Eateries Delightful

You only need 6 ingredients to make this Eggless Dinner Rolls recipe. They’re soft, buttery, and light. Almost impossible to resist. Perfectly soft rolls just melt in your mouth, and it is a great addition to your menu! Get ready to preheat the oven. 

I made dinner rolls dozens of times to get the recipe perfectly working every single time, and slowly developed it. I don’t use a stand mixer to make the dough, so if you don’t own one, kneading with your hands part by part works perfectly fine 🙂 A little hands-on work, and yeast does everything else. I usually end up making these rolls every often we crave Pav Bhaji (soft rolls served with thick vegetable curry, topped with a dollop of butter.  yummy!!) or to accompany a salad or pasta dish.

How to make soft Eggless Dinner Rolls?

Ingredients that you need to make these rolls –

1. All-Purpose flour: This recipe works the best with this flour. I have not tested with other flours yet
2. Milk: Base liquid for the bread. Use whole milk (Full Fat milk) for the softest rolls. You can also use almond milk. But in my experience whole milk gives ultimate flavor.
3. Yeast: Any yeast can be used. If you are using active dry yeast, then rise time will be longer. Instant yeast makes the dough rise time quicker.
4. Sugar: Yeast feeds on sugar, and helps to soften the dough.
5. Butter: Room Temperature butter to brush on top and goes in the dough.
6. Salt: Bread is flavored through salt. So don’t forget to add this.

What if you don’t have a stand mixer?

You can knead it by hand! Start out by stirring with a spoon then knead it with your hands. Add flour part by part and just keep on kneading until all the flour is combined. The dough must be soft to the touch and only slightly sticky. It’s an arm workout for the day!

How should the dough feel?

The dough must be soft and should bounce back when you touch. If you add too much flour, the dough stiffens. If it does then it’s ready for the first rise. If not, continue kneading. Spoon and level your flour, do not scoop it out of the package. Measuring the flour correctly is the key to soft rolls.I usually leave out 1/4 cup of flour to just mix in at the end looking at the texture of the dough

Few things that make these soft eggless dinner rolls so irresistible!

• Rich dough. For crustier and chewier bread, you can have less fat in the dough. Unlike Focaccia, dinner rolls need rich dough. The softer bread has more fat in it. When I say rich, what I mean is full fat from milk and butter. Both the fat from the whole milk and butter keeps the rolls from drying out and keeps them soft for days.
• Top brushed with butter. The butter on the top of the dinner rolls keeps them nice and soft.
• keeping the rolls together while baking. This lowers the amount of browned “crust” on the rolls, which results in an overall softer texture

The rolls require around 2 and a half hours of rising. So you can also make this dough ahead and refrigerate it. Prepare the dough, let it rise, and shape the rolls. Cover the shaped rolls tightly and refrigerate for up to about 16 hours. Take it out 2-3 hours before baking to bring the dough to room temperature, and let it rise on the counter for an hour.

Let’s get started.

Warm the liquid. Heat the milk in microwave for 30-40 seconds. Temperature must not exceed 110F. Any more than that would kill the yeast. Mix in sugar.

Add yeast: Cover and rest for 5-10 mins. Until foamy.

Make Dough: Add 1 cup of flour, 1/2 of the specified amount of butter. Stir using a spoon. Add salt and the remaining 1+3/4 cup of flour and start kneading. You can add this part by part to make kneading easier.

Once all the flour is incorporated, transfer the dough to a counter, add remaining butter and flour (not more than 3 cups) and knead until you get a soft and bouncy dough.

First Rise: Grease a large bowl, place the dough and cover it with a damp cloth. This helps in retaining moisture. Let it rise for 1-2 hours in a warm place. The dough should double its size. If you want to fasten the rise time, preheat the oven to 170F and turn it off. Place the dough inside the oven for 1st rise. Leave the oven door slightly open.

Make the Roll: Once the dough has doubled its size, punch down the dough to release the air and shape into rolls. This makes around 12 rolls. Divide the dough into equal parts and take a piece and stretch the top of the dough while pinching and sealing the bottom or you could also place the dough between your palm and counter and roll it around to shape it round. Whichever is easier.

Second Rise :Cover and let it rest for another hour.

Brush butter and milk : For golden crust, brush the top lightly with butter and milk just before baking.

Bake: Preheat the oven 375 F and bake for 20-25 mins or until the top is golden.

Remove the baking dish from the oven, and brush the tops of the rolls with butter & sea salt (optional). Cover the baking dish with moist/damp cloth for 10 mins. This will help the crust to remain softer. Serve warm.

Cover leftover rolls tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or 2-3 days in room temperature

I hope you like the eggless dinner rolls recipe. It is –

• Soft
• Buttery
• Melt in mouth
• & incredibly delicious

Your valuable feedback is appreciated. If you try this recipe, leave a comment below, rate it, or tag a photo #eateriesdelightful on Instagram 🙂

Recipe adapted from AllRecipes.

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you. Leave a comment below or share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #harshrurecipes.

Happy cooking!