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).
Make-ahead and bake on demand
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!
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)
- 1/4 cup caster/superfine sugar , or sub with normal white sugar
- 1/2 cup warm water (Note 2)
- 4 cups bread flour + extra for dusting (Note 3)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt , cooking/kosher salt
- 1 cup milk, lukewarm, whole or low fat, (Note 2)
- 50g / 3 1/2 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….
Suzi Lloyd says
Just going to pop a cheeky 5 stars on all the recipes of yours I have used this Christmas! Thanks again Nagi you are a Wonder Woman and this website is my happy place.
Brittani says
Could I add cheese to the inside of these rolls to make them cheesy? Thank tou
Jennifer Howard says
I made this for Friendsgiving last week and just about everyone who grabbed one picked it up, felt its texture, then gave it an extra squeeze before saying, “ooo”! This was such a good sign. Everyone loved them and raved over them. I was delighted by the flavor and the texture, and immediately wondered if I could turn them into cinnamon rolls. Then I found your recipe for modifying this recipe into cinnamon rolls, and yep, I will be doing this. Thanks for this fantastic and outstanding recipe!
Jo McAteer says
Dryer hack brilliant, now can bake bread all winter long here in Ireland. Big love Jo
Rebecca Kang says
I made these rolls for Thanksgiving and they turned out perfect!! Most of my bread turns out dense but these were light and fluffy! That dryer trick was magic. I’ll be making these for every occasion from now on
Denise says
I always make these the day before, and they are absolutely perfect. I’ve also made them the day of, and there is no difference, still perfect! Thank you for the video, it truly is helpful 😉
Tracey says
In all honesty I wasn’t expecting this to work for a minute but thought I’d give it a go. I was expecting failure even more, as my mixture was a lot wetter that yours but when I opened the oven I was quite flabergasted; they were amazing. My husband took one straight off the tray whilst it was still piping hot, he couldn’t wait 🤣🤣
Fran says
So easy to make, light and fluffy.
Rachelle McAulay says
These were so good and so easy to make! No kneading, no fuss, right up my alley! They were delicious and as light as clouds! Thanks so much!
HC says
Forgot the stars!
HC says
Nagi, these were so light and fluffy and easy. I can also make hamburger/slider buns using this recipe. I love every one of your recipes that I’ve tried. And your personality is icing on the cake. Thank you!
Yasmeen says
Hello,
Can we replace the sugar with anything or can we omit if we’re on a non processed sugar diet?
Cathy says
Can you make these rolls with almond flour for gluten-free rolls?
Nini2008 says
So much for your ‘dump & mix’! My rolls NEVER turn out when I have to add warm water & let stand. I was looking for a recipe that you add the yeast to the dry ingredients. Yup…they’re out there.
Moving on. These looked good, too. Oh, well.
Sally C says
I made these with rapid-rise yeast because that’s all I had and was short on time.
I added the rapid-rise yeast to the dry ingredients, mixed it up thoroughly then followed the recipe from there.
I did have to add about a cup more warm water because the mix was too dry..
They were the best rolls ever. I will definitely make these again-thank you, Nagi :p
calmmom says
1. try her recipe for no knead bread. she mixes yeast, flour water all together, then lets it rise. 2. the recipes are decent except that I find the ratio of water/liquid and flour is off (for me at least). I ALWAYS have to add additional liquid (water) to the bread recipes). I add enough water to make the dough “sticky”, “like thick muffin batter” or any other way she describes the desired results.
Ruby says
I meant 3rd batch. Can’t stop making them. My friends are queuing up for carry outs.
Ruby says
I’m on my third barch and I made hot cross buns as well. Gorgeous.
Carolyn Stuckey says
My rolls turned sort of crumble and not soft at all.
Anne says
Love these rolls – they come out perfectly every time. Any date yet for cookbook? Will it be available in the UK?
DC Pear says
I made these and they were easy and delicious!! Will make these again. I was worried they may be doughy, but they were not.
Nagi says
Woo hoo!! I’m so happy you enjoyed them DC!! N x
Priya says
Made these for dinner today and came out amazing. Such a easy recipe and being a home cook was surprised myself how well it turned out. Everyone at home loved it.