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….
Can I freeze the dough? How long would it last for and what is the process for taking them out, defrosting and baking if I can freeze?
Hi Kao! I haven’t tried it myself but just did a Google and found that you can freeze it but it only lasts about 2 weeks in the freezer then you need to defrost THEN let it rise THEN bake 🙂 I would recommend freezing cooked rolls, that works a treat! Freeze them as soon as it cools down to retain freshness as much as possible 🙂
Hi Nagi! These look fantastic and I will definitely be making a batch in the next few days. One question I have is this… can I shape these into larger rolls, for example 6 instead of 12 or even three long ‘submarine’ bread sized loafs or would they not cook as well inside?
Anyways, first time out I will make them according to the instructions just to be sure. I can already smell the fresh buns and taste them smothered in soft, fresh butter!
Hi Robert! Yup this works great in a long submarine shaped loaf, like what we call baguettes / french bread here in Australia. I wouldn’t recommend making into giant ones i.e. 6 rolls because I don’t think they will cook properly. A key tip with bigger than about 6cm/2.25″ (height)and 10cm/4″ (diameter) once they are about to go into the oven. So a long loaf will be terrific but giant rolls I think would burn on top before the inside is cooked. 🙂
You continue to be my FAVORITE food blogger! I don’t comment as often as I should, but I read every post.
These rolls are no exception to your great recipes. I will be trying them for sure.
Awww thank you Gina! 🙂 Don’t stress about commenting, I love corresponding with readers but I know people have busy lives!! More importantly though, what are you bringing to our Deserted Island? ?
OH wow! these look so easy! do you think they would work with a wholemeal flour as well? I would take bread, red wine and chocolate 🙂 can’t live without them!
Hi Georgie! I would recommend subbing only half of it with wholemeal, otherwise it will change the texture quite a lot 🙂 And COME TO MY ISLAND!!!! It was tough – real tough – leaving red wine and chocolate off the list! 🙂
Hmm tomatoes, mushrooms and rice!
Oooh! You’d be USEFUL to have on this island! 😉
Hi Nagi! Will adding raisins in (i.e raisin bread rolls!) be ok? Thanks!!
Beautiful! Like Hot Cross Buns! 🙂 I’d say 1 1/2 – 2 cups, just stir them right in. Touch of cinnamon and all spice and it’s like raising bread rolls! (Actually, then it’s just like the hot cross buns I posted 2 weeks ago!)
Haha! Thanks for the reply! Love getting recipe emails from you, especially when the recipes are easy and no need for any special equipment! 🙂
Hi Nagi. I make lots of breads and rolls, but these are so easy. I think they will be on my Easter dinner table. Can i be on your island if I bring pate, olives and fruit?
YES!!!! Imagine the mischief we will get up to….. (PS Pups come too, men stay at home)
Looks amazing, Nagi! Would you classify these as a very ‘sweet’ dinner roll? I find most of the no knead dinner roll recipes I try are very sweet for some reason.
HI Jo! I just had a leftover one for brekki this morning and I don’t know if my taste buds are more sensitive first thing but I did feel it might be considered slightly on the sweet side compared to typical sandwich bread rolls. It’s definitely not just savoury, you can certainly taste sugar in it. But I still think it’s the right level of sugar to be served on the side as a dinner roll. However, I’ve added a note that you can reduce it to 2 tbsp then you will hardly taste the sweet 🙂
Hi Jo! I only use 1/4 cup of sugar which works out at 1 teaspoon per roll, and they are kind of large, about the size of a baseball (maybe a bit smaller), so nope, not sweet for my taste. I don’t really like overly sweet rolls for savoury purposes – for example, I find the hamburger and hot dog buns sold at supermarkets overly sweet. 🙂 Hope that helps! Thanks for the question, added that to the description. N xx