Soft White Dinner Rolls
by Nigella. Featured in FEASTIntroduction
These are astonishingly relaxing and gratifying to make. Children absolutely adore making them, although the results often don't turn out to be bread rolls, but rather floury lumps and shapes covered in peanut butter, Marmite, sprinkles and more flour as they, in turn, will be covered themselves. Mine love them spread thickly with melting butter, and I can't say I blame them.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
These are astonishingly relaxing and gratifying to make. Children absolutely adore making them, although the results often don't turn out to be bread rolls, but rather floury lumps and shapes covered in peanut butter, Marmite, sprinkles and more flour as they, in turn, will be covered themselves. Mine love them spread thickly with melting butter, and I can't say I blame them.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
Ingredients
Makes: 30 rolls
For the Dough
- 500 - 600 grams plain flour
- 3 teaspoons rapid rise yeast or bread machine or other instant yeast
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- 375 millilitres milk
- 25 grams butter
For the Toppings
- 1 large egg (beaten)
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
For the Dough
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons rapid rise yeast or bread machine or other instant yeast
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon superfine sugar
- 1½ cups milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
For the Toppings
- 1 large egg (beaten)
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
Method
- Combine 500g / 3½ cups of the flour with the instant yeast, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
- Put the milk and butter into a saucepan and heat until the milk is warm, and the butter is beginning to melt.
- Pour into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix with a fork or a wooden spoon to make a rough dough, adding more of the remaining flour if the dough is too wet. Then either using your hands or the dough hook on an electric mixer, knead the dough until it is smooth and silky.
- Put the ball of dough into a greased bowl and cover the top with clingfilm, then leave in a warm place (I always sit a bowl of yeasted dough on a pile of newspapers) to rise for an hour by which time it should be double the size. Punch the air out of the dough with your fist and then turn it out on to a floured surface.
- Pull pieces of dough the size of walnuts off the dough and form them into small round rolls, like ping pong balls, placing them as you go on to a greased or lined baking sheet. The balls of dough should be about 5mm / ¼ inch apart so that once they have sat to prove they will be just about touching. I get 30 balls of dough, and I arrange them in six lines of five.
- Cover them with a tea-towel and leave to rise again in a warm place for about half an hour, preheating the oven to gas mark 7/220°C/200°C Fan/425ºF, while they sit. When the buns have puffed up, beat together the egg, milk and a pinch of salt and paint them with the glaze. Scatter alternate lines of buns with sesame and poppy seeds, leaving plain rows in between. (A teaspoon of seeds should decorate two rows.) That's to say, a row of poppy-topped, then a row of sesame-topped, then one row of plain and then repeat again.
- Bake the buns for 15 minutes by which time they should be golden brown and joined together in a little batch. Remove them to a cooling rack or serve immediately.
- When I make these for adults I put them on the table and let people tear them off as they go. When I'm making them for a roomful of children, I wouldn't be as mad; the feeding frenzy is bad enough as it is, so just tear them off and hand a few round to them on a plate.
- Combine 500g / 3½ cups of the flour with the instant yeast, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
- Put the milk and butter into a saucepan and heat until the milk is warm, and the butter is beginning to melt.
- Pour into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix with a fork or a wooden spoon to make a rough dough, adding more of the remaining flour if the dough is too wet. Then either using your hands or the dough hook on an electric mixer, knead the dough until it is smooth and silky.
- Put the ball of dough into a greased bowl and cover the top with clingfilm, then leave in a warm place (I always sit a bowl of yeasted dough on a pile of newspapers) to rise for an hour by which time it should be double the size. Punch the air out of the dough with your fist and then turn it out on to a floured surface.
- Pull pieces of dough the size of walnuts off the dough and form them into small round rolls, like ping pong balls, placing them as you go on to a greased or lined baking sheet. The balls of dough should be about 5mm / ¼ inch apart so that once they have sat to prove they will be just about touching. I get 30 balls of dough, and I arrange them in six lines of five.
- Cover them with a tea-towel and leave to rise again in a warm place for about half an hour, preheating the oven to gas mark 7/220°C/200°C Fan/425ºF, while they sit. When the buns have puffed up, beat together the egg, milk and a pinch of salt and paint them with the glaze. Scatter alternate lines of buns with sesame and poppy seeds, leaving plain rows in between. (A teaspoon of seeds should decorate two rows.) That's to say, a row of poppy-topped, then a row of sesame-topped, then one row of plain and then repeat again.
- Bake the buns for 15 minutes by which time they should be golden brown and joined together in a little batch. Remove them to a cooling rack or serve immediately.
- When I make these for adults I put them on the table and let people tear them off as they go. When I'm making them for a roomful of children, I wouldn't be as mad; the feeding frenzy is bad enough as it is, so just tear them off and hand a few round to them on a plate.
Additional Information
MAKE AHEAD / STORE:
The rolls are best on the day they are made. The baked rolls can also be frozen the day they are made. Cool completely then put in resealable bags and freeze for up to 1 month. Remove from the bags and leave to thaw at room temperature for about 2 hours then warm in an oven heated to 150°C/130°C Fan/300°F for 5 minutes.
MAKE AHEAD / STORE:
The rolls are best on the day they are made. The baked rolls can also be frozen the day they are made. Cool completely then put in resealable bags and freeze for up to 1 month. Remove from the bags and leave to thaw at room temperature for about 2 hours then warm in an oven heated to 150°C/130°C Fan/300°F for 5 minutes.
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Show more commentsI halved the recipe ingredients because I wanted to make just 4 large adult size rolls. Best rolls I’ve made. Thanks Nigella.
Just made this. Absolutely fantastic. Did double the quantity which produced 5 large baps and a 2lb loaf. Love it
This is my go to recipe when making burger rolls, I make them larger and bake them further apart for a little longer. Not dissimilar to Hokkaido milk bread.
I needed to make this non-dairy and substituted the milk for soy milk and the butter for olive oil. Plus, I prefer to use spelt flour (I get an 80% brand). It was totally delicious and by far, the most fluffy and soft bread I've ever made.
This is the best white dinner roll recipe I’ve found - easy to make and delicious with the perfect texture. I also shaped them as hotdog buns last year in lockdown when I was doing a lot of meal planning around what we had in the house!
Tried these for the first time last night and I was happy with the result. Didn’t quite look as neat as the photo but tasted delicious.
While I am trying to cut down on white bread, there is always a place at our special occasions table for a batch of these delicious dinner rolls.
I've made these rolls several times before, but when I was out of milk, I used ayran (Turkish yogurt drink) and they came out super fluffy and more delicious than ever before. I don't need egg or milk on top either. The ayran makes the rolls evenly brown and smooth. I live in Turkey and these are a favorite
This are the simplest and tastiest dinner rolls that I have tried so far...they were a winner the moment they were out of oven and got finished in no time...making them again today....
What a very easy and so tasty recipe, I just made some yesterday and now have more cooking, kids absolutely loved them.
This is a great recipe!!! I made them for my kids and they just love them!!! They said there were the best rolls I have ever made!!! And I baked to take to a super bowl party with some salads and my friends were very pleased, they enjoy them very much!!!
Have just made these while on holiday in Barbados as we don't seem to have a bread shop near us, and we found the pre-packed sliced loaves very doughy. This fab recipe worked a treat (even though we didn't have any scales, so it was just down to a measuring jug and guesswork!) and I now have 24 gorgeous little rolls sitting on the work top. I'm sure they will soon disappear .