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No Thanksgiving table would be complete without rolls, and these Easy Flaky Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls are my go-to this year.
If there’s one thing that absolutely has to be on every holiday table, it’s got to be rolls. Or at least that’s the case in my house (ok a few of the brothers would definitely say turkey over rolls). However, not one family member, not even the pickiest, would ever decline a roll. In fact, the rolls are probably the very first item to completely disappear.
Everyone loves them.
Over the years, I’ve made a few different varieties of dinner rolls. My favorites are these easier homemade crescent rolls, but I always love making those for Christmas dinner. For Thanksgiving, I love something a little more doughy. Enter these super easy, super flakey, extra buttery dinner rolls.
Oh man, does my family love these. Even after having been served these rolls about four times over the last month (they took a bit of testing to get just right). Each time they were gone in minutes…seriously my family loves rolls.
Here’s the thing, I know bread baking intimidates a lot of people, and I get it. When you read a recipe that requires kneading the dough for ten minutes, has a rising time of four hours, and a crazy complicated rolling/shaping process, that’s not only scary, but daunting too.
Whenever I set out to bake bread, I always try to find the easiest and simplest way. Bread does not have to be hard to be delicious, and this recipe is an example of that.
The dough is made up of a few simple ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen right now. Mix up the ingredients in one bowl, let the dough rise, roll it out, spread on some butter, cut into squares, let it rise one more time and then bake. Nothing fancy or complicated, and the best part?
These rolls are delicious.
Again, soft, buttery, and extra flakey. Aka, what every dinner roll should aspire to be.
So what’s the secret that makes these rolls so good?
Umm? Can you guess?
A layer of butter…
Obviously.
When working on this recipe, I first baked up a roll that was more dense than I wanted. I’m not real big on dense rolls and what I really wanted with these rolls was more of that flakey layer, like what you get from the Pillsbury canned biscuits. Yes, I did just write Pillsbury canned biscuits. My mom used to buy them for family parties and even though I have not had them since I was probably ten or twelve, I remember them being delicious. Come on, you know you loved them too.
So, I did some thinking and ended up using my favorite technique from my crescent recipe and smeared a layer of butter (salted, because it’s my favorite) over the dough, then folded it up like a letter and cut into squares. The layer of butter ripples through the rolls creating three flakey, doughy layers. It’s what makes these pull-apart rolls better than any other.
Because let’s be real, who does not lover, buttery, doughy layers?!
They are the best.
And now you guys see why you need these rolls in your life. Especially come Thanksgiving Day.
They are the perfect rolls for soaking up all that gravy and then eating for breakfast the next morning. Trust me on this, you have to give these rolls a try. There’s nothing not to love.
And guys? Speaking of rolls, my mom and I are in NYC this week and I really want to take her to a great bakery for croissants and pastries since they are her all time favorite. From your guys recommendations so far, I need to go to Levin Bakery, any other hidden secrets I need to know about? Let us know!
In the meantime, start plotting out your Thanksgiving rolls and then give these a testing this week…
Easy Flaky Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls
Servings: 12 rolls
Calories Per Serving: 240 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm whole milk
- 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 large eggs
- 3-4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature, plus melted butter for brushing
- flaky sea salt, for topping (optional)
Instructions
- 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the milk, yeast, honey, eggs, flour, and salt. Using the dough hook, mix until the flour is completely incorporated, about 4-5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons butter and mix until combined, about 2-3 minutes more. 2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour or until doubled in size.3. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with butter.
4. Punch the dough down and roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle that’s about 1/4 inch thick. Spread the remaining 4 tablespoons of softened butter all over dough, being careful not to break through the dough with butter.5. Fold one half of the rectangle towards the center and fold the other half over the top of the first layer so you have three dough layers. Cut the dough into 12 equal squares. Arrange in the prepared baking dish. Cover the pan, and let the rolls rise for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, until they're puffy. Alternately, you can place the pan in the fridge to rise overnight. 6. reheat the oven to 350. Bake the rolls for 20 to 25 minutes, until they're golden brown on top.7. Remove them from the oven, and brush with the melted butter, sprinkle with salt, of desired. Pull them apart to serve warm.
All good cooks test their recipes before Thanksgiving day. Just sayin’
Planning to make these this week. I only have a hand mixer and an 8 cup food processor though. I do not have a dough hook, just the normal blade for the processor. Which would you recommend for this recipe? Thanks!
Hi Skyler,
I would just mix with a wooden spoon and knead by hand until you have a smooth dough ball. I hope this recipe turns out amazing for you, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
Made these last weekend for company! They were amazing! My husband requested them again this weekend! Thx for the wonderful recipe!
Hey Donna,
Happy Friday!! Thanks a lot for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xx
We love these rolls for Thanksgiving and anytime.
Do you have any tips for evenly spreading the butter on the dough without it sticking and making holes? I end up putting dots all over the layer.
Hi Anne,
Happy Sunday! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! It sounds like your butter is not soft enough. xTieghan
Completely impressed my in-laws with these tonight! I’m not a bread baker, but I’ve made these twice, and they’ve been a hit both times.
Hi Michelle,
Fantastic! Love hearing that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try. xTieghan
These rolls!!! My family devoured these with our traditional seafood chowder on Christmas Eve and asked when I was making more 🙂 Thank you for this amazing recipe. I used bread flour instead of AP. After cutting them I pulled the corners and pinched them at the bottom so they would be slightly round. Turned out amazing! Happy Holidays!
Hi Tara,
Thank you so much for making this recipe, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Merry Christmas!?? xT
Could these be made ahead and frozen? If so, would they need to be thawed before baking? This is our go-to recipe. My young teen son has been making them for years. Just looking for a way to do less on dinner day. ☺️
Ignore this! I just saw the previous question and answer! ?
Hi Shalane,
Yes, you can freeze after step 5 and then thaw before baking. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Can these rolls be made in advance and frozen or do you not recommend doing that? If you do, what do you suggest for cooking temp and time? I have made them before and they were amazing! Just trying to save some time this Thanksgiving Day. Thanks in advance.
Hey Debbie,
Wonderful! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad to hear that it was enjoyed! I would freeze after step 5 and then thaw completely and bake as directed. xTieghan
I did freeze 4 of these (already baked) between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and they held up well. I wrapped them in foil, and then put them in a Ziploc freezer bag. I thawed them on the counter all day before dinner, and then reheated them in the foil for 5-10 minutes on the oven.
Awesome, love this idea!
Is it possible to cut the rolls in half again, in step 5 before putting into the baking dish, to make them smaller? I made them last year for Christmas, and they were big. I’d like something a bit smaller, because there is a lot of food on our Thanksgiving table! Thank you, love your recipes 🙂
Hey Amanda! Yes, that should work just fine! 🙂 xTieghan
I made these rolls for a friend and my family. I’ve only made the honey Parker house rolls before. I’m telling you, this recipe even made ME look like I knew what I was doing. They were SO delicious. Thank you so much.
I am falling in love with all your recipes.
The recipe show 3-4 cups flour. How do you decide whether to use 3 or 4 cups of flour?
Hey Jenny,
Well, you will want to start with 3 cups of flour, if the dough is looking extra sticky, you can slowly add more flour as needed, but you definitely don’t want to use more than 4 cups of flour. I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
These rolls are so delicious. I was able to make them vegan by replacing the butter with vegan butter and the milk with almond milk.
Great recipe all around!
Hey Abigail,
Thanks a bunch for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed! xTieghan
I usually love all of Tiegan’s recipes, but I made this tonight and was a little disappointed. I thought they would be light and flaky but mine turned out dense and a bit bland. I’ll stick to my usual dinner roll recipe.
Hey there,
So sorry you did not enjoy the recipe, please let me know if I can help in anyway! Happy New Year! xTieghan
Hi!
I purchased HBH Super Simple and we have tried and enjoyed so many of your recipes but have been afraid to bake any desserts or breads. We live at an altitude of 8400. I’m not sure how to adjust for the cakes, cookies and desserts in your cookbook. Please help!!?
Hey Karen,
I am so glad you have been enjoying the book and thanks for purchasing! You can follow all of the recipes as is, no need to adjust anything:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Made these for Christmas and they were so easy and delicious. Thank you for another amazing recipe!
Hey Alexis,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled that it worked out for you! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
I forgot to put them in the fridge last night. Can I just leave them on the counter for a couple hours?
Hey Abi,
Yes, that will be fine! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
These were some of the best rolls I’ve ever had! I made them with regular yeast and kneaded the dough with my hands because I don’t have a stand mixer. I also live at 5,000 feet and the rolls still rose beautifully! Thank you for this keeper recipe!
I am so happy this turned out so wonderful for you, Sarah! Thank you so much for trying this one! xTieghan