bought it spanx. I’m at over 6000 feet above sea level, Could that affect it, or did something else go wrong?
Hi I live at about 2000 feet above sea level
I added slightly more liquid
And used a bit more flour at the roll stage
They were absolutely delicious
Great recipe, thank you
Yes! So fantastic to hear Rouhana and thank you SO MUCH for the high altitude tips! N xx
Hi Katie, I’m sorry to hear about that. High altitude does affect yeast baking and I haven’t tested this at high altitude. Did you try adding more flour to make the dough consistency like what you see in the video after the first rise? N x
What about adding a few tablespoons of wheat gluten. That usually helps with the rise in baking. I am making this for Easter Sunday’s dinner. However, I did follow it to a “t”…but I did add a few tablespoons of wheat gluten. I think I could have gotten 15 rolls. It rised so good. I can’t wait to see how they do for the second rise. I too was thinking I would like to try it with 1/2 wheat flour…then maybe eventually adjust the recipe to more wheat than white. This was so easy to make. I love the fact that there is no-kneading. I always worry that I will knead too much or not enough. Thanks. Look forward to trying some of yoru other recipes! 🙂
Oh WOW! What a fantastic tip, I will try it out! 🙂
Hi. I love your recipe. 🙂 I made bread before and didn’t have a good experience. Yours rocks! 😉
By the way, the humidity in Singapore is fine for rising. Just add more flour as you shape the buns. That worked for me.
However after baking, they stuck to the base of the baking pan, so they don’t exactly look presentable at the bottom. How do i resolve that? Do you spray oil on the base as well?
Another coffee addict :p
Oh that’s a great tip, thank you SL! I was reading that the humidity makes the dough bit stickier. I’ll update the notes!! Regarding the rolls sticking to the pan, did you line the tray with paper per the recipe? 🙂
Can’t believe i read the recipe many times, but missed that part out. Haha. Guess i need more coffee!
So anyway, i tried it again today and it’s even more amazing than my first try. It was so soft and fluffy when it came out of the oven! However when i had it a couple of hours later, it was abit denser. Is that the same with your’s too?
Thanks for the recipe and your personalised response to everyone! 🙂
WHOOT! So pleased to hear that SL!!! N xx ❤️
My deserted island foods are bacon, Bacon and BACON, PS I don’t share. Lol, but I do love bacon and easy ways to make rolls.
Ahh. Come on my island! I need bacon!!!
I would love to make these as they do look great! Can you use the fast action dried yeast, which just goes in to the mixture straight from the packet (I live in France at the moment and have 5grm sachets)? If yes, does it alter the recipe at all? Thank you!
Hi Debbie! I actually make this using what we call “Instant Yeast” which is also known as fast action yeast. I also use this same recipe using normal dry yeast. Same steps for every type of yeast!
Thank you, I have my son and daughter in law staying with me at the moment and we all love to cook so we will be trying some of your recipes over the next few weeks – slow roast lamb on Saturday!
In order to refrigerate and safe for the next day, do you just skip the second rise? It says to form into balls and then refrigerate from 4 to 24 hours and then straight to Oven…will they rise while in the fridge? Thanks for the help ?
Hi Gina! The refrigeration takes the place of the 2nd rise. They should be taken out 30 minutes before baking, just to bring to room temperature. Sorry, I forgot that step! Hope that helps!
Hi Nagi, thanks for this recipe! I tried it yesterday but as I do not have a dryer I just left it to rise on my counter-top. After 1.5 hours although it has risen it was still way too wet and sticky and there was no way I could cut and shape the dough. I have to return the dough to the covered bowl for another 1.5 hours again. Do you have a method for the dough to dry and rise in a shorter time without the use of a dryer? Note I live in Singapore so the weather is naturally hot and humid. Will be v grateful for your advice!
Hi, I tried this yesterday, it came out perfectly.i put mine in a microwave, it tripled the size in less than an hour. It was very sticky after the rising, I just sprinkle flour on top of it, massage it a little with my handwhile trying to take the dough out of bowl. It was in less than 10 seconds. Supper soft and fluffy. It was my very first time working with yeast. Amazing!!
I’m so thrilled to hear that Lovely! And your FIRST TIME with yeast – WOO HOO!!!!
Hey Eddie,
Use your oven as another form of warm places.
Hi Eddie! Did it triple in size after the first 1.5 hours??? I will have a look at extreme humidity affect on this recipe 🙂 I am actually thinking you might need to increase flour and make your dough less loose. N xx
Hi Nagi, yup the dough tripled in size after 1.5 hours. just that it is very wet and sticky and i could not cut or shape it. in fact i had to throw away a third of it as it was sticking to my fingers and the countertop. I put the remainder back into the covered bowl for another 1.5 hours and it tripled in size too! I will try with more flour the next time but will that cause the buns to lose their fluffiness? Despite the mishap they were still delicious!
Woah, what?? Tripled….twice?? So I have found some info that indicates that in extreme humidity i.e. SE Asia, this is not the ideal method! Let me come back to you though, I got a similar question on Facebook 🙂
What heat do you put the dryer on?
High for about 1 minute 🙂
Hi Nagi the minute I saw those no knead dinner rolls I got up and made them they were easy to make the kitchen smelled wonderful and they tasted delicious. I ate them with butter and my homemade orange jam . we have allot of orange trees here so I make quite allot. Thank you for another yet great recipe. As for what I would bring to the island well you have the bread and butter so I would bring my orange jam, coffee [can’t live with out it] and chocolate. I love the pictures of Dozer keep posting them they make my day. [I LOVE LOVE LOVE DOGS] Have two of my own. Have a great day.
Whoot! Fantastic to hear you enjoyed this Barbara, thanks for letting me know! So glad you like the Dozer pics and as for you brining coffee to the island…. PLEASE BE ON MY ISLAND!!! I am a shameless coffee addict ? N xx
Just put them in the oven.
I’ve tried the dry yeast version twice.
But the yeast didn’t go frothy:(
I don’t know why it did not work. The temperature of the water was about 37 degrees!?!
I had to go to the super market to buy fresh yeast. It didn’t go frothy too:(((
But i used the fresh yeast anyway.
The dough rised up. I can’t wait to try the taste of the rolls. They are looking amazing!!!
My desert island food favourites:
No. 1 – Salmon sashimi (Including soy sauce, wasabi and ginger of course!)
No. 2 – Beef steaks
No. 3 – More sashimi… Really, I cannot get enough of them
???!!! Yeast didn’t go frothy but the dough still worked!!! It’s a miracle!!! As for your deserted island foods….my mother may well disown me and adopt you ?
Ahh Nagi, your hands aren’t small….it’s that those buns are so huge, they make anyone’s hands look like baby hands! I will try this tomorrow and eat them with my homemade strawberry jam. I’ll bring the jam to the island, along with red wine and brie. I’m another transplanted Wisconsinite as well. Love your site.
OMG I BURST INTO LAUGHTER!!!! yes yes of course, the size of the buns are distorting perspective…. ?
There must be a mistake in prep time, cook time and total time. You forgot to add the rising time. Thanks
Hi Georgina! There is no box for inactive time so I put it in caps in the intro, hoping that will catch people’s attention 🙂
I am so excited. I made these dinner rolls tonight and shared some with the neighbours and everyone was so impressed. They truly were delicious. I used the dryer trick to proof the dought and the second time to proof the rolls in the pan and they looked awesome. I even went out and bought the bread flour just to make them a bit fluffier.Every time I used yeast and have to proof and do all these steps it makes me feel like a real baker. I’m with you on the island with my pound of butter and never ending bread. Thanks for such a great recipe
WHOOO HOOOOOO!!!! I’m so pleased you enjoyed these Janet, THANK YOU for letting me know!! N xx
Nagi, I’m curious as to why you use your dryer for dough proofing, rather than your oven. The dryer obviously works, but I’ve seen other cooks share their lifehack of turning on their oven for a minute to warm it up, then leaving their covered dough in there to rise. Since you’re already in your kitchen, wouldn’t the oven be easier?
Hi Mo! I’m actually working on a recipe to do just that 🙂 The reason I use the dryer for this is that it requires proofing after the rolls are made and you can’t put that in the oven while it’s heating to cook them 🙂
These look like the rolls my grandmother was famous for only a LOT easier.
I’ll have to try them!
Awww I love hearing that! 🙂 ❤️
I am so glad that this doesnt require any kneading. I hate baking breads generally but this i can try.
YES YOU CAN!!!
Love the sound of these, I’m with you on the bread n butter …… But you should try some Australian sparkling wines , they are truly wonderful….
They are they are….I feel very unpatriotic now! ?
Have you heard of the oven rising method? If not, this is how it goes:
Heat your oven to 200°F. Then turn it off. Put your dough in the oven. All my bread dough I made to rise that way. It is much faster. 1.5 hours is far too long unless otherwise I am doing something else, like my database for tax deductions.
Try it.
Hi Isabel! I know, it does require patience. Love your tip! And GUESS WHAT?? I’m actually working on a 1 hour No-Knead Roll. Which involves putting the dough in the turned on oven to rise. Similar concept! It works! My theory is that yeast dies at 60C/140F, so as long as it’s cooler than that, it’s optimum rising temp! 🙂 Only took 15 minutes to rise, pretty amazing! Just tweaking the dough and rolling technique, will share that for the next holiday event. Not sure can wait for Thanksgiving!
We have the same desert island foods! If you allowed a fourth food, mine would indubitably be CHOCOLATE!! 🙂
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!
These look absolutely perfect. I totally support the no knead bread cause 100%
Omg you crack ME UP Tania!!!?
What about compound foods? If I say “Pizza”, am I allowed a variety of toppings or must I be more specific and stick with pepperoni and pineapple? Does white wine count as ‘food’?
Of course! Every pizza in this world. And then you have have to be on my island. So we can trade 🙂