These Yeast Rolls are ultra soft and fluffy, with a delicious honey butter topping. The tops bake up beautifully golden brown. This yeast roll recipe is simple to make using just a few common ingredients.
There’s nothing better than a soft, homemade yeast roll.
Some people are intimidated by baking with yeast and that keeps them from making yeast rolls at home. I’m here to show you that it’s really easy to make homemade yeast rolls from scratch just like my dinner rolls recipe.
The steps to making these honey yeast rolls are simple. I’ll walk you through how to make this easy roll recipe and give you my tips to make sure that your rolls turn out perfect, every time.
These honey yeast rolls have the best flavor because the dough is made with milk, an egg, honey and butter. After the rolls finish baking, the tops are brushed with honey butter. The honey butter adds a beautiful shine to the rolls and gives them even more flavor. They are so good.
These rolls are made with ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen right now. When the rolls are finished baking, not only will your kitchen smell wonderful, but you’ll also have warm, soft, buttery rolls to serve with your meal.
We love to make these honey yeast rolls for Sunday dinner. They are delicious paired with Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, White Chicken Chili or Baked Pork Chops. These yeast rolls are also perfect for Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas. Your family is going to love them!
Yeast Roll Recipe Ingredients
- Milk: We are using milk in the dough, instead of water, because milk will give us a richer, more flavorful yeast dough. I recommend using whole milk, but if you only have low-fat milk that will work too.
- Granulated Sugar: A small amount of sugar adds a touch of sweetness and also helps the yeast to become active.
- Yeast: You can use regular active dry yeast in this recipe, or rapid-rise yeast. Either way, you’ll follow the same recipe steps.
- Honey: Honey adds flavor and a little sweetness to the dough.
- Salt: Salt is essential for flavoring the rolls.
- Egg: An egg adds richness to the dough.
- All-Purpose Flour: Using all-purpose flour in this recipe produces rolls with the best soft and fluffy texture.
- Butter: Adding butter to the dough brings richness and contributes to the best texture and flavor.
- Honey Butter Topping: After the rolls bake, you’ll brush them with a mixture of melted butter and honey. This gives the rolls a beautiful shine, and the best flavor!
How to Make Yeast Rolls
Here’s an overview of the steps to making this recipe. You’ll find the full ingredients list and instructions in the recipe card below.
- Proof the yeast by combining warm milk, sugar and yeast in a mixing bowl. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes until the yeast bubbles or foams.
- Mix the dough: Add honey, salt and an egg and mix to combine. Then add flour and, finally, cubes of softened butter.
- Knead the dough until it is smooth and slightly sticky to the touch. I use a stand mixer but you can also knead the dough by hand. As you knead the dough, if it is very sticky you can add a little more flour, a tablespoon at a time. Try not to add too much flour because this will make the rolls dense instead of light and fluffy. It is ok if the dough is somewhat sticky to the touch.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and let it rise for about one hour, or until doubled in size.
- Punch down the dough to remove any large air bubbles. Cut the dough into 24 equal pieces, first by cutting the dough into thirds and then cutting each third into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. You can read more about how to shape the rolls below.
- Let the shaped rolls rise for about 30 minutes.
- Bake the rolls.
- Brush the warm rolls with honey butter!
How to Proof Yeast
Yeast works as a leavening agent to make bread rise. It is always a good idea to proof yeast before baking with it because this step allows you to check if your yeast are alive and active. Your bread will not rise without active yeast.
When you proof yeast, you are basically just doing the first step of your bread baking recipe and then waiting a few minutes to make sure the yeast are active. Then you will proceed with the rest of the recipe.
To proof your yeast, you will need a bowl or liquid measuring cup. When I make this recipe I use the bowl of my stand mixer.
To proof yeast for this recipe, you’ll first put warm milk in the bowl. The milk should be between 105 and 115° F, because this is the temperature range that will activate the yeast. If the milk is too hot it will kill the yeast. If it is too cool the yeast will not activate and your rolls will not rise. I use an instant read thermometer to measure the temperature of the milk and aim for about 110°.
Add the granulated sugar to the milk and sprinkle on the yeast. Stir gently and then let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes. During this time, the yeast should begin to foam or bubble. If it does, you are ready to proceed with the recipe. If not, your yeast could be dead and you should start again with new yeast.
How to shape rolls
I find that the easiest way to shape rolls into balls is to shape them in my hands. Use your fingers to pull the dough inward on itself on the underside of each roll, until you have a smooth top on the roll. Place the rolls in a greased baking dish, with the smooth top side up.
How to Make Yeast Rolls Ahead
You can prepare the yeast rolls a day ahead and refrigerate overnight before baking. Make the dough, let it do the first rise, and shape the rolls. Cover the shaped rolls and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours.
Take the shaped rolls out of the refrigerator about 1 hour before you are ready to bake them. This gives them time to warm to room temperature and rise a bit. Then bake the rolls as directed in the recipe.
Or, follow the directions below for freezing baked yeast rolls.
How to Freeze Yeast Rolls
You can make rolls ahead and freeze them for later. This is especially helpful when you are baking homemade rolls for a holiday meal.
Cool the rolls completely and wrap them airtight. Yeast rolls will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 2 months.
When you are ready to serve the rolls, let them thaw at room temperature for about an hour. Then warm rolls in a 350° F oven, covering them as necessary to prevent over-browning.
Recipe Tips
- Let the egg and butter come to room temperature before starting with the recipe. If you forget, as I often do, let them sit for just 10-15 minutes at room temperature to take the chill off and you’ll be good to go.
- Be careful to not add too much flour to the dough. Using less flour creates soft, light and airy rolls. This dough will be somewhat sticky but should not be so sticky that you can’t shape the rolls. Flour your hands when shaping the rolls to prevent sticking.
- I use a stand mixer to mix and knead the dough. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can mix and knead the dough by hand.
- To create a warm environment for the dough to rise, preheat your oven to 200 degrees F and then turn it off. You can place the covered bowl with the dough in the warm oven. Just be sure the oven is off before you place the dough inside. If your kitchen is warm, you can let the dough rise on the counter.
More Bread Recipes
Get more delicious Bread Recipes.
Honey Yeast Rolls
Ingredients
For the rolls:
- 1 ¼ cups warm milk, 110-115° F
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast*, or one packet
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
For the honey butter:
- 1 ½ tablespoons melted butter
- 1 ½ tablespoons honey
Instructions
- Place the warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer. (Alternatively you can mix the dough by hand in a large bowl and then knead it by hand.)
- Add the granulated sugar and sprinkle the yeast over the milk. Whisk gently to combine. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes, until the yeast starts to foam and/or bubble.
- Add the honey, salt and egg and mix gently to combine.
- Add the 3 ¾ cups of flour. Use the paddle attachment to mix on low speed until the flour is mostly incorporated. Add the butter cubes and continue mixing on low speed until the butter is incorporated.
- Switch to the dough hook and knead the dough on low speed until it is smooth and slightly sticky to the touch, about 8 minutes. The dough is supposed to be slightly sticky, but if it is very sticky you can add a little more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Avoid adding too much flour, because this will make the rolls more dense instead of light and fluffy. The dough should stick to your finger a little bit when you touch it but not be so sticky that it won't be workable.
- Transfer the dough to a large lightly oiled bowl and turn once to coat all sides of the dough ball with oil. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
- Grease a 13x9-inch rectangular baking dish with cooking spray or butter.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead a few times by hand.
- Cut the dough into 24 equal sized pieces. To do this, first cut the dough into 3 equal pieces. Then cut each of the 3 pieces into 8 pieces by first cutting it in half, then cut each half in half, and then cut each piece in half once more. You should end up with 24 roughly equal pieces of dough. Shape each piece of dough into a ball and place in the greased baking dish.
- Cover the rolls in the dish and let rise for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Uncover and bake the rolls for 16-20 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and the rolls are baked through. (Mine usually take about 17 minutes to bake.)
- Remove rolls from the oven. Whisk together the 1 ½ tablespoons of melted butter and 1 ½ tablespoons of honey. Brush the honey butter over the tops of the rolls. Serve warm.
Notes
- Recipe has been retested, improved and updated.
- Both regular active dry yeast and rapid-rise yeast will work in this recipe. Use 2 1/4 teaspoons from a jar or 1 packet of yeast. If you buy a jar of yeast, store it in your refrigerator after opening. Always check the expiration date to be sure the yeast hasn’t expired.
- To create a warm environment for the dough to rise, preheat your oven to 200 degrees F and then turn it off. You can place the covered bowl with the dough in the warm oven. Just be sure the oven is off before you place the dough inside. If your kitchen is warm, you can let the dough rise on the counter.
- Rolls will keep at room temperature, tightly wrapped, for 2 days, or in the freezer, wrapped airtight, for up to 2 months. Thaw and warm rolls in a 350 degree oven, covering as necessary to prevent over-browning.
- You can prepare the yeast rolls a day ahead and refrigerate overnight before baking. Make the dough, let it do the first rise, and shape the rolls. Cover the shaped rolls and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours. Take the shaped rolls out of the refrigerator about 1 hour before you are ready to bake them. This gives them time to warm to room temperature and rise a bit. Then bake the rolls as directed.
These rolls look so good, I can smell them baking in my kitchen. Do you check the temperature of the water put
into the yeast? I made cinnamon rolls yesterday and they
didn’t rise enough, thought maybe the water was not
warm enough.
KR
I’m sorry that your cinnamon rolls didn’t rise enough! I’ve just recently started checking the water temperature using my instant read thermometer, after Karen told me about a similar problem that she had when making cinnamon rolls. It barely takes any extra time to check the temperature, and then you can be sure that your water isn’t too hot or too cool.
I just made 2 batches of these for Thanksgiving, and they are so yummy! (Eric and I shared one — we had to sample it to make sure it was good before we serve it to our guests on Thursday! 🙂 )
I’m glad you liked them!
These were AMAZING! So so easy to make and everyone loved them!! The next time I need to make rolls, I’m 100% using this recipe again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! They are a favorite with my family. 🙂
Was not a fan of these…I had high hopes but I could taste the yeast in the bun ?
I’m a beekeeper and I’m looking for a roll recipe that I can really taste the honey. How prominent is the honey flavor in these rolls? They look delicious and I do plan to make them but I’m wondering if I need to use a stronger honey with this recipe in order to taste it. Please advise.
The honey flavor definitely comes through. It’s hard to say if you would feel that it’s a strong honey flavor, as I think that depends on personal tastes. Brushing the rolls with honey butter after baking brings out the honey flavor.
I had trouble getting the rolls in the middle to cook all the way. Should I just make them smaller and bake them?
I sometimes have that problem too. Making them smaller can help, as can cooking them a few extra minutes.
Hi Claire, I’ve just retested and updated this recipe to address this problem. The new recipe calls for making smaller rolls, and I now find that they bake through perfectly! I hope you’ll find the opportunity to try this recipe again. 🙂
Just made these rolls and they look picture perfect . They rose beautifully but am refrigerating them until tomorrow. I plan to freeze half and eat first half. What would the option be of not putting on a butter/honey glaze? Just want some plain instead of sweet with meals. Please let me know ASAP. Thanks June robbs
You can leave off the honey butter. The rolls will have a little less flavor without it, but they will still be delicious. You could also brush the tops with some melted butter (no honey) for less sweet rolls.
I’ve always had a tough time making bread rolls, either they were too doughy or they were way too wet and never fluffed up. This recipe is fool proof (as long as you follow it). Thank you for posting tips and tricks as well. I still utilize it when in the kitchen for other recipes as well.
My family loves these rolls my new go to rolls
Love them, very delicious. My family loved them, I didn’t even know they all got eaten. Make sure you watch the flour you put in cuz I believe I put in a bit too much and they were a tiny bit liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle bit dense. But first time and wasn’t bad. Will be making these again but gonna be more careful on the flour.
Hello, I have dough sitting in the oiled bowl, doing the hour rise now. Can I place the big ball of dough in the fridge and roll them into the individual rolls tomorrow before putting them into the oven? I don’t have enough room in my fridge to make them into the rolls and have them sit in the fridge over night on cookie sheets. (I also doubled the recipe for the large crowd I’m feeding)
Thank you so much!!
Yes, that should work fine. After you shape the rolls, let them rise in the baking dish for about 30 minutes before putting them in the oven. I hope you enjoy the rolls!
Made a double trial batch last night and my husband and kids thought these were the best rolls I’ve ever made! Making them again tonight for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Thank you for the recipe!
Second batch is baking in the oven now! I’m taking them to a Friendsgiving dinner tonight, and I was wondering if you’d recommend putting the glaze on now after they’ve baked or tonight after I’ve warmed them up? Thanks for the delicious recipe!
I think either way would be fine! I’d probably choose whatever is easiest. 🙂 I hope everyone enjoys the rolls!
Bread is rising and I’m going to make rolls soon! I’ve made bread over the years, and this recipe is exactly the one I’ve been looking for. Question is, may I divide it into two loaves and bake in bread pans? Thanks so much!
I haven’t tried baking this as loaves of bread. I have only made it as rolls. If you decide to try baking in loaf pans, let me know how it turns out. Enjoy the rolls!
Was looking for a new dinner roll to try and these came out soooo good! My family raves about them and we each had at least 2 (or more!) they were so good. Will definitely be making this again!
Excited to try and make these yeast rolls! For those that have vegans in the family, could extra thick oat milk or any of the other plant based milks be used as a substitute? Thanks so much!!
I haven’t tried this with plant based milk, but I think it should work ok. You could also use water, but the rolls will have a less rich flavor. If you try it, let me know how it turns out!
I was looking for a yeast roll recipe for our Friendsgiving dinner when I came upon your site, and I’m so glad I did! The rolls turned out so pillowy soft, just the right amount of sweetness from the honey butter, there were hardly any leftover! Thanks for sharing a great recipe ♥️
Getting ready to pull these out of the oven…….let me tell you it smells amazing in our house!! Can’t wait to try them!! Made a pot roast with potatoes, carrots and onions in the crock pot……. smells like these were a great idea!!
This looks so good I am gonna try it! Have you used this recipe for cinnamon rolls? I live in Louisiana and we eat King Cakes during the Spring, looking for a soft fluffy sweet bread for it and hope this one will work.
I haven’t used this dough for cinnamon rolls. I suggest you try my Cinnamon Rolls Recipe – it’s so good!
I did the dough in my bread machine, and I have to say these are the best yeast rolls I have ever made and the great part about it is that it really was very EASY!
In the oven now!! Thankyou for an easy to follow recipe.
Wow these are fantastic! I followed your instructions exactly and they turned out perfectly. This recipe is a keeper.
Wowie!!! I feel like a professional baker. These are scrumdiddlyumptious!!!
Thank you for teaching us about proofing the yeast. Most helpful. 👍
Just made them and we love them. Wife was super impressed 👏
Can you use Bread Flour?
Yes, that will work.
They’ve become my family’s Thanksgiving staple. We are beekeepers so, with fresh honey, they are extra amazing. Thank you for the recipe.
Very good recipe! I’ve made as rolls 2x and once as 2 loaves of bread
Sounds easy, can’t wait to try.
These turned out great and tasted fantastic, however the dough was extremely sticky even with adding extra flour. I had a very hard time handling the dough and rolling into balls after letting it rise. I managed to make it work though. We froze the leftovers and the rolls were still delicious even after being reheated.
Hi Jillian,
I’m so glad you enjoyed these rolls! When you are kneading the dough, stop the mixer about halfway through the kneading time and press the dough with your finger. It should be only slightly sticky. If the dough really sticks to your fingers, then add more flour at that point until the dough is only slightly sticky. That should help. 🙂
Love this recipe. I will say they are drastically different with the stand mixer vs hand kneading. Doing it by hand used less flour and they are so light and fluffy! We tested these both ways twice each. It they are one of the best we have used. Thank you!!!
This rolls so amazing . Made them about 6 times now . Everyone loves them
How can I make these more sweeter?
These rolls aren’t made to be exceptionally sweet, but they have some sweetness from the honey and sugar. To make them sweeter, you can increase the amount of granulated sugar, adding the extra sugar when you add the honey, salt and egg.
Hi! I tried these rolls at Thanksgiving and they turned out great but the dough’s stickiness made me nervous. Did you spoon and level your flour or scoop it directly out of the bag?
I’m glad you enjoyed them! I always use the spoon and level method to measure flour. The dough should be a little sticky (just a little bit should stick to your finger when you touch it), but it shouldn’t be so sticky that you won’t be able to shape the rolls.
I have a question, can I use bread flour for this honey bread?
Yes, you can use bread flour. Enjoy!