Finally, I've gone and turned my popular soft brioche bread recipe into 16 fluffy pull-apart brioche dinner rolls. This recipe for dinner rolls uses a long, cold rise in the fridge so you can prep the rolls one day and have them ready to bake fresh in time for dinner the next. They are so good for mopping up a hearty stew or simply slathered in soft homemade whipped honey butter!
So many people have asked how to turn my popular soft brioche loaf into dinner rolls that, even though the answer is (more or less) "divide the dough into smaller pieces and bake it," I figured it was about time to make an official ruling on how to do it.
The one big change I made to that recipe (other than the shaping) was to use an overnight rise so the rolls can be ready when dinner is. I think it's just so much more practical to have the rolls shaped and in the fridge, so all I need to do is take them out and bake them at dinner time.
You don't need a lot of fancy ingredients to make brioche dinner rolls, just a bit of patience as the dough is kneaded twice before it rises.
I've gone into detail with step-by-step photos for the process of making brioche in my brioche bread loaf recipe, so head over there if you're new to making brioche! For these dinner rolls, you'll follow that exact same recipe process up through the end of the first rise.
For these brioche dinner rolls, I do the first rise at room temperature because the butter in the dough is still super soft and pliable, and the yeast is very active.
I use the fingerprint test to check if the dough is ready to shape.
It's more important that the dough feels right than that a certain amount of time has passed. If the dough is ready a little before an hour or a little after an hour, or if it's very cold in your kitchen and the dough needs another 30 minutes to rise, that's fine.
If the dough deflates when you press a fingertip in, that means it has overproofed. Don't panic. Brioche is very resilient. Gently press all the air out, shape it back into a ball, cover it, and let it rest 15-20 minutes more at room temperature. Then move on to shaping.
Shaping Brioche Dinner Rolls
I always start by weighing the entire batch of dough. Then I divide that number by sixteen and use a bench scraper to divide it into sixteen equal portions.
To shape each roll, gently flatten one portion of dough against a clean, unfloured counter, stacking any smaller pieces on top of the larger pieces if needed so they get tucked inside.
Tuck all the edges in across the middle.
Pinch the edges together.
Place the pinched seam against the counter and cup your hand around it with your pinkie flush against the counter. Roll your hand around to create tension in the dough, tightening the seam at the bottom and smoothing out the top.
The "tightened" seam side of the dough ball should look like this. Pinch the seams together at the bottom again if needed. The top sides should be nice and smooth. Any wrinkles, edges, or folds on top side will be seen on the final rolls.
The Second (Long, Cold) Overnight Rise
The cold temperature of the fridge slows yeast activity AND causes the butter in the dough to firm up. Unlike the dramatic doubling of the first rise, during the second rise, the dinner rolls won't visibly rise much at all. That's okay! The yeast is still in there ready to get to work.
Just because it doesn't look like there's much going on from the outside, plenty is going on inside the rolls. The flour is hydrating, the gluten network is relaxing and getting used to its new shape, and the dough is developing a wonderfully buttery flavor and texture.
USA Pan Square Baking Pan (8")
Dimensions: 8x8x2.25". Square aluminized steel baking pan with sharp right-angle corners and rippled surface for increased airflow.
Yes, You Can Make These All In One Day
For same-day brioche dinner rolls, do the second rise (after shaping) at room temperature for 45-60 minutes, and then 10-15 minutes in the fridge before baking. You may also want to shorten the baking time by 5 minutes, so check on them a bit early just in case.
During that room temperature rise, you'll see the rolls dramatically double in size and fill out the pan. Popping them in the fridge for 10-15 minutes prior to baking slows down the yeast activity so they don't get too overzealous in the oven.
You Should Really Use a Stand Mixer!
You need a stand mixer with a dough hook to make this brioche dough. You cannot make brioche bread with a hand mixer. And it's very hard and messy (though not impossible) to make by hand. I don't recommend it.
If you have a mixer with a tilt head and bowl that screws in at the base, the motor may struggle with this dough — keep a close eye on it. You may need to hold the bowl in place to make sure it doesn’t unscrew during the kneading process.
If you have a bowl-lift mixer, still keep an eye on it the whole time it's mixing and kneading. You don't want the mixer to walk itself off the counter!
If your mixer’s motor feels like it’s overheating, you can pause for 5 minutes and then resume mixing.
💭 Have More Baking Questions?
I've rounded up answers to common baking questions and how-to guides, including:
- Ingredient swaps and FAQs
- Why my recipes are written in grams and not cups
- How to quickly bring eggs and butter to room temperature
- Ingredients I use (salt, flour, yeast, etc.)
- Step-by-step guides for bread and baking techniques
See my baking techniques & troubleshooting guide and ingredient swaps and FAQs for more!
TL;DR — Recipe Summary
- Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Use dough hook to mix until combined in a shaggy dough. Then knead 5-7 minutes, to windowpane stage.
- Add room temperature butter 1 tablespoon at a time until incorporated. Knead 7-10 minutes, or until windowpane stage is reached again.
- Cover and rest at room temperature for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Divide and shape the dough into sixteen dough balls. Arrange them in the loaf pan in four rows of four. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- 30-60 minutes before baking, remove from the fridge and let sit at room temperature while the oven preheats.
- Brush with an egg wash, then bake for 30-35 minutes at 350°F.
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📖 Recipe
Soft-Baked Brioche Dinner Rolls (Overnight Recipe)
Recipe Notes
- For a same-day dinner rolls situation, let the shaped rolls rise at room temperature for 45-60 minutes, then 10-15 minutes in the fridge before baking. You may also want to shorten the baking time by 5 minutes, so check on them a bit early.
- If you don't reach a perfect windowpane before adding the butter and it's been at least 10 minutes of kneading that's okay — you can go ahead and start adding butter. It won't be a technically perfect brioche, but it will still be delicious!
- While you don't need to use parchment paper in your pan, it will make the rolls easier to remove without having to run a knife around the edges. But if you don't have parchment paper, greasing the pan well will work fine too.
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Ingredients
For the Dough
- 350 grams all-purpose flour
- 6 grams instant yeast (see notes for active dry yeast)
- 5 grams diamond crystal kosher salt
- 158 grams whole milk (90°F)
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 30 grams honey
- 85 grams soft room temperature unsalted butter (6 tablespoons)
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon whole milk
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Mix the dough. Combine flour, salt, and yeast the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. In a separate bowl, whisk together warm milk, honey, and egg. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed (KitchenAid speed 2-3) until the dough comes together in a shaggy messy ball on the dough hook, about 3-5 minutes. The dough will look dry at first, but will hydrate as it mixes. Be patient!
- Knead the dough. Increase speed to medium (KitchenAid speed 4) and knead until the dough passes the windowpane test, about 7-10 minutes. If the dough hasn't reached windowpane after about 7 minutes, drizzle in an additional ½ teaspoon milk while kneading, then cover and rest for 5-10 minutes. Knead 2-3 minutes more. It should get there!
- Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. With the mixer running on medium (KitchenAid speed 4), add the butter one tablespoon at a time. Let each piece fully incorporate before adding more. The dough will look like it is falling apart each time you add more butter, but it will come back together. Pause the mixer to gather the dough around the hook or scrape the butter down into the bowl occasionally as needed. This can take 10-15 minutes. Be patient!
- Knead the dough again. Increase speed to medium-high (KitchenAid speed 5-6) and knead until the dough is smooth, shiny, and passes the windowpane test again, about 5 minutes.
- Cover and rise. Place the dough ball in a lightly greased bowl or container. Cover and let rise 1 hour at room temperature (72-75°F) until just about doubled in size. If not doubled after an hour, let it rise an additional 30-60 minutes until doubled. When you push a finger into it, the indentation should spring back slightly but remain visible.
Shaping Dinner Rolls
- Deflate the dough. Turn dough out onto a clean, lightly floured work surface. Use your hands to gently deflate the dough. Divide the dough into sixteen equal pieces using a kitchen scale (each piece should weigh about 42 grams).
- Shape the dinner rolls. Gently flatten each piece of dough against the counter, stacking any smaller pieces on top of larger pieces if you're combining them. Fold or tuck the edges up across the middle of the dough to create a ball, then pinch the edges together to create tension and a smooth round top on the other side of the dough. Place the dough down with the smooth side up and the pinched-together seam on the counter. Cup your hand around it with your pinkie against the counter and scoot it in circles to tighten the seam and further tighten up the top. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough, then arrange in a greased and parchment-lined square or round baking pan.
- Overnight Rise. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in the fridge immediately. The dinner rolls will be fine in there for 24-48 hours before baking. They won't double in size, but they should fill out the pan a bit more.
Baking
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the pan from the fridge and let rest at room temperature for 30-60 minutes before baking for the dough to warm up slightly. Whisk together egg, milk, and salt to make the egg wash.
- Egg wash and bake. Brush the top of the dinner rolls lightly with egg wash. Sprinkle with any optional toppings (flaky salt, everything bagel seasoning, etc.). Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown on top and an internal temperature of at least 195°F.
- Cool. Let the dinner rolls cool slightly in the pan, then carefully use the parchment paper to lift the rolls out of the pan and onto a rack to finish cooling completely.
Yvette says
Can I use buttermilk in place of whole milk? Thanks.
Rebecca Eisenberg says
Yep!
PZ says
How long should I knead this if I’m doing it by hand?
Rebecca Eisenberg says
Kneading brioche by hand is a looooong workout — it's less about the time spent and more about making sure the dough is behaving the way it says in the recipe (e.g. reaching windowpane, butter is absorbed, etc.) but if I had to guess, I would say 15-20 minutes? It takes a long time even in a mixer, so by hand it's usually about double the time. Good luck!
Dawn Tok says
Can i just use normal bread flour?
Rebecca Eisenberg says
Yes but bread flour is more absorbent than all-purpose flour so you may find you need to add a little additional milk or water during the mixing or kneading stage to get the dough to the right texture.
Andrea says
I’ve made this recipe a few times now. I thought you weren’t supposed to go over speed two with the dough hook. Can I do speed two and it will just take longer? My KitchenAid gets hot kneading it on the higher speeds.
Rebecca Eisenberg says
Keep it at speed 2 and just knead for longer!
Bread expert Andrew Janjigian has a great post about KitchenAid's "Speed 2 rule" here: All Mixed Up (Part 1).
Andrea says
Interesting read! Thanks for sharing!
Kaila says
Could I use napoleon pizza flour since it has more protein than all-purpose flour?
Rebecca Eisenberg says
I haven't tested this, but you can definitely give it a try — you may need to add slightly more milk to the dough to get it to windowpane properly since higher protein flours tend to be more absorbent!
Sinclair says
Made this for Christmas. Everyone loved them. Will have to make a double batch next time. Tip: For anyone reading this, the USA baking pans are a must no matter what you make [No I don't get a thing from them, thanks]. We had a friend who was a professional baker for a private club in the PNW who would make brioche rolls with a slight orange flavor and very light orange glaze. I'll have to try this. I'll let you know (unless you've already tried it -- in which case, spill the beans).
Next try is the hotdog buns!
Happy New Year and Happy Baking!
Jon says
Thanks for this great recipe and I appreciate the way you lay it all out. I made 4 double batches this weekend for 2 different bakes. 1. I’d call them “Mini Brioche Dinner Rolls” as they are definitely smaller than average dinner rolls, but super cute and I like the size. 2. I did an overnight cold proof of 18 hours and the other at 48 hours and they all turned out great. 3. The first batch sat out cooling and then uncovered for 2 hours before eating and they were a little dried out. The others I let cool for 2 minutes after baking and then took out of the pan and wrapped in clean towels and I think it kept them way fresher.
Andrea says
Can these be made in advance and frozen? How many days will they keep?
Rebecca Eisenberg says
Yes, you can freeze the baked brioche rolls! Wrap them well in plastic wrap, then place in an airtight bag. Defrost on the counter, then reheat in the oven! They'll be fine in the freezer for up to 3 months. After that it's not like they go bad, it's just that you might start to notice the flavor or texture isn't as nice once you defrost and reheat!
Cheyl says
Can I make these using my bread machine on dough setting?
Rebecca Eisenberg says
I don’t have a bread machine so it’s hard for me to say with 100% confidence but I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to do that! Please let me know how it turns out for you!