Easy Yeast Rolls Recipe

This easy yeast roll recipe came about from messing with a recipe I found online, feared lost when the website it was on disappeared, then found in my recipe stash. Handwritten on a big notecard, it’s clearly had some water damage through the years.

But now that I’ve figured out an even better version, I wanted to share the story and the recipe (and hopefully this blog won’t disappear anytime soon!)

The Story of the Recipe

I know, I know, everyone hates when bloggers tell the story of a recipe instead of just sharing the recipe, but I think this one is a classic for our age.

Back when Pinterest was relatively new, I pinned this recipe for easy yeast rolls. That’s exactly what the pin called them.

The recipe was from a website called Country Mama Cooks. I made them once or twice (and apparently physically wrote down the recipe) and really liked them, and then forgot about them for a few years.

When I remembered them and went back to find the recipe, the website was gone (I still have the pin, though, LOL). It’s not in the Internet Archive. I thought the recipe was gone forever.

But then I looked through my ridiculous stash of hand written, printed out, photocopied from recipe books collection of recipes and there it was! It even had my scribbled notes from changes I had made over the years. I use less sugar, more salt and added some wheat flour to make them a little healthier, but you can do all white flour if you want.

I feel like this easy yeast rolls recipe is truly mine now, and just in case I even lose the card it is written on, I wanted to share it here.

Easy Yeast Rolls Ingredients

One of the great things about these rolls is that they don’t have any fancy ingredients and don’t need much prep time. If you forget to soften the butter, just warm it for a few seconds in the microwave.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees F)
• 1 package, or 2 and 1/4 teaspoons, yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons softened butter
• 1 cup wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups white flour

Easy Yeast Rolls Recipe

Another great thing about this recipe for yeast rolls is that it’s really fast, as yeast breads go. That’s because you feed the yeast the sugar first thing, which gets it really active and ready to make a yummy dough without a lot of rising time.

Warm up your water (I do 30 to 45 seconds in the microwave to warm up filtered water from the fridge).

Add the yeast and the sugar to a mixing bowl.

Add the water and stir to dissolve the sugar.

Let stand at least 10 minutes. The yeast should be foamy and smell like bread. If it isn’t, your yeast may be old or your water may have gotten too hot. Try again!

Add salt and butter to the yeast mixture.

Using a dough hook on your mixer if you have one (paddle is OK if you don’t, or you can do this by hand), begin mixing to break up the butter a bit.

Add your flour half a cup at a time. I stop the mixer to add the flour, then let it go for 30 seconds or so between additions. If you need to scrape down the sides to make sure all the flour is getting incorporated, do so.

But if you’re patient this should really come together in just a couple of minutes with very little work on your part. (Thanks, KitchenAid!)

Once the dough has made a ball and the sides of the bowl are pretty clean, I let it go for a minute or so and call that kneading.

The dough should be soft but not sticky. I’ve never had to add more flour but if yours is still sticky you can sprinkle a bit more flour on and knead it a tiny bit by hand.

Now I take the dough out of the bowl and add a little olive oil to the bottom.

Use your hands (but no extra flour) to make the dough into a smoother ball.

Put it back in the bowl and cover. Let rise for an hour.

Making the Rolls

Once your dough has risen — we’re going for the classic “doubled in bulk” idea but an hour should do it — it’s time to make your rolls.

I use a 12-inch round cake pan for mine, and I spray it with nonstick spray to start.

Put down some waxed paper, parchment paper or a cutting board to work on, and sprinkle a bit of flour on the surface.

Press down on the dough to release the air, and work it into a relatively even log or disc shape.

Use a dough scraper (or a knife if you don’t have one) to cut your dough in half, then cut each of those pieces in half.

Now each quarter is cut into thirds. I am the worst at this but the good news is it doesn’t have to be perfect. That said, if you want perfect you can weigh your dough and make 12 even pieces.

Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place in your baking dish. The size and shape of your dish will determine placement, but there should be room for everything to rise again. I put eight rolls around the outside of the dish and four on the inside.

Cover and let sit for an hour. If you remember in time, preheat the oven to 350 F before your hour is up.

Bake the rolls for about 25 minutes, until they are nice and brown. If you want perfect use a probe thermometer and make sure the internal temperature is around 200 F.

Let cool in the pan. I always make these the day before Thanksgiving and the reheat nicely for the meal and the leftovers to come.

I’m so glad I found (and fixed, to my mind, anyway) this easy yeast rolls recipe again. Do you have any stories of recipes you found online that are now classics in your family? I’d love to hear about them!