No-Knead Dinner Rolls

These soft and fluffy No-Knead Dinner Rolls are easy enough for even the novice baker to make. Dough could be prepped a day ahead and baked the next day, which makes them perfect for the holidays!

It could be hard to even imagine adding on homemade bread to your Thanksgiving recipe planning. But I’m here to tell you these super soft and fluffy no-knead dinner rolls are truly no-fuss! We love no-knead breads like this no-knead olive bread! Another fabulous roll idea is this savory corn roll recipe…so good!

Originally posted November 2012 and updated November 15, 2020. These are my favorite rolls!

I told you I’ve been exploring my mountain of food magazines and books. I can’t buy any new magazines until I finally try some that have been on my mind for ages. And I mean ages!

Easy No-Knead Yeast Dinner Rolls

No-knead means just that: you aren’t going to be working up a sweat to create the most amazing and fluffy perfect little balls of dough to impress everyone! I will explain to you why:

• This dough comes together in minutes! If you use instant yeast, it just takes five minutes to mix together. All you need is a bowl and a wooden spoon to mix it all together.
• If you truly want to keep it fuss-free, bake them in a 12-cup muffin pan. Simply butter up the muffin cups. Punch down the dough,form the balls, add them to the muffin ups. Like I said, no-fuss!
• While you are working hard on making your award winning pies and turkey, leave this dough alone to rise all morning. As soon as the oven frees up, pop the muffin tin or your baking tray filled with the rolls to bake.
• The rolls are ready in under 30 minutes! You could even carefully plan it to bake them at the end of all the meal prep so you can impress your guests with the most beautiful and fluffy dinner rolls.

Bread baking scare you? Fear not! Even beginner-level bakers will conquer making these fluffy rolls! What’s so wonderful about this recipe is that the dough can be prepped, put in the pan, and chilled up to a day ahead.

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Here’s what you need to make fluffy no-knead dinner rolls

• Water
• Yeast
• Sugar
• Bread flour
• Salt
• Butter
• Eggs

How to activate yeast step 1: Warm water

Before you even attempt to activate the yeast, make sure the yeast hasn’t expired! It’s so important to make sure it’s not a packet you forgot from 5 years ago (it’s happened to me!). Then move on to adding to the warm water. It should be about 110F. Yeast will activate in warm water. It should not be hot. If you don’t want to use a thermometer, test it with your hand and it should not be hot like you’re about to wash dishes…just a bit hotter than warm (I’ve done it so many times I don’t bother with a thermometer. But feel free to use one to make sure you have the temp right!).

For this recipe, we are adding the water to the mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water. No need to stir it in.

How to activate yeast step 2: Add a little sugar

The next step is to add a teaspoon of sugar (just use it from the amount that you have put out to make the dough). Stir it gently and let it be. Pretty soon the sugar will start to activate the yeast and it will begin to foam. Be patient, it’s not going to happen in 30 seconds!

How to activate yeast step 3: Give it time

It does take some time for the yeast to activate. If your kitchen is particular warm (like mine always is!)it could take 5 minutes. If it’s a colder kitchen, that could take a full 15 minutes. Just staring at it won’t make it happen so just walk away and do something else and come back to check on it.

What if my yeast isn’t foaming?

I am that baker that has stared and willed my yeast to work faster for plenty of breads! If in 15 minutes nothing has happened and it is not foaming and activating, toss it out and start over with another packet. It could be that the water was too hot and that yeast will never come to life and your bread will totally flop. So try again with another packet and not too hot water (again, make sure the packet is a fresh one, not expired!).

This Martha Stewart’s No-Knead Dinner Rolls recipe from EveryDay Food December 2007 issue. This was the little magazine I found the recipe in. They don’t even print this magazine any more.

Just love these super easy no-knead dinner rolls! No-fuss with incredible results!

Here was my dough ready to be worked with. These are photos from the first time I made them about 10 years ago!

Cut out your pieces of dough and shape into rolls. You could weigh the dough pieces to be precise and make sure they’re all even.

Next, brush on the egg wash (or melted butter) and let it rise again.

Then after they bake for 30 minutes you are rewarded with this gorgeous bread!

If you need to bring something to a holiday dinner in December, I think you would be the hit of the party with these delightful rolls! They smell incredible while baking!

Can you bake this bread with kids?

Absolutely! This is a really easy bread recipe you can even make with the kids. You stir the ingredients all together in the bowl. It is a no-knead recipe, which makes it a great beginners bread recipe to try out with the kids. The dough rose beautifully as it has 2 packets of yeast. The fluffiness was out of this world. From the ease of the method,  to the wonderful flavor and texture, this is a recipe you will want to make again and again to impress your family.

I like looking at the recipe online and reading the comments. This reader had a good tip if you’re looking for even quicker way to bake these rolls:

anna_zager 28 Jan, 2009 :
“ I made these LAST min. Didn’t let them rise AT ALL! Mixed them (with rapid rise active dry yeast), made into rolls, put directly into oven. Cooked for 35 mins”

This baker let her rolls rise overnight in the fridge:

sparkle9152 26 Nov, 2010:

“Made these for Thanksgiving and they were buttery and soft. I liked the fact that they came out well even after being in the fridge overnight. I will definitely use this recipe again!”

Wishing you all a wonderful week! I am grateful for all of you and your constant support.

xo
Lora

Other amazing breads:

• Psomi Spitiko
• Crusty No-Knead Italian Bread
• Anadama Bread
• Rye Soda Bread

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No-Knead Dinner Rolls

These soft and fluffy No Knead Dinner Rolls are easy enough for even the novice baker to make. Dough could be prepped a day ahead and baked the next day, which makes them perfect for the holidays!

Prep Time1 hr 30 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Bread, No Knead Bread, rolls

Servings: 16 rolls

Author: Lora

Ingredients

• 2 cups warm water 105 to 115 degrees
• 2 packages 1/4 ounce each active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter melted, plus more for pan and brushing
• 2 large eggs lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 6 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled, plus more for shaping dough

Instructions

• Pour warm water into a large bowl; sprinkle with yeast, and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Add sugar, butter, eggs, and salt; whisk to combine. Add flour; mix until incorporated and a sticky dough forms. Brush top of dough with butter; cover bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm place until dough has doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Turn dough out onto a well-floured work surface. With floured hands, roll dough into a thick log. Cut into 18 equal pieces (halve log, cut each half in thirds, then cut each piece into thirds again).
• Brush a 9-by-13-inch baking pan (I used a 9 x 9 pan) with butter. One at a time, flatten each piece of dough, then fold edges toward the center, pressing to secure, until a smooth ball forms. Place dough balls in prepared baking pan, smooth side up (you should have 3 rows of 6 *4 rolls of 4 in a 9x9 pan). Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 30 to 40 minutes. (Alternatively, refrigerate, at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.)
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove plastic wrap; brush rolls with butter (I used an egg wash).
• Bake until golden and rolls sound hollow when tapped on bottom, 35 to 40 minutes (tent with aluminum foil if browning too quickly). Pull rolls apart, and serve warm.

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