• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Great Eight Friends
  • Gr8 Food ∞
    • Appetizers
      • Dips and Spreads
    • Beverages
      • Adult Beverages
      • Non-Alcoholic Drinks
    • Bread
      • Quick Bread
      • Yeast Bread
    • Breakfast and Brunch
      • Egg Dishes
    • Desserts and Snacks
      • Cakes and Cupcakes
      • Candy and Confections
      • Cookies
      • Fruit
      • Pies and Tarts
      • Snacks
    • Instant Pot Recipes
    • 130+ Main Courses
      • Beef
      • Fish
      • Lamb
      • Meatless
      • Pork
      • Poultry
    • Salads and Dressings
    • Sauces Salsas Marinades
    • Side Dishes
      • Pasta
      • Potatoes
      • Rice and Grains
      • Vegetables
    • Soup
  • Gr8 Friends ∞
    • Gr8 Dinners
    • Gr8 Holiday Ideas
    • Other Occasion Parties
  • Gr8 Fun ∞
    • Debbie's Craft Corner
    • Gr8 Trips
      • Field Trips
      • Vacations
    • Other Gr8 Stuff
      • Our Favorite Kitchen Tools
    • Restaurant Reviews
  • Who We Are
    • GR8 Party Outlines
    • Become a Gr8 Friend!
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Become a Gr8 Friend!
  • Main Courses
  • Appetizers
  • Beverages
  • Bread
  • Breakfast and Brunch
  • Desserts and Snacks
  • Instant Pot Recipes
  • Salads and Dressings
  • Sauces Salsas Marinades
  • Side Dishes
  • Soup
  • Gr8 Friends
  • Gr8 Dinners
  • Gr8 Fun
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Tender Fluffy Dinner Rolls for Company

    November 3, 2017 by Anna Leave a Comment

    Classic Dinner Rolls are the BEST addition to any dinner, but especially holiday dinners for a crowd. This do ahead recipe is the ultimate recipe.

    Overhead shot of a 9x13 glass dish with dinner rolls sprinkled with salt.

    Biscuits or dinner rolls, what's your preference?

    Biscuits are casual and easy, mix some dough together and the baking powder does the rising work.

    Rolls are another beast entirely. And I do mean beast, a yeast beast!

    For years I tried to make these fluffy orbs of goodness, to no avail. They didn't rise, or they didn't brown, or they just didn't taste good.

    What was I doing wrong?!?!

    A dinner roll cut in half on a plate with some butter and the basket of rolls.

    Who knows? When Jurga assigned the bread to me for her Sitcoms of the 60s Gr8 Dinner, I dug up an old recipe from high school Home Ec class; back in the "olden days," when Home Ec still existed!

    I made a few adjustments and voilà! a recipe that works every time!

    And you can make these the day before, refrigerate them after the first rise, then bake just before company arrives!

    Rolls wrapped in a towel.

    Because much of the work can be done the day before, this is perfect for the holidays or any large gathering.

    After the second rise, simply cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake the next day and you have homemade delicious tender rolls!

    Perfect because they can be done ahead of time AND the recipe makes two 9x13-inch pans of rolls. Plenty for those big holiday gatherings.

    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save this RecipeSaved!

    Please leave a rating!

    No ratings yet

    Dinner Rolls for a Crowd!

    This is a Gr8 recipe for a crowd because it makes 48 rolls and you can do the first rise and form them into rolls the day before baking!
    Prep Time30 minutes mins
    Cook Time25 minutes mins
    Rising Time2 hours hrs
    Total Time2 hours hrs 55 minutes mins
    Course: Bread
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Christmas dinner, Dinner Rolls for a Crowd, holiday menu, Thanksgiving
    Servings: 48 rolls
    Author: Anna

    Ingredients

    • 6 cups all-purpose flour, divided use
    • 2 packs active dry yeast
    • 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
    • 1 ½ teaspoons salt
    • ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
    • 1 ½ cups hot water, not boiling
    • 2 eggs, at room temperature
    • 2 to 3 teaspoons vegetable oil, for brushing on top
    • Finishing salt, such as Maldon Sea Salt

    Optional Toppings

    • Poppy Seeds
    • Sesame Seeds
    • Everything Topping!
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Measure 2 cups flour, yeast, sugar, and salt into the bowl of your electric mixer. With the paddle attachment turn to lowest speed to blend.
    • Add the butter and hot water (water should be between 105°F and 110°F for the yeast to proof properly). Mix with your mixer on medium-low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl.
    • Add eggs and 2 cups flour and beat at medium-high speed for a minute.
    • With the mixer on low speed stir in flour ¼ cup at a time until dough begins to form a balll. It will still be sticky. You may not use all the flour, depending on the humidity in the air, the flour you use, and other factors.
    • Remove the paddle attachment, scraping off the excess dough. Add the dough hook.
    • Turn the mixer to medium-high and knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about 3 to 6 minutes.
    • Dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead by hand a couple more turns then form the dough into a ball.

    First Rise:

    • Rub the inside of a medium sized bowl with a thin coating of oil, add the dough and turn over so the dough is covered with oil.
    • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a draft free area for 45 minutes to an hour, until doubled in size.
    • Lightly punch down the dough. 

    Second Rise:

    • Butter two 9" x 13" baking pans.
    • Form the dough into small, smooth balls and place close to each other in the pans, not quite touching. You should have 24 in each pan, 4 across the width and 6 down the length of the pan.  Check out this video to form the balls.
    • Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the oil over the top of the rolls.
    • Cover pans with plastic wrap. 
    • Let rise for another 45 minutes to one hour OR refrigerate for up to one day.

    To Bake:

    • Preheat oven to 375°F and place rack in lower third of your oven for best results.
    • If rolls have been refrigerated, remove, uncover, and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. (Pop any surface bubbles with a toothpick.)
    • Sprinkle finishing salt on top of the rolls, as much or as little as you prefer. Since this dough has a good amount of sugar, the salt adds a nice counterpoint.
    • Bake for 15 to 25 minutes until golden brown. The rolls should have a "hollow" sound when tapped on top.
    • Brush with melted butter while warm if you want to add an extra level of shininess and decadence!
    • Remove from pan immediately and cool on rack. Or serve warm!

    Notes

    Gr8 Do Ahead Tip:
    This is a Gr8 recipe for any large gathering or holiday party since the dough can be made up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated. 
     
    Tried this recipe?Mention @Great8Friends or tag #gr8food!

    SaveSave

    « Breakfast Overnight Oats Recipes
    Apple Blackberry Crisp Recipe »

    Reader Interactions

    Be a Gr8 Friend and tell us what you think! Cancel reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Be a Gr8 Friend!

    Talk With Us!

    • Anna on Yummy Pineapple Rum Cake Recipe
    • Cristina Muskus on Yummy Pineapple Rum Cake Recipe
    • Debbie on Fried Okra with Corn, Tomato and Squash Sauté
    • lorri on Fried Okra with Corn, Tomato and Squash Sauté
    • Kyle on Ina Garten's Yummy Irish Soda Bread
    my foodgawker gallery

    Need More Servings?

    Our recipes will do the calculation for you. Just hover over the number of servings then move the slider to the number desired. (Please be aware: this will not change pan or bowl sizes, so you may have to adjust for that.)

    It's Grilling Season!

    ThermoWorks Thermapen Mk4

    Popular Recipes

    • '60s Sitcoms TV Dinner Party
    • Buttery Crusted Strawberry Rhubarb Tart
    • Mixed Greens with Arugula Oil and Lemon Vinaigrette
    • Spring Pea and Arugula Soup Recipe

    Footer

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Our Party Outline

    As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright ©2022 Foodie Pro on the Foodie Pro Theme

    Manage Cookie Consent
    To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
    Functional Always active
    The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
    Preferences
    The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
    Statistics
    The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
    Marketing
    The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
    Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
    View preferences
    {title} {title} {title}