Small Batch White Dinner Rolls

Dinner rolls

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Prep: 2 hrs 15 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 2 hrs 30 mins
Servings: 6 servings
Yield: 6 small rolls

There's nothing like freshly baked rolls at the dinner table, but when there are only three people to feed, there is no point in making a large batch of rolls. This small batch of white bread rolls is perfect for small families and the rolls can even be used to make sandwiches.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup warm water (95 to 110 F)

  • 1 teaspoon active dry yeast

  • 1/4 cup milk, at room temperature

  • 1 tablespoon soft unsalted butter, or margarine

  • 1 tablespoon sugar

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 2 cups bread flour, plus more if needed

Steps to Make It

  1. In a medium bowl, mix water and yeast. Add milk, butter, sugar, salt. Stir. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour and mix well. Slowly add in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that follows the spoon around the bowl. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 4 minutes, adding more flour as needed until the dough is soft and smooth to the touch. Place dough in a medium greased bowl. Turn dough over in the bowl so that the top is also lightly greased. Cover with clean cloth and let rise in warm, draft-free place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

  2. Punch down dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead for 4 minutes or until the bubbles are out of the bread. Shape dough into a loaf. Divide dough into 6 small rolls, 5 medium rolls, or 4 large rolls. Place on greased baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Cover and let rise in warm, draft-free place for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

  3. Bake bread at 375 degrees F for 10 to 15 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown. Remove rolls from sheet and let cool on the rack.

Tips

  • Use bottled water instead of tap water to make your breads. Water softeners and chlorinated public water can sometimes kill the yeast needed to make your bread dough rise.
  • Keep yeast stored in an airtight container and in the refrigerator. Heat, moisture, and air kills the yeast and prevents bread dough from rising.
  • Breads made with milk have a soft crust while breads made with water will have a harder crust. To soften a crust that is too hard, store the bread in a plastic bag.
  • If you are using powdered milk instead of fresh milk, measure the dry milk into the bowl and add the correct liquid amount separately. For one cup of milk, use three tablespoons of dry milk and one cup of water.
  • Bread flour has a higher amount of gluten than all-purpose flour. This means that bread made with bread flour will rise higher than bread made with all-purpose flour. You can make your own bread flour by adding 1-1/2 teaspoons gluten to each cup of all-purpose flour you use in your bread recipe.

Recipe Variation

  • Both dry and fresh herbs can be added to most yeast breads. Three tablespoons of fresh herb equals about one tablespoon of dried herb.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
196 Calories
3g Fat
36g Carbs
6g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories 196
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 3g 4%
Saturated Fat 1g 7%
Cholesterol 6mg 2%
Sodium 183mg 8%
Total Carbohydrate 36g 13%
Dietary Fiber 1g 5%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 6g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 21mg 2%
Iron 0mg 2%
Potassium 68mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)