Soft, squishy, sweetened with honey and topped with honey-butter fresh from the oven, these Honey Butter Yeast Rolls are the perfect dinner roll!
I’m not sure there’s anything quite as unifying as the love of a good yeast roll. At least where I’m from, people get real serious about their yeast rolls, particularly around the holidays. I’ve found that a lot of people find the yeast roll recipe and stick with it- I’m talking years, decades, lifetimes, generations. Once you’ve found one that’s reliable and well-loved, there’s no reason to search for another.
And guess what? I’ve found my lifetime yeast roll recipe. Honey Butter Yeast Rolls are now what will be on my Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and having-company-over-for-dinner-on-a-Friday-night dinner table. Soft, squishy, buttery and just the right amount of sweetness coming from the honey. They’re the yeast roll of all yeast rolls, and I’m sticking with them.
But you know my favorite part about these honey butter yeast rolls (aside from their heavenly taste and texture)? When you pull these out warm from the oven, you brush honey butter on the tops of the rolls, making them even more buttery and sweet and perfect than they were before. Uh huh. It’s good. I picked up this idea from Sally’s Baking Recipes. In fact, her recipe for honey butter rolls is what inspired this recipe!
These honey butter yeast rolls come together pretty easily, similar to other homemade yeast roll recipes. I find these are easy enough to make start-to-finish in one go, but you can also make the dough the night before, chill it overnight, and finish the next day. Find my make ahead instructions in the recipe notes!
If you haven’t found your tried-and-true yeast roll recipe that’s going to last you a lifetime, try this one. Promise, honey butter yeast rolls don’t disappoint.
Happy baking!
What you’ll need to make these honey butter rolls:
Whole milk: Whole milk makes these rolls extra squishy, soft and tender. The sugars in the milk also help to activate the yeast.
Honey: Honey adds a lovely flavor to these rolls, and helps feed the yeast so it can do its job!
Active dry yeast: Yeast is the key player in bread fermentation. By feeding on sugars in the dough and producing carbon dioxide, yeast serves as a leavening agent, strengthens the dough and helps develop flavor.
Bread flour: For structure. Bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose flour, which gives the rolls more structure and helps them rise higher in the oven. It also makes for extra chewy rolls!
Kosher salt: For flavor.
Egg: For binding and structure.
Sour cream: Sour cream makes these rolls extra soft, adds moisture, and helps create a tender texture. Be sure to use full-fat sour cream!
Butter: Melted butter adds richness, flavor and a soft texture to these rolls.
Butter, honey and salt for the honey butter topping.
How to make honey butter yeast rolls:
1) First, make the dough. This starts by activating the yeast with 1 tablespoon of honey and warm milk. I use this instant read thermometer to make sure the milk isn’t too hot (or too cold) before adding it to the yeast! Next, it’s just a matter of combining the rest of the dough ingredients and kneading until the dough is smooth, elastic, and tacky (not sticky), and gradually adding more flour if your dough is too sticky. I prefer to use a stand mixer and dough hook to knead since this dough starts off wet, but you can knead by hand if you prefer.
2) Let the dough rise. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover it tightly, and place it in a warm, draft-free place until it’s doubled in size. This usually takes 1 to 2 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
3) Shape the dough into rolls. Now for the fun part! Divide the dough into 15 equal portions and shape them into smooth balls (see my next section on how to shape the dough into rolls for detailed instructions). I find a bench scraper comes in handy here. Place them in a lightly greased 9×13″ pan, spacing them out evenly.
4) Let the dough rise again. Before baking, the shaped dough needs to rise one more time. Lightly cover the pan with plastic wrap or a clean tea towel and let the rolls hang out in a warm, draft-free place until they’ve doubled in size again, this time about 60 to 75 minutes. Towards the end of this timeframe, go ahead and preheat your oven to 350°F.
5) Bake! Get ready for your kitchen to smell amazing. Bake the rolls for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown, rotating the pan about halfway through if your oven tends to get warmer in the back. While the rolls are baking, make the honey butter by combining the softened butter, honey, and a pinch of salt.
6) Top the warm rolls with honey butter. When the rolls are done baking, pull them out of the oven and brush the tops of the rolls with honey butter (YUM). Whatever honey butter you have left over, save for serving alongside the rolls.
How to shape the dough into rolls:
Shaping the dough into smooth, round balls is pretty simple! Here’s how I do it:
- First, divide the dough into 15 equal portions. I prefer to do this by weight, but you can eyeball it if you like! Each piece will be close to 57 gm or a little larger than a golf ball.
- Take a portion of dough and pat it down to flatten it just a bit, then pull the edges of the dough together and pinch them together to form a ball.
- To make the dough extra taught and smooth, form a small “c” with the index finger and thumb of one hand, and push the dough ball through to pull the surface of the dough tight.
- Lastly, place the dough ball, seam side down, on your lightly floured surface. With your hand in a “c” shape, gently move the ball in a circular motion.
FAQs:
Why is this recipe primarily listed in grams? I develop my recipes in grams because weighing your ingredients is the best, most accurate way to bake. Baking is a science and precision is key to success! Measuring cups are not standardized, and what’s more, the way each baker uses them varies drastically, which ultimately gives you inconsistent (and sometimes negative) results. For instance, did you know that scooping flour out of a cannister can give you 50% more flour than what’s called for in the recipe? By weighing your ingredients rather than using measuring cups, you can confidently know that you are using the correct amount of each ingredient, giving you greater success & delicious results. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale, like this one when you bake. Plus, it makes clean up a lot easier!
Where is the best place to proof my dough? Yeasted dough requires a warm environment to proof, ideally around 75°F. Most often, allowing your dough to proof covered at room temperature will do the trick. However, if your kitchen is a bit chilly, turn your oven on & place the bowl containing your dough on top of the oven. The ambient temperature from the oven will provide some extra warmth to proof the dough!
Can I make these ahead of time? Yes! You can start the dough the night before and finish the rolls the next day. See my recipe notes for detailed make ahead instructions.
Can I make this dough by hand? If you don’t have a stand mixer, yes, this dough can be made by hand. The kneading process may take longer depending on how hard you work the dough, but cues for when to stop kneading will be the same. Just watch your dough!
Honey Butter Yeast Rolls
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Proofing time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours, 15 minutes
- Yield: 15 rolls 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
Description
Soft, squishy, sweetened with honey and topped with honey-butter fresh from the oven, these Honey Butter Yeast Rolls are the perfect dinner roll!
Ingredients
- 180 mL (3/4 cup) whole milk, warmed to 108 to 110°F
- 4 tablespoons honey, divided
- 7 gm (1 standard packet or 2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
- 417 gm (3 1/3 cups, spoon and leveled) bread flour, divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 60 gm (1/4 cup) sour cream
- 75 gm (1/3 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
For the honey butter:
- 56 gm (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, very soft
- 2 tablespoons honey
- Pinch of kosher salt
Instructions
- Activate the yeast. Add warmed milk, 1 tablespoon honey and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer and stir briefly to combine. Let sit for 10 minutes, until the yeast is activated and the mixture becomes foamy.
- Make the dough. To the activated yeast mixture, add 375 gm (3 cups) bread flour, kosher salt, egg, sour cream, melted butter, and remaining 3 tablespoons honey. Using the dough hook attachment on your stand mixer, mix on low speed until the ingredients are combined and a wet, shaggy dough forms. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the remaining 42 gm (1/3 cup) flour and mix on medium speed to knead for 8 to 12 minutes, until the dough is smooth, slightly tacky, and passes the windowpane test*. If the dough is overly sticky (i.e. you can’t handle the dough without it sticking to your hands), add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it reaches the correct feel (NOTE: sometimes I don’t need to add any flour, and other times I add up to 4 tablespoons- just depends on the day!).
- First rise. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a large bowl that’s been lightly coated in oil or non-stick spray, turning the dough a few times to coat it in the oil. Tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free place to rise until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
- Punch the dough down several times to release all the air; set aside to rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease a 9×13″ baking pan and set aside.
- Shape the dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 15 equal portions (NOTE: I prefer to do this by weight to ensure that each roll is the same size and bakes evenly. However, feel free to do this by eye- each roll should be a little larger than a golf ball). Shape each portion of dough into a smooth ball (see instructions for shaping in my post!), and place into the prepared pan, spacing evenly so that they have a little room to grow.
- Second rise. Lightly cover the pan with plastic wrap or a clean tea towel and leave in a warm, draft-free place to rise until puffy and doubled in size, about 60 to 75 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown.
- While the rolls bake, make the honey butter by combining the softened butter, honey, and salt. Spread the honey butter onto the warm rolls, reserving any extra butter for serving. Serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
Inspired by and loosely adapted from Sally’s Baking Recipes Honey Butter Rolls
*Windowpane test: Use the windowpane test to check for proper gluten development. Gently pinch off a ball of dough. Slowly pull the dough out from the center. If the dough is ready, you will be able to stretch it until it is translucent like a windowpane. If the dough tears, it’s not ready; beat for another minute and check again
Make ahead: Prepare the dough as directed through Step 3. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down to remove all the air. Tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight. Leave the dough to sit at room temperature for 45 to 60 minutes to soften a bit before punching down again and continuing with the recipe.
Storage: Store leftover rolls in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Gently rewarm in the microwave before enjoying.
