Soft, pillowy rolls for the table.
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About this ratio
These are the soft, pillowy pull-apart rolls that belong on a holiday table or alongside a weeknight dinner: golden tops, fluffy white interiors, and sides so tender they tear apart at the seam where they baked together. They are enriched enough to feel special but simple enough to be a genuine beginner project — no pre-ferment, no braiding, no special equipment.
The ratio is built for softness. Milk at 55% replaces most of the water, and its fat and sugars give a finer, more tender crumb than a water dough ever could. Butter at 12% and eggs at 12% keep the rolls rich and the crumb close; 8% sugar makes them faintly sweet and helps the tops brown. The 2% yeast is a touch higher than a lean bread so the rise stays quick — these are designed to go from bowl to oven in an afternoon. Salt holds at 1.5%, slightly restrained to let the milk-and-butter softness come through.
The only technique worth attention is shaping and proofing. Divide the dough into even pieces (a scale helps the rolls bake uniformly), roll each into a tight ball with a smooth top, and nestle them close in the pan so they rise into each other and become pull-apart. Proof until puffy and touching, brush with egg wash or melted butter, and bake until the tops are deep golden — the residual softness comes from not overbaking.
Because the ratio is so close to the white sandwich loaf with a little more dairy and fat, it is a good next step once you are comfortable with a basic pan loaf: same fundamentals, a slightly richer dough, and a more impressive result.
At a glance
At its default setting, this Dinner Rolls recipe makes 12 rolls at about 60g each — about 720g of dough in total. In baker's percentage that breaks down to 378g Bread or all-purpose flour (100%), 208g Milk (55%), 45g Butter (softened) (12%), 30g Sugar (8%), 5.7g Salt (1.5%), 7.6g Instant yeast (2%), and 45g Eggs (12%). Change the rolls or enter a target dough weight in the calculator and every amount rescales to match, in grams or ounces.
Gluten-free adaptation
Swap flour 1:1 for a , add 5% , bump hydration to ~75%. Shape gently with wet hands — GF dough won't tolerate tight ball-rolling without tearing. Bake at the same temperature; check internal temperature at 205°F. Soft-roll texture works well; expect slightly less spring in the oven.
View as
Switch to scale a tested gluten-free version of this recipe. The calculator, ingredients, and nutrition all swap to the adapted formula; the underlying method tweaks appear above the wheat instructions.
Calorie-conscious
Switch to scale a leaner version of this recipe — the same bread with fats and sugar pulled to their lowest sensible amounts. The calculator, ingredients, and nutrition all update to the lean formula.
Make
Display unit
Eggs display
By count for cartons of whole eggs; by weight for liquid egg or precision baking.
Total dough
720g
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Step-by-step method
A mildly enriched dough shaped into pull-apart rolls that bake side-by-side in a pan. The milk, butter, and egg give them the soft pillowy texture; the side-by-side baking gives them that pull-apart seam. Goes from start to dinner in 3 hours.
These are at their absolute best within 4 hours of baking. Day-old rolls warm up well at 300°F / 150°C for 5 minutes.
Frequently asked
Use the calculator on this page. Adjust the output count or per-loaf weight; every ingredient amount updates automatically. You can also enter a total dough weight and the calculator works backwards. The Dinner Rolls recipe is written in baker's percentages, so it scales proportionally without changing the bread's character.
Yes — see the "Gluten-free adaptation" section on this page for specific ingredient swaps and method changes. The bread won't be identical to the wheat version, but a workable gluten-free version is possible.
More general questions about ratios, hydration, and the calculator on the FAQ page.
Background concepts
Foundational · Ingredients
What flour, water, salt, yeast, sugar, oil, butter, eggs, milk, honey, and malt each contribute to bread — flavor, structure, fermentation, color, and texture. A practical reference for understanding any recipe and adapting it on purpose.
Read the guide →
Foundational · Fermentation
How warm should the water be for bread? About 80°F / 27°C for same-day rises, 65°F / 18°C for cold ferments. Plus what kills yeast, how to hit the target without a thermometer, and adjustments for cold or warm kitchens.
Read the guide →
Troubleshooting · Fermentation
The eight most common reasons home bread fails to rise — dead yeast, cold kitchen, hot water, salt damage, dry dough, weak starter, sugar overload, overproofing — with the diagnostic for each and the recovery (when there is one).
Read the guide →
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Hearty oat-and-wheat sandwich loaf — soaked oats for tenderness, honey for color and chew.
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