Soft Honey Butter Rolls | Honey Butter Bread Rolls

Honey Butter Rolls are soft, fluffy, rich, and buttery rolls with the right amount of sweetness made using only seven ingredients. These golden honey yeast rolls are better than store-bought ones. It is a total crowd-pleaser at your dinner table and adds a touch of sweetness to your meal.

Don't miss to check out some of the best and classic bread, buns, and rolls for your Christmas and Thanksgiving dinner.

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• Recipe card
• Honey butter dinner rolls
• Ingredients for old-fashioned yeast rolls
• How to make the best honey butter rolls?
• Pro Tips
• Make ahead instructions
• More homemade bread rolls recipes
• User Reviews

Recipe card

Honey butter dinner rolls

• I love Christmas Parker House rolls, Vienna bread rolls, and simple mini dinner rolls, but the addition of honey butter on top makes these old-fashioned rolls even better.
• Homemade fresh honey rolls are best for making burgers and sliders, vada pav, and dabeli.
• Serve these rolls as an accompaniment with soup and salads or as a side with an entree for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner parties.
• Along the Goa, Konkan coast of India, these honey rolls are lightly dipped in hot chai and eaten for breakfast or evening snacks.
• In many restaurants in the United States, honey yeast rolls are served with salted butter or honey butter.

Ingredients for old-fashioned yeast rolls

Milk: Adds rich flavor and texture to your bread rolls. You can use non-dairy milk, but the texture will vary accordingly.

Yeast: For the dough to rise. Use active dry yeast or instant yeast. See that the yeast is fresh.

Honey: Adds a hint of sweetness and also makes your rolls tender.

Egg: One egg will add rich flavor and make your butter rolls extra soft.

Butter: The rich and nutty flavor of your honey butter rolls comes from the addition of butter.

Flour: I use plain, all-purpose flour while making bread, buns, or rolls.

See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

How to make the best honey butter rolls?

Activate the yeast

• In a large bowl, add lukewarm milk (about 110 degrees F) and 1 tablespoon honey and mix well. Sprinkle yeast.
• Cover it and keep it aside for 10 minutes till the yeast is activated.

Make the dough, knead, and let it rise.

• Once the yeast has activated, add ¼ cup honey, butter, egg, salt, and flour and mix using a spatula until everything comes together. 
• Transfer the dough to the working surface. If you feel the dough is sticky, add flour in tablespoon increments and knead for 8 to 10 minutes to form a soft and smooth dough.  (To know if the kneading is complete, poke the dough with your finger; it should slowly bounce back). 
• Transfer the dough to a greased bowl. Cover and let it rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size. 

Shape the rolls

• Grease a 9 * 13 baking pan or two 8-inch round pan or square pan, or line it with parchment paper and keep it aside.
• Transfer the risen dough to a working surface and punch it down. Cut it into 15 or 18 equal pieces.
• Shape into smooth balls and place them in a prepared pan close to each other but not touching.
• Cover using plastic wrap and let it rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Bake honey yeast rolls

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
• I applied egg wash just before baking to make it a little shiny. This is totally optional.
• Bake it for about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown, rotating the pan halfway through if needed. 

Make the honey butter topping

• In a bowl, stir together honey and melted butter. 
• Once the rolls are out of the oven, brush them with this honey butter. 
• Serve the warm rolls with any remaining butter, and enjoy. 

Pro Tips

• The amount of flour you may need may vary based on the weather conditions and brand of the flour used.
• If there are any leftovers after serving, cover them and keep them in the refrigerator for five days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Reheat in the oven for 10 minutes at 300 degrees F or in the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds or until heated through.
• The key to soft and fluffy butter rolls is the addition of fat, milk, butter, and egg in the dough. If you skip one of these, the texture will vary accordingly.
• Kneading the dough is a key step while making these rolls, as it gives the best soft and fluffy rolls.

Make ahead instructions

• These sweet honey butter dinner rolls are one of the best make-ahead recipes for your Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner or Easter brunch, just like our mini dinner rolls.
• Once you have shaped the dough into rolls, wrap them and place them in the refrigerator overnight. Just 3 hours before you want to serve, remove them from the refrigerator and, let it sit for 1-2 hours and then bake.
• You can also free the rolls before and after baking. The instructions are the same as that of traditional dinner rolls.

More homemade bread rolls recipes

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Note: We originally posted this honey butter yeast rolls recipe in Oct 2016. It has now been modified in Oct 2023 with Expert Chef Tips, FAQs, Storage Instructions, etc.