Pillow-Soft Dinner Rolls

Superb ! Wish I could give more than a 5 rating. Needed about 1 hand of flour when forming them into a ball for 2nd. rising. I never tasted a better roll. ! ! ! Nothing like these 'old time' recipies. Strong suggestion, you double the water input. I use butter flavored Crisco as shorting, and so much nicer and lighter. Much nicer roll. Made several times already.

I made these on a whim and brought them to my mom's for Thanksgiving. This makes a LOT of rolls, and they were all gone before the end of dinner. They taste very homemade, yeasty and rich. I thought that they were an easily made recipe. I thought (myself) that they didn't brown up in the time given in the recipe, but that might be just my oven. I would definitely recommend these to someone looking for a really good comfort food hot roll recipe!

Excellent recipe! The rolls turned out delicious and "pillow-soft"! The recipe was very easy to follow. I only made a few changes. I used 3/4 cup water and butter flavored Crisco (from a previous review). I added an egg wash (egg whites and a dash of milk) to the top of the dinner rolls before I cooked them and, to add a bit of sweet flavor, I brushed them with a melted butter and a dash of sugar mixture. I put rolls into a muffin pan and cut an “X” on top of each of them before I cooked them. I cooked them for 20 minutes brushed them with my butter sugar mixture then cooked them for 5 more minutes. PERFECT!! I will definitely cook these rolls again.

After cooking, these freeze and defrost nicely when you just need a few at a time. I used real butter rather than the shortening and also doubled the water following another reviewer's strong suggestion. My husband,usually not enticed by bread, gives this two thumbs up! Thanks for sharing this recipe.

This is such an easy recipe. I followed it exactly and it turned out perfect! They taste the best right out of the oven! You can also make the balls of dough and wrap them in cling wrap then freeze them to make at a later time. When you take them out of the freezer, thaw on the baking pan, until the dough rises double, then bake, yummm yummm!

These were what they stated pillow-soft but they were also lacking a little in flavor for us. I don't know if it's because we normally eat wheat or an actual fault in the recipe. Still good and sill make again maybe subbing some of the all purp flour for wheat. Also, the less flour you add the better my dough was a very soft dough (think still mostly sticking to the bowl) and the texture of these rolls was amazing.

While my rolls raised well each time and the dough was tasty, the final product was not what I thought it would be. I seldom use shortening, but I wanted to make as written ... they were drier than I would have expected. A friend made them after I did and she used oil ... hers are not dry. To do a floured surface, I used a floured cookie sheet ... really contained the mess! :-) I might try these again after I experiment with other rolls.

These were simple to make and absolutely FANTASTIC! I brushed them with melted butter right after baking and my family wouldn't wait until dinner to eat them! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe.

I loved the texture and the "softness" of this roll. After taking these out of the oven and tasting I thought they were a little tastless. I melted some butter and added some garlic salt and spread on top of each roll. I returned them to the oven for 3 minutes and they were so much better.

I made these rolls to pair with my homemade Cauliflower Zuppa Toscana. I cut this recipe in half. I only made one change and that was using melted butter instead of shortening. I used my Kitchen Aid mixer to make this recipe. I proofed the yeast in the mixer bowl with the sugar, warm water and warm milk for ten minutes, then added the butter and egg, then the salt and flour. This dough needed almost a full cup to get it into a solid ball so I could knead it with the dough hook. Even then, it was a "wet" dough. I kneaded it with the hook for five minutes, then set the dough ball to rise in a greased, covered bowl on a warm heating pad for an hour. I then formed it into 1/4 cup balls and set the individual balls in greased muffin cups. I got 11 sized balls out of this recipe, not 12. I let them rise in the muffin tin, covered with saran wrap, on the warm heating pad for another half hour. I baked them at 400* for exactly 12 minutes. The texture of these rolls was really good but I think it could use a little more sugar. It's really a nice basic roll recipe, like something you'd eat at a church dinner or at Grandma's house. I'll make this again but I'll double the sugar. NOTE: I did not measure my yeast. I used one envelope of yeast for a half recipe. For the whole batch, you'll want two envelopes.

I've made these rolls twice now, the first time I changed the servings to 15 instead of 24, and both times they tasted wonderful! They were a little more dense than I wanted, maybe I did something wrong, but they do taste great and it's an easy recipe. I also brushed them with butter when they were done.

I've been making bread for 30 years and have made a *LOT* of rolls. This recipe is one of the very best I have ever used and makes the type of rolls our friends love the most. I don't have a mixer; I just make them by hand. The key is to resist the temptation to knead in too much flour. As the recipe says, the dough is sticky.

Easy recipe to follow, I used yeast for bread machines and it worked very well.  Light and fluffy, beautiful golden brown tops (I used an egg wash as well).  I think I'll increase the salt to 2 tsp next time I make these.  Definately a 'keeper'. The rolls were also a generous size, perfect for company.

Perfect everytime

Bread is usually a disaster for me, but these rolls turned out perfectly. The only recipe deviation I made was using butter-flavored Crisco. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly. I made these for Thanksgiving and the smell and taste of these rolls had my dad and uncle close to tears from memories of their mom and grandma - both awesome bakers. My dad said these rolls were better than my great-grandma's. That was one of the best compliments I've ever received. Thank you for posting this recipe!

This was a good, basic roll dough recipe. I did cut the recipe in half since I only wanted a dozen, but the recipe makes it very easy to do that. Also, I used half butter AND half the shortening called for in the recipe - it made the rolls richer. I also did not proof my yeast and added it with the flour. The reason I did this is because I replaced the water with warm buttermilk - SO GOOD! I used my KitchenAid with the dough hook and kept the dough sticky as possible without adding too much flour to dry out the rolls. Brushed with butter after baking, these rolls are amazing. I served with a Honey/Butter and they were very good.

Made these roll for the first time for our family Thanksgiving dinner. I read - and I mean read all of the reviews, adjusted the sugar to 1/2 cup, increased the salt to 2 tsp, added the egg wash five minutes before the end of baking time and then brushed with melted butter before serving - followed the rest of the directions exactly. I felt the dough was a perfect consistency - not too soft or runny. They were perfect! My entire family loved them and we were only left with three rolls once everyone had packed their care packages of leftovers. We put those into a zip lock bag and warmed them in a 350 degree oven wrapped in foil three nights later. Can't say there were any complaints! And it was the first time I've ever made bread products outside of a bread machine! Don't know what those who gave a bad review did incorrectly, but I'm pretty sure it was user error!

These were SOOO good! I did make a couple changes though... First off, I halved the batch as they were just for me and my hubby. I got 6 BIG (hamburger bun sized) rolls out of them Instead of regular milk, I used canned. My mom makes THE BEST white bread, and this is her secret. I also increased the butter to 1/4 cup for the half batch, so it would be 1/2 cup for the full batch. Lastly, I brushed them with egg whites before putting them in the ovem.n, and then rubbed the tops with butter when they were hot outta the oven. AMAZING!

I halved this recipe and after mixing together the wet ingredients, decided it was plenty and could do without the egg, so i left that out, but OMW, the dough was soft n lovely, then i rolled the balls and left to rise again and it worked beautifully. If you are short on time, skipping the extra risings still gives you lovely rolls! Amazing warm with butter, pop in the micro the next day for 10secs :)

Very very good! Cut the recipe in half for just the two of us...they were a hit!

These were amazing!! They came out quite a bit bigger than expected, so you could easily make double the amount stated and have smaller, yet good sized, rolls to serve a crowd. I melted some butter and mixed in some minced cloves of garlic and spread it on top as soon as it came out of the oven. Marvelous!

I have made these dinner rolls 3 times now, and the first two times, I made them exactly how the original recipe called for, and I thought that they were kinda bland but I loved the texture of them. Today (Easter Sunday 2011), The only thing I changed was I used 2 cups of canned milk (instead of regular milk), 4 Tbsp of shortening, and 2 Tbsp of butter (instead of 6 Tbsp of shortening), brushed the rolls with egg white just before I popped them in the oven, and then when they came out of the oven, I brushed them with melted butter. I also used fresh Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast (not the Rapid Rise; also make sure it isn't expired). They came out absolutely amazing, and were NOT bland anymore! The next time I make them, I plan on using Stevia instead of sugar, so I'll let ya'll know how they turn out!

they are a little bit too dry,but they are good with soup.thanks for sharing your recipe,Norma Harder:)

These are wonderful! I followed the ideas other people suggested, added about 50% more sugar, a little more salt, split shortening and butter, and instead of plain water, added buttermilk powdered mix to it. I made half a batch and used one envelope of rapid rise yeast. (15 minute rest followed by shaping and a full rise) Added just enough flour to knead well, but still somewhat sticky. Brushed on melted butter after baking. I'm eating one right now. This is the third half-batch I have made. (upon request!) They are definitely soft, yet dense in texture, heavy in the hand, with a superb aroma. Reminds me of an egg bread or a potato bread with a slight wispy scent of pretzel somewhere in the background. Hard to describe here. A thin crispness on top when baked fresh that develops into a nicely even perfect texture from top to bottom the next day. (Definitely better the next day!) You barely have to chew them. We may have slightly underbaked them, which actually makes them even better, we think. All they need is a few seconds in the microzapper and a bit of butter for full enjoyment. Considering how big of a hit they are so far in this house, I am sure we will be making them far into the future. Thanks for sharing!

Awesome! These rolls are the best I ever made. This recipe is highly recommendable! Thanks for sharing! =D

I FOUND THIS RECIPE THIS MORNING FOR MY MOM BIRTHDAY DAY !!!!! WOW WHAT CAN I SAY BU THANK YOU...... I USED MY BREAD MACHINE JUST HELP MIX REAL GOOD UNTIL IT STATED TO KNEAD ,LET IT RISE IN A BOWL OVER AN HR. THEN ROLLED OUT ONTO FLOURED COUNTER AND MADE ROLLS ONTO COOKIE SHEET MADE 30 ROLLS . PUT THEM INTO 340 OVEN AND BAKE FOR 5 MIN ADDED MELTED BUTTER ON TOP AND THEN AGAIN WHEN I REMOVED FROM OVEN... HELLO MY FAMILY WAS SAYING THIS IS ALL YOU MADE YOU DIDN'T MAKE ENOUGH... MY UNCLE THIS ARE PERFECT EVEN COLD ,HE ALSO MAKE YA WANNA HURT SOMEBODY OVER THESE ROLLS ! THANKS

I made these exactly as directed with excellent results! I used an egg wash with 5 minutes left to bake which gave them this great color and shine.

Yikes! Something went terribly wrong with this recipe! I'm an avid bread baker and followed the recipe to a T. I definitely would not call these "Pillow-soft". The taste was just okay and they were more like a crusty kaiser than a soft roll, which is what I craved. The dough is super sticky (beyond anything that's workable!) and needs more flour than what is written. Without the added flour I was not even able to scrape everything out of the bowl OR even form a ball. The dough stuck to everything...what a mess!

I made these last night and they are awesome! I increased the water to 3/4 c. at another user's suggestion. I mixed the wet ingredients first minus the eggs and let the mixture stand for 15 min. All bread makers will tell you that they all do this. The dough was so perfect, although I only used 6 cups of flour and maybe 1/2 c when kneading. I also used oil instead of lard. I find it makes for a moister bread. And lastly, I cooked the first batch (12) for the time mentionned, but the other batch for much longer because my DH wanted them really browned. When I put them away this morning I found that mine were still perfect and his were kinda hard so don't cook them too long. I will make this again and again. It's a definite keeper.

really easy, and really good. We made them into crescent roles with a little wipe of butter inside... delicious!

I halved this recipe and used my bread machine on the "dough" setting. I got 12 huge rolls, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, which were a big hit and perfect for our sloppy joes!

delicious and so easy!! It's really so much cheaper than store bought and taste better too! I froze what didn't get eaten at Christmas dinner. Thanks!

Yummy. I didn't have shortening so I used butter. Very easy dough to work with. Thanks.

Wow these were really amazing! I even kind of messed it up a little (by not letting them rise fully) and they still turned out absolutely perfect. What a great recipe!!!

Absolutely delightful! It did need a lot more flour than recipe called for and if your not baking for an army I do recommend cutting it in half. We actually stuffed our dinner rolls with onions and cheddar cheese and then topped them with cheddar cheese before baking. We used the left over dough to make hot dog rolls! It was amazing!

These rolls tasted really good, but they weren't as soft as I thought they would be. They were gone at the end of the night though. Will have to mess around with the recipe a little.

Used butter cuz I had no shortening, but all else was the same. They were a bit bland but the texture was lovely. I will definitely up the salt next time, but I will make them again and again.

I couldn't ask for a better recipe! The directions were easy to follow and the rolls came out so moist, light, and fluffy! I usually have a hard time with bread making and end up with dense brick-like rolls, but not this time!! There will be no need to search for another roll recipe after you try this one!

These tasted more like pretzels than dinner rolls. There was way too much salt for our liking. But they were soft.

This recipe is amazing! I made these for my husband's family a couple nights ago and they were a huge hit! I did end up using quite a bit more flour, but they turned out fantastic. Everyone raved about them, which I thought was pretty good considering it was my first time making rolls from scratch. I'm pretty sure this will become the one thing I am asked to bring to family dinners!

As a new bread cook, this is an idiot proof recipe. everyone liked it,and it reheated great. thanks!

These rolls are fabulous! It was thought that I bought these from a bakery, they turned out perfectly. I did use my BOSCH mixer to do the kneading for me. Will definately keep this recipe.

Wow. These are good. I'm just learning how to cook too. I just got a kitchen aid! Worked well. No hand kneading required!

Incredible texture! Minus a star for the taste, which as other reviewers noted is a bit pretzel-y. But!!! I've made this recipe several times and have a few minor revisions to improve the taste: an extra 1/4 c of milk (this means only 1/4 c water), reduced salt to a rounded 1/2 tsp, and added an optional rounded 1/4 tsp powdered sage, just for fun. Makes a soft, springy, marshmellowy dough, absolutely amazing to work with.

While I loved the texture and softness of the rolls, they were lacking in flavor. I plan on trying the recipe with butter flavored crisco or possibly with butter to add a little something...

Dry and bland.....very disappointed

This are wonderful. My kids LOVED them. I added a little honey and a bit more sugar to the recipe then served with butter and honey. YUM>

wonderful recipe...very easy to work with...rises like nobody's business...a half batch in a 9 by 13 pan yields a pan full of sandwich rolls or hamburger buns let alone dinner rolls

I made these rolls twice. The first time, I followed the recipe exactly, and they came out beautifully. The second time, I was out of white all-purpose flour, and so I used 100% whole wheat instead. They were rock hard, and very gritty. I'd like to try this recipe again, and maybe used 2/3 white flour, 1/3 whole wheat. I am adding this to my list of dinner "regulars".

Wow, when these were baking, they smelled delicous! I think the hardest part was kneading the dough because it was SO sticky! But the end results made it worth it. I did make a few changes though. I cut the recipe in half because I did not need much and then I used unsalted butter instead of shortening because I do not like usually shortening in my foods much. I also added a small amout of ground cinnamon and a little bit of almond extract! they turned out AMAZING! WILL MAKE AGAIN!!

Made these for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and they were a hit! I too altered the recipe a bit, I used butter flavored shortening and 1/3 cup sugar. I like my buns sweet ;-). Also, I made mine in a 9 x 13 pan and lined them up closely so they would square up when baking. They were picture perfect in size and pillow-softyness.

Very good recipe! I never thought that I would be able to make homemade rolls but it was easy. It wasn't as quick as the total time that it says it takes but it definitely took faster than most of the other recipes called for.

Easy and simple! The only thing was that they were a little lacking in the "dinner roll" taste. Was kinda like egg bread.

These are the easiest, tastiest, dinner rolls I've ever made. I usually cut the recipe in half, make them into smaller rolls and freeze them for future use, they freeze very well. No tweaking necessary, they are delicious just the way this recipe is. My husband loves them, and so does everyone that ever has them. Thanks for the recipe...

Perfect! I have made these rolls twice now and my family absolutely loves them. They are relatively easy to make and the taste is divine! This is my favorite roll recipe thus far!

This recipe made a very soft roll. I cut the recipe in half, used unsalted butter instead of the shortening and used my bread machine on the dough setting. After the first raising, the dough was very sticky but a light dusting of flour helped. I formed the dough into 36 balls. I greased a muffin pan and added 3 balls to each cup. I allowed the dough to rise another 40 minutes before baking at 350 for 15 mins. Then I brushed the tops with an egg wash and continued to bake for another 5 minutes, The results were beautiful but I think they lacked flavor and next time I will add more salt.

Awesome! Made 24 biggish rolls. I used bread flour. They had a lovely texture and fragrance. I had them on cookie sheets and next time I will rotate the top and bottom half way through cooking for more even coloring. I also put an egg wash on just before baking, which made them glossy and lovely.

These are so good!! So easy to make, too. These are great.

I used Fleishmans ActiveDry yeast instead of Rapid Rise and followed the recipe exactly and they still came out perfect! My first time baking rolls, and this recipe is a winner.

These are good, but they were even better with butter flavored shortening. I think they are a little bland with plan shortening. The texture is wonderful though.

Follwed recipe exactly. This makes the best dinner rolls ever!!!! They are perfectly soft and have a nice flavor.

SOOO good.

DELICIOUS. I doubled the water as another reviewer strongly suggested. These lived up to my expectations of a soft, tasty roll. They had a beautiful brown exterior but remained soft. For dinner, I topped them off with melted butter and the flavor was awesome! There were just three of us so I halved the recipe and then froze the extra rolls by wrapping them in saran wrap and putting in a freezer ziploc bag. Looking forward to thawing those and also making this recipe again!

I forgot to put eggs in & my dough didn't turn out sticky as Norma mentioned but rolls were still super soft!! I also cut down on salt & added more sugar in; brushed some honey/coconut milk mixture on rolls after 15mins of baking then baked for another 5mins, they tasted just perfect! Highly recommend - a definite keeper! Will make them again & again!!! Thanks a lot for sharing this wonderful recipe!!

In watching my mother many years ago making bread (she was tops), I never saw really sticky bread as she was kneading it. I'm sure I must have added at least 2 more cups of flour because I couldn't get a good rhythm going in kneading the dough because of the stickiness. And even when I finished kneading, it was still pretty sticky. I made these ahead for Thanksgiving and am freezing them. I made this recipe exactly as printed and even though the dough was very sticky (as it did say in the recipe) they came out very well and tasted good (had to try one before serving you know).

delicious and soft! They turned out looking exactly as pictured and when i sent them with my little brother to his thanksgiving dinner at school, he lied and said he had made them because everyone was so impressed!

Wow, what amazing rolls! Super soft and fluffy and just perfect. I did everything the same except that I used half buttermilk and half regular milk, butter instead of shortening, and cut down on the sugar to 2 TB, and they were even better that I could have hoped for. I used the garlic butter recipe from this site, and they were insanely delicious! The best rolls I have ever tasted. They rise A LOT, so give them room. I have added italian seasoning, garlic powder and onion powder and they turned out wonderfully as well, you can't go wrong with this recipe!

awesome!

superb, restaraunt quality rolls...made em a little too big but made for a great sandwich day old

This is my husband favorate bread recipe I make. I sometimes have to use a bit extra flour to make the dough more manageable, but it does not change the taste or texture.

Good solid, easy recipe.

absolutely delicious... i think this will be a must for every dinner i like to make them a little large and fill them with swiss cheese and ham... amazing!

I made these for supper tonight with homemade soup. They were delicious. I used an egg wash before baking, and brushed with butter when I took them out. I loved them and will use this recipe again! Thanks! :)

These are probably the best rolls I've ever baked. And while mine came out denser than I thought they would be its nothing to kick. Based on the other reviews I'm sure its something I did that made them much denser than the fluffy one's I were expecting. Edit: I did a double batch for thanksgiving and they came out perfect!!!! Soft and puffy awesomeness!!! Everyone ate them up.

love then i cut this recipe on half and they came out just great!!!

These rolls are awesome. They're so easy to put together. I didn't even get out the mixer. I was out of regular yeast and and to use pizza dough yeast instead. No problems with that substitution. Used White Lily bread flour. I formed all the dough into lots and lots of rolls (more than 24). Baked off six for the 2 of us and froze the remainder. This morning I took another six out of the bag in which they're frozen and let them thaw/rise for about 7 hours, and they came out beautiful. I'll never make any other rolls! Thanks for the post!

This is a very good recipe for dinner rolls. I substituted melted butter in place of the shortening and it turned out great. I can understand why other reviewers commented that it was a little bland, but I think it makes the recipe versitile (good base recipe). I think I might use this recipe to make monkey bread at Christmas time! :)

my 13 yr. old daughter made these. Her comment is under mine.They were a bit to dry.overall they were good.:)

Delicious, light and airy. Everyone devoured them at Thanksgiving. I rolled them out, spread with butter, cut and made crescent roll shaped rolls out of these.

Excellent texture. Found the taste to be bland. Anyone have any suggestions for flavoring other than adding a little more sugar?

first time i made them and well the dough was very sticky. first time i made bread, so i am not used to working with dough. They tasted great and they were nice and light. My husband loved them. from start to finish though its more like 2 1/2-3 hrs. waiting for them to rise once for about an hour and then about 30 min again. worth the wait though.

These are delicious! Pillow-soft is a very accurate description. I made just as stated and they turned out beautiful! A little butter on top made them shine--add a little honey and they tasted devine! I tried making a few into cresent-shaped rolls, but they just looked like weird, mis-shaped rolls. :) Worth a shot. Wonderful rolls!

These turned out perfect! I halved the recipe and used butter instead of shortening. Will definitely make these again!

My mom and her sister have taken a vacation and I was put on the spot to cook for both my family and my Aunt's plus another friend. Chose to make these rolls to go with the meal and wow was that ever a good choice!! Everyone raved about how good and light they were. I will say that if you only make 24 rolls they are going to be large ones. I probably will make closer to 30-36 next time. I also exchanged half of the shortening for margarine and will probably do all margarine next time. Other than that No Changes neccessary for this recipe. Love the fact that you can freeze them for later use. Also, if you make too many of them for one meal, use them as sandwhich rolls its delicious!!

these are great i have never made rolls from scratch so im really happy the recipe was easy and they came out right. the times are a little misleading you need to read the recipe to plan accordingly, other than that 5 stars.

OMG- best rolls ever. By the end, everyone has 2-3 rolls. So soft and not too sweet, great with melted butter on top.

Wonderful texture, but not a lot of flavor.

These turned out nice and fluffy but not as flavorful as I was hoping for.

WOW! I've been trying to make dinner rolls like these for ages and they never worked...these were perfection!!!! I'm not a stickler for absolute measurements and these still worked out wonderfully! Thank you! and my family thanks you too!

These were great! Browned up very nice and pretty.

OMG, these are the best rolls I have ever tasted. They make your taste buds jump. A suggestion is if you are into sweet things lay out the a little bread dough and add melted butter and tons of cinnamon sugar and brown sugar to the middle of the dough. Roll it like a wrap and bake it like you would bake the rolls it tastes GREAT!!!!!This Recipe Rocks!!!

I'm giving them 4 good SOLID stars. Not 5...WHY? They were good but there was nothing unique or new or different here. BUT on the UP side they did made excellent bread pudding when they were day old! If you are looking for a good, all-purpose roll recipe then this is IT. Thanks for posting

I used to make wonderful rolls when we lived closer to the mountains. Then once we moved to a flatter area, I couldn't make them anymore. They kept turning out flat and tasteless. After 7 attempts and failures with different recipes, and purchasing a bread machine (which was a waste of money) I tried these. They turned out perfect, and they are better than the ones I used to make!

Great Rolls, very soft! I had leftover dough (I didn't need many rolls) so I made a loaf of bread for lunch!

Great recipe...but I substituted the shortening for unsalted butter. They were great.

Perfect recipe. Needed all little more salt but other than that they turned out wonderful!

Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I did follow some of the other reviews and used 1/2 butter 1/2 crisco and the end result was AMAZING! "Pillow Soft" is the perfect description. I have added this to my recipe box and can't wait to make them again.

Love these rolls! Very easy, soft and great! My family loved them!

Great recipe. Light and fluffy. I used lard instead of shortening, and the rolls stayed nice and moist. Next time I'll use 1/4 butter, for added flavor. Will make again often.