Sweet Dinner Rolls (Grammie's Recipe!) (2024)

FAQs

Why are my homemade dinner rolls hard? ›

Too much flour, or not the right kind, could be to blame. Dough made only from flour with a high or even average amount of protein (like bread flour or all-purpose flour) can become tough from overmixing. Protein gives bread structure in the form of gluten—the more you mix and move the dough, the more gluten you get.

Sprinkle with fresh herbs.

After that healthy brush of melted butter, sprinkle some finely chopped fresh herbs over the rolls. Use whatever you have on hand. Herbs like rosemary, thyme, sage, and oregano are all great contenders.

Homemade bread rolls can last up to 3-5 days if stored properly. To extend the shelf life of your homemade bread rolls, you should store them in an airtight container or plastic bag at room temperature. This will help prevent the bread from becoming stale and prevent the growth of mold.

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

Butter basting: Rolls can be brushed with butter before, during, or after baking. While it doesn't brown the surface as much as egg wash will, it does promote browning and adds a lot of flavor.

Too much flour results in a dry, crumbly dough that's unpleasant and difficult to work with. It doesn't stick to itself and tends to fall apart when kneaded.

Active dry yeast and instant yeast can generally be used interchangeably, one-for-one (although active dry yeast may be slower to rise). So if a recipe calls for instant yeast and you use active dry yeast instead, you may want to consider adding an extra 10 to 15 minutes for the rise time.

In addition to more salt you should consider a few things to improve your flavor. One primary piece of advice would be to try other flours. AP flour is the dullest possible base for bread, and even with more salt, sugar, fat, and a long rise in the fridge there's only so much flavor you are going to get.

Salt adds flavor to bread. If none or too little is used in a recipe, the bread will lack the right flavor and taste "bland." If you reduce the amount of salt, try adding some dried herbs to increase the flavor. Too much yeast in bread will give bread an off-taste.

Why do my dinner rolls taste yeasty? ›

If your bread has a sour, yeasty flavour and smells of alcohol then you have either used too much yeast.or you may have use stale yeast or creamed fresh yeast with sugar.

You can also freeze the baked dinner rolls. Allow them to cool completely, then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature, then reheat as desired. If reheating the whole pan, lightly cover and reheat in a 300°F (149°C) oven for about 10 minutes or until warm.

While it's safe to keep many baked goods at room temperature, it depends on the item and should be taken on a case-by-case basis. For instance, breads and rolls can last up to four days at room temperature, but any bread with meat or hard-boiled eggs should be refrigerated within two hours, according to the USDA.

Unbaked rolls can be kept frozen for about a month, after which the yeast starts to have trouble rising the dough after thawing. The day before you want to bake the rolls, remove the shaped rolls from the freezer and arrange them in your baking pan. Cover and let them thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

All it takes is a small amount of dough enhancer per loaf to create a much lighter and fluffier result. Using a dough enhancer like Vital Wheat Gluten works to improve the texture and elasticity of the dough and elongate the strands of gluten. Doing so allows more room for the gas in the dough to develop and rise.

For baking light and fluffy bread, it is necessary to choose flour that has high levels of protein. If you choose to use flour with lower protein levels, you'll be left with the bread being dense.

There may be several reasons for a dense, cake like texture in bread. It may indicate the kneading wasn't enough for the gluten to develop properly, or the dough was proved for too short a time or the dough may have been too dry. It is also worth checking the flour you used.