Grandma Barb's Homemade Yeast Rolls Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my homemade yeast rolls tough? ›

Too much flour, or not the right kind, could be to blame. Dough made only from flour with a high or even average amount of protein (like bread flour or all-purpose flour) can become tough from overmixing. Protein gives bread structure in the form of gluten—the more you mix and move the dough, the more gluten you get.

Too much flour makes dough too stiff to rise properly, creating a dry texture. A range of flour is always given in yeast bread recipes because flours vary in moisture content, reacting in different ways depending on the time of year, weather conditions, etc. Be careful measuring flour.

These unbaked dinner rolls can be refrigerated for up to 18 hours before baking. Remove from the refrigerator an hour and a half before serving. Let them stand for about 1 hour 15 minutes before baking.

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

The shortening makes it easier to roll out, while the butter adds both flavor and flakiness. But shortening doesn't behave like butter in recipes. It has a different melting point and it changes the texture of things like tea bread and cookies. It also doesn't have the delicious creamy flavor of real butter.

Putting too much yeast in bread dough will make it double in size very quickly during the bulk ferment and even more quickly during the proofing of your loaves.

Consequently, dough made with milk should come softer from the mixer than dough made with water. Other aspects of milk in yeast doughs include: Dough may be mixed more intensively. Milk yields dough with a higher pH compared to water dough, and the fermentation will be slower.

If, for example, the recipe calls for a cup of water, use half water and half milk, or all milk instead. If the recipe doesn't call for any liquid at all, just leave out the dry milk and increase the amount of flour a bit. Incorporate it into the dough little by little, so as not to make the dough too stiff.

As salt attracts water, yeast releases some of its water whenever salt is nearby. With less water, the yeast slows its fermentation processes. Long, slow fermentation allows the dough to reach its maximum flavor potential. If you forgot the salt, your dough will rise too quickly, and your bread will taste bland.

How do you know when yeast rolls are done? ›

The internal temperature of a loaf of crusty yeast bread when it is cooked to perfection should be 200 to 210 F. Soft breads and dinner rolls should be 190 to 200 F. The bread will pull away from the sides of the pan and will feel firm to the touch. The bread will sound hollow when you tap it lightly.

You may notice that many of our King Arthur Flour yeast bread recipes call for the perfectly baked loaf to reach an internal temperature of 190°F. And honestly, this is a good benchmark. Most loaves and rolls will indeed be done when they register 190°F at their center.

Yes! If a recipe calls for proofing bread dough overnight in the refrigerator, it can be proofed on the counter at a warmer temperature for a shorter period. Rather than placing the dough in the refrigerator overnight, leave it covered on the counter for 1 to 4 hours until it's ready to bake.

Sugar: When yeast is mixed with sugar it consumes the sugar and produces carbon dioxide gas, which causes the bread dough to rise and become light and airy. Instant Yeast: Instant dry yeast can be added directly to the flour mixture without needing to be activated first.

Your Bread Doesn't Have Enough Gluten

Once these proteins become moist, they create stretchy molecules that give bread dough its elasticity. Gluten helps bread maintain its shape and produces the "crumb" (or texture). If your bread does not have enough gluten, the crumb will not come out as expected.

Yeast is not fresh Yeast has an expiration date, and, after that date, will not be as effective. Yeast should be stored in a cool, dry place. Yeast is too hot Yeast may have been dissolved in water that was too hot, or the liquid ingredients in the recipe may be too hot, causing the yeast to die.

The usual reason why bread becomes too dense is due to using flour with low protein content. When your loaf is spongy and heavy, you might have also put too much flour into it or made the dough in a cooler or too warm setting.