These salted honey milk bread rolls are impossibly soft & pillowy, and so easy to make! They're perfect addition to any special dinner.
These salted honey milk bread rolls may seem intimidating, but they really are just easy yeast rolls for beginners. The dough requires just a few basic ingredients, a simple assembly, and a quick bake time. With the sweet, honey butter and a generous sprinkling of flaky sea salt, these golden pillows are absolutely addicting! And if you're anything like me, I know you're gonna snag that extra soft center roll!
For more savory bakes, try Salted Soft Pretzels with Cheese Dip and New York Style Bagels.
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Why you'll love these milk bread rolls
- Soft & Fluffy Texture: All good dinner rolls are soft & fluffy, but these milk bread rolls?! They're on another level kind of soft. So soft you wish you had one giant roll to sleep on... and maybe eat your way through.
- Sweet & Salty Topping: The sweet & salty honey butter makes these rolls just that much more addicting!
- Quick Make Ahead Recipe: Surprisingly, there isn't actually that much standing between you and tray full of these warm golden, pillowy dinner rolls. Whip up the dough the night before, let it proof in the fridge overnight, then bake them off the next day!
Ingredient Notes
Ingredient quantities are listed in the recipe card below. Here you'll find notes on why I chose certain ingredients, as well as ingredient substitutions.
- Flours: Proper dinner rolls require more gluten than other breads, so use a combination of bread flour and all-purpose flour.
- Butter: You'll need a few tablespoons of butter for both the dough and the honey butter.
- Sugar: The sugar is primarily for helping to activate the yeast.
- Salt: Use a high quality kosher salt to help bring out the flavors in this recipe.
- Yeast: I recommend using instant yeast, but you can also use active dry yeast. Just be sure to let it sit with the milk and sugar for a few minutes in the first step and wait for it to become foamy.
- Milk: Use whole milk for best flavor, and be sure to warm it to 110 degrees so the yeast activates properly.
- Milk Powder: Dry milk powder is used in a lot of baked goods to help keep them extra soft for longer!
- Egg: Be sure to bring the egg to room temp by placing it in a bowl of warm water.
- Honey: For the honey butter, you'll need about ¼ cup.
- Flaky Sea Salt: Top each roll with a generous sprinkling of flaky sea salt. I LOVE Maldon.
Kitchen Equipment
- Kitchen Scale
- Electric Mixer
- Mixing Bowls
- Plastic Wrap
- 12"x8" Oval Dish or 9" Square Pan
- Pastry Brush
Step by Step Instructions
These salted honey milk bread rolls require some technique but not as much as you'd think! Make a quick tangzhong starter (or roux), then toss all ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix, then add the butter & knead until the dough passes the windowpane test. Pop it in the fridge to rise over night, and bake the next day!
The technique really comes in with shaping the rolls. Be sure to weigh out each roll with a kitchen scale to exactly 40g, then flatten each of them out and fold the edges over into the center, creating a smooth surfaced ball. Now the tricky part - On a non-floured surface, roll the ball with a cupped hand until smooth. It's an odd motion, but I promise you'll get the hang of it!
After one more proof time and 20 minutes in the oven, you'll have 12 perfectly golden, soft dinner rolls 🙂
STEP 1: Make the tangzhong starter: In a small saucepan, combine the water, milk, and flour. Heat over low-medium heat, mixing frequently with a rubber spatula for about 5 minutes or until it thickens. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
STEP 2: Make the dough: In a glass measuring cup, combine the warm milk, sugar, and yeast. Once foamy, whisk in the egg until well combined. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment, combine the flours, milk powder, salt, tangzhong starter, and milk mixture. Mix on medium speed until a ball forms around the hook, then add the softened butter. Mix on medium-high speed for about 8 minutes until smooth and passes the windowpane test. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover, and place in the fridge to proof overnight. Alternatively, the dough can proof for about 1 hour in a warm environment.
STEP 3: Shape the rolls: Once proofed, divide the dough into 12 parts, about 40g each. After they have been divided, shape the rolls. Flatten each dough piece into a disk, then fold the edges over into its center, forming a smooth surfaced ball. On a non-floured surface, roll the ball with a cupped hand until smooth. Set aside to rest and repeat with the remaining rolls. Once all of the rolls have been shaped, quickly roll them again with a cupped hand, then place in a 12"x8" oval dish or 9" square pan spaced about 1" apart.
STEP 4: Proof & bake: Cover the rolls and allow to proof for about 1 hour in a warm environment until doubled in size. Brush with an egg wash, then bake for about 20 minutes until golden. Brush with the honey butter & enjoy!
Expert Baking Tips
- Windowpane Test: The windowpane test is used to tell when the dough has developed enough gluten. To check if the dough is ready, tear off a small piece and carefully spread it out to see if you can see the light through it without it tearing. If it tears, mix for another minute and check again.
- Divide into 12 equal rolls: I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measuring out each roll to 40g! This will ensure they are all the same size and will bake evenly.
- Brush with honey butter: Once the rolls come out of the oven, immediately brush them with the honey butter so they absorb all of that goodness!
FAQ
Bread flour has a higher gluten percentage than all-purpose flour, so using a combination of the two flours will give this dough the perfect amount of gluten development to create soft, fluffy rolls.
A tangzhong starter is essentially a roux that gelatinizes the starches, enabling the flour to absorb more liquid. By adding a tangzhong starter to the dough, the liquid absorption is maximized throughout the kneading & baking process, resulting in an extra soft bread!
Yes, just be sure to let it sit with the milk and sugar for a few minutes in the first step and wait for it to become foamy. Then proceed with the recipe as written.
Make Ahead Tips
These rolls are best the day they are baked, but to save yourself some time, you can prep the recipe by making the dough the night before & proofing overnight. Then, the next day all you need to do is shape, proof one last time, and bake!
Storage Tips
Since these milk bread rolls are best the day they are made, I recommend freezing any leftovers right away. Warm them up the microwave for a few seconds, and they're good as new!
Baking in Grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed to create incredibly delicious baked goods that you can easily recreate in your own kitchen with success. The only way this is possible is to standardize the way ingredients are measured - by weight. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), I can ensure that you can make the recipe accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
Other recipes to try
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Print📖 Recipe
Salted Honey Milk Bread Rolls
- Prep Time: 45 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 12 rolls 1x
- Category: bread
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These salted honey milk bread rolls are impossibly soft & pillowy, and so easy to make! They're perfect addition to any special dinner.
Ingredients
For the tangzhong starter:
- 30g (2 tbsp) water
- 30g (2 tbsp) whole milk
- 10g (1 tbsp) all purpose flour
For the milk bread dough:
- 90g (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) whole milk, warmed to 110 degrees F
- 12g (1 tbsp) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 200g (1 ¾ cup) bread flour
- 40g (⅓ cup) all purpose flour
- 10g (1 tbsp) dry milk powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 egg, room temp
- 35g (2 ½ tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
- Egg wash (1 egg + 1 tablespoon water)
For the honey butter:
- 56g (¼ cup) unsalted butter
- 84g (¼ cup) honey
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
For the tangzhong starter:
- In a small saucepan, combine the water, milk, and flour.
- Heat over low-medium heat, mixing frequently with a rubber spatula for about 5 minutes or until it thickens.
- Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
For the milk bread dough:
- In a glass measuring cup, combine the warm milk, sugar, and yeast. Allow to sit 2-3 minutes until foamy to ensure the yeast activates properly.
- Once foamy, whisk in the egg until well combined.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment, combine the flours, milk powder, salt, tangzhong starter, and milk mixture.
- Mix on medium speed until a ball forms around the hook, then add the softened butter.
- Mix on medium-high speed for about 8 minutes until smooth and passes the windowpane test.
- Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover, and place in the fridge to proof overnight. Alternatively, the dough can proof for about 1 hour in a warm environment.
- Once proofed, divide the dough into 12 parts, about 40g each.*
- After they have been divided, shape the rolls. Flatten each dough piece into a disk, then fold the edges over into its center, forming a smooth surfaced ball. On a non-floured surface, roll the ball (seam side down) with a cupped hand until smooth. Set aside to rest and repeat with the remaining rolls.
- Once all of the rolls have been shaped, quickly roll them again with a cupped hand, then place in a 12"x8" oval dish or 9" square pan spaced about 1" apart.
- Cover the rolls and allow to proof for about 1 hour in a warm environment until doubled in size.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Brush the proofed rolls with an egg wash and bake for about 20 minutes until golden and internal temp is 190 degrees F.
- While the rolls are baking, make the honey butter.
For the honey butter:
- In a small saucepan, combine the butter and honey, and place over low-medium heat.
- Stir frequently until fully melted, then pour into a bowl.
- Once the rolls come out of the oven, immediately brush each of them liberally with the honey butter.
- Sprinkle some flaky sea salt on each, and enjoy!
Notes
- Windowpane Test: The windowpane test is used to tell when the dough has developed enough gluten. To check if the dough is ready, tear off a small piece and carefully spread it out to see if you can see the light through it without it tearing. If it tears, mix for another minute and check again.
- Divide into 12 equal rolls: I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measuring out each roll to 40g! This will ensure they are all the same size and will bake evenly.
- Brush with honey butter: Once the rolls come out of the oven, immediately brush them with the honey butter so they absorb all of that goodness!
Keywords: milk bread rolls, easy yeast rolls for beginners, honey butter rolls, salted honey rolls
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