Grandma Margaret's Soft Dinner Rolls

Found tucked in an old church cookbook in Grandma's handwriting, with 'the good ones!' scrawled in the margin.

  • Makes15
  • Prep25 min
  • Rise1.5 hr
  • Bake20 min

What you’ll need

  • 1 cup warm milk
  • 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • Extra melted butter for the tops

How to make it

  1. Stir the yeast and a pinch of the sugar into the warm milk. Let it foam, about 5 min.
  2. Mix in the rest of the sugar, the egg, melted butter, and salt.
  3. Add flour a cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Knead 8 minutes until smooth.
  4. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
  5. Punch down, divide into 15 balls, and place in a greased 9×13 pan.
  6. Cover and rise 30 minutes. Bake at 375°F for 18–20 min until golden.
  7. Brush the hot tops with butter.
Margaret's note Warm milk, not hot — too hot kills the yeast and you'll get hockey pucks.

Jenny’s notes

I found this tucked in an old church cookbook in Grandma's hand. Fair warning: bring these to one holiday and you'll be the roll person for life. Aunt Dolores adds a little extra butter on top and dares anyone to object.

— J.