Christmas is just around the corner and so you know, i can’t ruin Christmas for you without giving you a recipe for dinner rolls! These are the fluffiest dinner rolls and they are just so good. I do prefer my rolls to be on the sweeter side, similar to milk buns, so if that’s not your thing, cut down on the sugar content. Super easy to whip up, here how to do it!

There are a few things to note:

1. Tangzhong: tangzhong is essentially cooked flour and water turned into a paste and it makes any bread super moist and fluffy. This method is super popular in Asian bread making. It keeps your dinner rolls fluffier for longer too. It looks weird the first time you do it but just make sure you cook the paste well and let it cool completely before you add it into your dough mixture.
2. Sugar: I do like my dinner rolls more on the sweeter side, like a milk bun so the sugar content for this recipe is much higher than most. However, if this is not your thing, just cut the sugar content down by half and you should be good to go.
3. Instant dried yeast: this recipe is made for instant dried yeast! Make sure you are using the correct type of yeast (they are many and they work differently). This type of yeast is super low maintenance and is very beginner friendly to all things bread! My favourite brand for yeast is Saf as my baked goods turn out better with it.
4. Milk: I used full fat cow’s milk for this recipe and i do think it’s the best milk option as it enhances the milk flavour of the buns. However, if you really would like to use plant-based milk then i highly suggest you use oat milk! Oat milk has much higher fat content than other plant-based milk which woul add to the flavour.
5. Stand-mixer: I used a stand-mixer for this recipe as it’s more convenient and faster to knead the dough. If you don’t have a stand-mixer, don’t worry! You can still knead by hand but it’ll just take much longer, roughly 15-20 minutes. Make sure you knead it well to develop the gluten and until the dough comes together into a smooth ball.
6. Double Proofing: like most breads, we’ll be double proofing our dough! This allows your yeast to develop and give for fluffier bread! The temperature of where you place your dough is also super important. Dough tends to rise faster in Summer than in Winter so make sure you check the size of the dough has doubled. If it’s cold where you are right now – a trick is to place the dough near where your heater is but not super close!
7. Additional flavourings: this recipe i’ll keep it as plain and basic as possible but do feel free to jazz it up with different flavour combinations. The topping butter is where you can inject most of the flavouring so think butter with rosemary and parmesan, or honey butter sea salt!
8. Storage: highly recommend you demolish these buns within the day since nothing beats fresh bread, but if this is not possible, you can store them in air-tight containers and leave them in the fridge for up to 4 days!

Ingredients

Tangzhong:
150ml water
30g bread flour

Dough:
590g bread flour
100g sugar
1/2 tbsp salt
9g instant dried yeast
1 egg + 1 yolk
200ml milk, slightly warm
55g butter, melted

Topping:
1 egg, beaten for egg wash
Butter, melted
sea salt

Method

1. Tangzhong: in a small pot over medium heat, whisk together the flour and water. Whisk constantly to remove any lumps and continue whisking until you have a thick paste. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
2. Dough: in a stand-mixer with a dough hook, add in all your Dough ingredients & the cooled tangzhong. Let the stand-mixer go for 7-10 minutes or until everything combined and the flour should slightly pull away from the sides but will still be very sticky. You can, of course do this by hand – just knead for approx 15 minutes.
3. First Proof: transfer dough into an lightly oiled bowl, cover and let proof for 1.5 hours or until doubled in size.
4. Shaping & Second Proof: punch the dough to release gas and divide the dough into 15 even pieces. Roll them tightly into balls and place evenly into a well-buttered baking pan. Cover and let proof for another 1 hour or until doubled in size.
5. Bake: 30 minutes before the dough is done proofing, pre-heat your oven to 180C/ 350F. Brush over the dough balls with egg wash and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately brush on melted butter and sprinkle over sea salt.