Brioche Dinner Rolls

Our brioche dinner rolls are buttery, soft, with a little bit of sweetness. The golden exterior, fluffy texture, and rich flavor makes these buttery rolls the perfect addition to any meal. The high ratio of butter and eggs is what differentiates these rolls as brioche, and they are worth every bit of effort!

Course Breads

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 25

Additional Time 1 30

Total Time 2 20

Servings rolls

Calories 145

Author Alyssa--In Fine Taste

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons dry active yeast (19 grams)
1 ¼ cup milk warm
11 tablespoons butter salted or unsalted (155 grams)
½ cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (115 grams)
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons salt (13 grams)
4 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (594 grams)
1 egg beaten (for egg wash)

Instructions

Heat ¼ cup milk until warm (about 110 degrees—too hot and it will kill the yeast). Add 1 tablespoon sugar and yeast to milk and let sit for 10 minutes until the yeast has bubbled up and activated.
Melt the butter into the milk--Add remaining milk and butter together into a large glass measuring cup or bowl and heat until butter is melted. Let cool—the mixture should not be hot when you add it to the dough.
In a large stand mixer, add the yeast mixture, about the half the flour, eggs, sugar, cooled butter and milk, and salt. Stir together until a wet batter forms.
Add the remaining flour and knead on high for 10-15 minutes. If kneading on a medium speed this may take closer to 20 minute. The dough should be smooth and elastic. Use the window pane test to check and see if the dough has been kneaded long enough (see notes). It is does not pass the test, continue kneading until the dough passes.
Place dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover with a towel, or plastic wrap. Place in a warm place until it doubles in size (about 1-2 hours). You can also place in the refrigerator at this point to make the next day (see notes about overnight dinner rolls).
Once dough has doubled in size, tip the dough onto a clean surface and divide in half. Each half of the dough will make 1 dozen rolls (2 dozen total). Take one half of the dough hand divide into thirds, further divide each third into quarters. Try to keep each piece about equal in size.
Take each small piece of dough and pinch and shape it into a ball. Place the dough ball on a clean work surface, make a “c” shape with your hand, and cupping the dough ball, round it on the work surface for a few seconds until it tightens.
Lightly grease two 9x13-inch pans or one half sheet pan (18x13 inches). Place the rolls on the pan (or pans). Cover loosely and let rise a second time for 45-60 minutes. If your kitchen is cold, it may need a little longer to rise.
Gently beat one egg and brush the tops of the rolls with egg wash. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 18-20 minutes. Don’t over bake. Optional: Brush baked rolls with butter while still warm.

Notes

Window Pane Test. The window pane test helps you know whether your dough has been kneaded long enough. To test, pinch off a small piece of dough. Gently stretch it, it should stretch without breaking, so it is thin enough to see light from a window through. If it tears easily when stretched, knead the dough for longer before testing again.

Overnight Brioche Dinner Rolls. You can turn these brioche dinner rolls into overnight rolls (also called refrigerator rolls). This speeds up the roll-making process the next day.

Once the dough has been formed, place the dough in a large bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Place the whole thing in the refrigerator to rise overnight (12-18 hours). When you’re ready to make the rolls, bring the dough out of the refrigerator, it should have doubled, and let it come to room temperature (about 20 minutes).

Continue following the instructions for dividing and shaping the dough into rolls, letting it rise a second time, before baking.

Kneading by Hand. You can expect the dough to take about twice as long to knead by hand as it does in the stand mixer. Do not try and do this with a hand mixer.

A couple tips for those who want to knead this brioche dough by hand—the dough is soft and sticky, do not give into the temptation to add flour to the dough.

Dampen your hands before touching the dough, it will help with the stickiness. You can also use a bench scraper to help you work with the dough. The slap and fold kneading method is a good one to use when working with sticky dough.

Reheating: Nothing beats a warm dinner roll, am I right? If warming up a single roll, I usually pop it in the microwave for 8-10 seconds. However, you can heat up several of them in the oven for that fresh baked feel. Place them on an oven safe baking sheet and heat at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes. If the rolls are dry before reheating, try placing a pan of water in the oven while the oven is preheating and rolls are warming, it will create a little steam to rehydrate them.

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