No stand mixer, no knead, no special equipment required. These No Knead Dinner Rolls are perfectly soft and fluffy and are astonishingly effortless to make. Just combine the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon – that’s it! It’s the easiest recipe for bread rolls in the whole world!
This recipe for bread rolls will blow your mind!
These dinner rolls are:
- made without kneading;
- without a stand mixer or any other electric appliance;
- take 2 minutes of active effort to mix the dough;
- have golden tops and are soft and fluffy on the inside.
Every single time I make these, I am in utter awe of how effortless they are, and how amazing they taste. They are in every way just as good as classic dinner rolls, made by kneading the dough by hand (tired arms, tired arms!) or using a stand mixer.
I truly believe to my very core that only those with a refined palette and/or baking experts can tell the difference between these No Knead Dinner Rolls and traditional kneaded-tired-arms dinner rolls!
See how soft and fluffy they are??
Kneaded vs No Knead Dinner Rolls
In the interest of being completely open and honest, here are the differences that I notice between kneaded dinner rolls and these No Knead Dinner Rolls:
- The kneaded rolls stay a wee bit more moist for longer. ie. they are slightly better the next day compared to the No Knead ones. But actually, homemade bread, muffins etc, being preservative free that they are, are always best consumed fresh so I don’t see this as a major disadvantage. Neither the kneaded nor No Knead rolls are great the next day. They lose their moisture and both need to be warmed up before serving to make them moist again. It is just that with the kneaded ones you could possibly get away with not warming up (but they aren’t great), whereas the No Knead ones definitely need warming up;
- Kneaded rolls rise a wee bit more. Not noticeable for normal people, and you’d never say the No Knead ones aren’t soft and fluffy. They are, they really are. It’s just that the kneaded ones rise a touch more with the same amount of yeast.
I’m so convinced of the merits of no-knead breads however, that I have since posted No-knead Artisan Bread and Focaccia – both spectacular loaves in their own right that don’t require single minute of kneading!
Dump-and-mix NO KNEAD Dough
In terms of the prep, the batter is literally a dump-and-mix job. There is a major difference in rise time compared to kneaded dough which can rise in 30 – 45 minutes for the 1st rise, then around the same for the 2nd rise after forming the rolls. For these No Knead Dinner Rolls, the dough is much wetter than kneaded dough, so it takes longer to rise. 1.5 – 2 hours, depending on how warm it is where you are. If you use my ridiculous-but-effective tip of rising the dough in your (empty! warm!) dryer, it takes 1.5 hours. 🙂 (See recipes notes for details)
You can see in these photos how different the dough is compared to traditional bread dough. It’s not knead-able, it’s way too sticky. It’s almost more like a muffin batter!
Quick little tip: To get a beautiful golden surface, the dough needs to be rolled tightly and smoothly into balls. With sticky dough, this is tough to do. So here’s my work around: Press the dough down lightly, then bundle it up like a money-bag (mmm…Thai Money Bags…). Flip it over and you have a nice smooth surface with the dough stretched tightly = smooth golden surface. I demo this in the recipe video too (below recipe).
Awesome Make Ahead Tip!
Another big bonus for these rolls: you can roll the dough into rolls then refrigerate overnight (uncooked) and bake them fresh when you’re ready to serve! It’s quite amazing actually, I wasn’t sure it would work but it does.
Easter is coming up! That’s why I decided to squeeze these in so soon after sharing Hot Cross Buns (which you can make using this No Knead technique, the recipe is in that post). I know some people think baking with yeast is daunting. But I swear to you, watch the video. See how soft and irresistible these rolls come out. And be prepared to be blown away by how easy these are to make!
Carb Monsters unite! – Nagi xx
More No Knead Breads & Flavour variation options!
- No Knead Cinnamon Rolls
- No Knead Hot Cross Buns
- Irish Soda Bread
- Cheese and Bacon Rolls (use this no knead dough for that recipe)
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
No Knead Dinner Rolls recipe video! No laughing at the Baby Hands – you’ll cop a serious eyeful in this video!
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SOFT NO KNEAD Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
Buns:
- 1 tbsp dry yeast (Note 1)
- 55 g / 1/4 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar), or sub with normal white sugar
- 1/2 cup / 125 ml warm water (Note 2)
- 600 g / 20 oz bread flour (4 1/2 US Cups, 4 Cups everywhere else exc Japan)+ extra for dusting (can use all purpose / plain flour) (Note 3)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup / 250 ml milk, lukewarm, whole or low fat, (Note 2)
- 50 g / 3.5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 eggs, at room temperature, beaten with fork
Brushing:
- 1 tbsp butter, melted
Instructions
- Place the yeast and 2 teaspoons of the sugar in a medium bowl, then pour in water. Leave for 5 minutes until it froths.
- Place flour, remaining sugar and salt in a bowl. Mix to combine.
- Make a well in the centre. Add milk, butter, eggs and pour in the yeast liquid, including all froth.
- Mix until combined with wooden spoon - it will be like a thick muffin batter. Not pourable, but thick and sticky.
Rise #1:
- Leave dough in the bowl, cover with a wet (clean) tea towel and place in a warm place (25C/77F+) to rise for around 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until almost tripled in volume. See Note 4 for how I do this (you will laugh - but it works every time!). Dough surface should be bubbly (see video or photos in post).
Forming Balls (watch video, it's helpful):
- Line a 31.5 x 23.5 cm / 9 x 13" tray with baking paper with overhang.
- Remove tea towel and punch dough to deflate, then mix briefly in the bowl to get rid of the bubbles in the dough.
- Dust work surface with flour, scrape dough on work surface. Dust top of dough then shape into a log. Cut log into 4 pieces, then cut each piece into 3 pieces (12 in total).
- Take one piece and press down with palm, then use your fingers to gather into a ball, flip (so smooth side is up) then roll the dough briefly to form a ball. This stretches the dough on one side and that's how I get a nice smooth surface on my roll. (For this step, use as much flour as needed to handle dough and avoid piercing inside into the wet dough)
- Place the ball with the smooth side up on the tray. Repeat with remaining dough. Line them up 3 x 4.
Rise # 2:
- Spray surface of rolls (or cling wrap) with oil (any), then place cling wrap over the tray.
- Return tray to warm place and leave for 30 - 45 min, until the dough has risen by about 75% (less than double in size).
- Partway through Rise #2, preheat oven to 200C/390F (standard) or 180C/350F (fan/convection).
- Bake for 15 - 18 minutes, or until the surface is a golden brown and the roll in the centre sounds hollow when tapped. The surface colour is the best test for this recipe.
- Remove rolls from oven. Brush with melted butter.
- Use overhang to lift rolls onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool to warm before serving.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
When he got sent to the naughty corner and he was wondering whether he was allowed back in….
Thanks again Nagi! The second rise is in the refrigerator awaiting a bake for this evening’s meal. They are ENORMOUS! These look as if they would make great cinnamon rolls too. I appreciate you and always look forward to your emails. Happy day to you and Dozer 😊
Thank you Nagi. I will have to try this when I have all purpose flour. Love your great recipes and most specially Dozer updates.
Hi Nagi,
I have a lot of spent grains (wet not dried) left over from home brew, I’m wondering if a cup or so (loosely packed) could be incorporated into these? What do you think? Would love to hear your thoughts. X
Made these yesterday, so easy and result was beautiful soft fluffy rolls. Best ever recipe and thanks for the tip about refreshing in the microwave, good as just baked
Planning to make this but wondering if I can use whole wheat flour. Please advise. Thanks.
Hi Ana, it doesn’t work as well unfortunately with wholewheat flour – they are slightly more dense. N x
This was the recipe I tried out for the 1st time during Lockdown in 2020, they buns came out perfectly just like they looked on video and the pictures. It has encouraged me to try baking more things. As a result I was able to make bread to distribute to the homeless who were being accommodated at a soccer stadium in tents. Thank you for giving me confidence to bake
I see this calls for instant yeast. Can I use regular yeast instead? And, if yes, how much yeast, and do I need to let it bloom first? I’m really excited about making these! Having them with your pot roast!😊
Hi Karen, you can use regular yeast – just follow the recipe to bloom it first 🙂 N x
I cooked these no knead rolls today😱OMG they’re amazing. So so easy to do, so light and fluffy and taste delicious. ❤I’ve printed a few different recipes off, you make cooking so easy, love your website❤
Love your recipes! Something I love the most is the notes. Notes, notes, notes, including how to store leftovers and reheat. Fabulous! And Dozer. Let’s not forget Dozer. Love him too. And your sense of humor. Love it!
My family eats home made rolls all the time but we migrated overseas & didn’t have a recipe. My mum sent me your link & it’s the closest thing to home cooked buns that I’ve tasted. So easy but so tasty
Hi Nagi
I made your dinner roll today, but made out hard as a rock. I could even taste the yeast!! Where did l go wrong!!!
This recipe is the best and easy recipe I had ever tried. My husband & other relatives and friends were asking for the recipe. OMG I become popular bread & pandesal (filipino bread) maker without a sweat. Thank you so much in sharing this wonderful and easy bread recipe… Without kneading. Horay to you.
Hi Nagi,
Can I use plant based milk in this recipe?
I used oat milk and egg replacer and it turned out amazing! I did need to use a bit of extra oat milk when mixing but other than that everything worked great
Hi Nagi,
Can I make this recipe with plant based milk?
I made these tonight with an Italian wholemeal baking flour using the 2nd rise in the fridge overnight method. They were fantastic (probably not as good as white but healthier!). My husband, who is the son of a baker and told me to stop trying to make bread years ago, immediately ridiculed my efforts before trying them and having to admit they were great, as did my 10yo son who was I I made them from scratch.
These rolls turned out AMAZING!!! And I love that I didn’t have to drag out my stand mixer. Will definitely be mak8ng again!!
every recipe I have tried has turned out wonderful, thank you