Make-Ahead Buttermilk Dinner Rolls
These buttermilk dinner rolls are amazing – light and fluffy and so flavorful (thanks to the buttermilk). Plus the dough can be made ahead and refrigerated!
This recipe may look a little familiar seeing as how it’s been resting in the archives of my site for six years now (well, actually, I hope the rolls don’t look familiar since the old pictures were very awful and very terrible).
Every time I make these tender buttermilk rolls, I think “gosh, these rolls are good” – that sentiment usually being echoed across the table – which means it was only a matter of time before the post got a little facelift. Now seems appropriate.

If you’re still yearning for the perfect roll recipe to fall into your lap as you crazily menu plan for next week, you might be at the right place at the right time today because these are magnificent.
The best part? The dough can be refrigerated for up to seven days (not all yeast doughs can survive this way, trust me) and once pulled out of the fridge, the shaped and baked rolls are as delicious as if they had been made start to finish at the beginning.
In fact, they might even be a bit tastier after the dough rests in the refrigerator.
Buttermilk is the key (no substitutions, pretty please, although homemade buttermilk is completely acceptable) – it contributes to the light and tender dough as well as the amazing flavor.
There’s just nothing quite like a pillowy, soft dinner roll. Thanksgiving or anytime really. If there’s homemade rolls for the taking? I’m there.
Make-Ahead Buttermilk Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 3 cups buttermilk at room temperature
- 3 cups (426 g) flour
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- ½ cup (106 g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ cup oil
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 6-7 cups (about 852 to 994 g) flour, more or less
Instructions
- In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer (I only ever use a Bosch, never tried this in a Kitchenaid), mix the buttermilk, 3 cups flour and yeast together. Cover and let stand at room temperature until puffy and bubbly, 2-3 hours.
- Add the sugar, eggs, salt, oil, and baking soda. Mix well and start adding the remaining flour until a soft dough is formed that clears the sides of the bowl and is smooth without being overly sticky or overflowed. Knead for about 7 minutes.
- At this point, you can roll out the dough or cover and refrigerate for up to seven days. If doing so, place the dough in a large container or bowl as it will expand a bit in the refrigerator.
- To use immediately, shape the dough into rolls: cloverleaf (three balls each about 3/4-inch in diameter popped into a greased muffin tin), crescent (divide the dough into thirds and roll each section into a 10- or 11-inch circle, brush with butter and cut into 8 or 12 sections and roll up), classic dinner rolls (about 2-3 ounces of dough rolled into a taut ball and placed in a 9X13-inch baking dish or on a large baking sheet). Cover the rolls with greased plastic wrap and let rise until double, about an hour or so.
- Bake at 375 degrees until golden and baked through (exact time will depend on shape; for cloverleaf about 11 minutes, crescent about 15-16 and dinner rolls about 16 or so).
- For refrigerated dough, pinch off the desired amount and shape. If the dough is really cold and hard to work with, let it rest covered at room temp for 30-45 minutes before shaping.
- Once shaped, cover with greased plastic wrap and let rolls rise until double in size, 2-3 hours (dough taken from the refrigerator will take longer to rise since it’s been chilled) and bake with the above instructions based on shape.
- Remove from the oven and butter the tops, if desired.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from my sister-in-law Erin and her sister, Melanie (yeah, it gets a little confusing)
These rolls look so perfect! I love that they can be made ahead 🙂
Dani | http://www.styledvariety.com
Last year at Christmas I made your wheat/potato rolls and they were a huge hit. I think I’ll be trying this recipe for our Christmas dinner this year. They look yummy and seem easy to make. I’m all about the easy!
Donna
Mel, I LOVE your blog and I really want to try the crescent roll method but I’m having problems visualizing how to do it. Any chance you have step by step pictures?
I don’t have step-by-steps of this but I’ll try to take some next time. Basically you press each portion of dough into a circle and cut it like you would a pizza (so you’ll end up with triangle-shaped pieces). Then start from the long end of each triangle and roll up. Does that help?
I love, love, love this roll recipe. It’s so nice to be able to have fresh rolls so easily. One of my favorite ways to dress them up is to brush with melted butter and sprinkle with rosemary before baking. So divine. And as if the dinner rolls weren’t delicious enough, this dough makes the most light and heavenly cinnamon rolls of all time. ya. amazing.
I finally tried making the rolls…wow. This one is a keeper. I usually use the Tangzhong method for soft fluffy bread-which is AMAZING, but this recipe is a contender. I live in Singapore where it’s superbly humid. I had to use 9 cups of flour in the end as it was way too sticky to shape with 8 cups. All turned out good in the end. Thanks so much for posting this recipe. Please do know that my family and i appreciate all your hard work in providing great recipes that we all can count on!
Thank you!
If you were to cut the recipe in half, would you make any changes to rising times? Looks good!
No, I’d probably keep most of it the same.
Thanks for the confirmation. & yes, i will see how the dough works out to and gradually will add up to 8 cups – if required at all! Im so excited to make these!
Hi Mel,
Just wondering. Its a total of 8 cups of flour right? 3 cups plus 5 more?
I always add flour based on texture but the 8 cups is a general guideline. This makes a lot of dough so yes, the 8 cups is correct.
OMG! Made this recipe & I’m in love! Used it to make rolls and cinammon rolls. Make sure you give it the rise time it needs for best results. I’m so hooked.
Mel….these rolls were absolutely delicious!! I can’t believe how easy it is to actually make them (although a bit time consuming) and they are 100% better than store bought. I’m going to bake up other half of dough and freeze for Thanksgiving. Thanks so much!
I am one of your biggest followers, but never comment! I comment to my mom and my sisters and everyone else in the world! Anyway, I’m not sure if you will get to my question in time but do you not cover the first mix that stands for 2 hours?
Hi Abby – thanks for a sweet comment! And yes, I do cover the first mixture that sits for 2 hours.
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Thank you so much, Melanie! I made these rolls the other day and love that the dough can stay in the fridge for up to a week! We had fresh baked rolls several times this week because of this wonderful recipe! Pure Genius, thanks for sharing!
Karen – I use canola oil. I’ve never used butter but it’s probably worth a try!
Hi Mel, what kind of oil do you use? Could you use all or part butter?
I hope all is well in your new home.
Hi Maria – I make these in my electric stand mixer and knead for about 5-6 minutes. Good luck!
Hi there! I am excited to try these tomorrow, but I have one question- how long would I knead it in the stand alone mixer? Thank you in advance.
Maria
Nicole – you can use either active dry or instant yeast in this recipe since it is dissolved and proofed in water before proceeding with the recipe (I always use instant but that’s because I have it on hand).
These do look sooooo divine! I’m making them tonight with my other favorite of yours- the basil stuffed chicken. Anyways I REALLY loved your tutorial on the 2 types of yeast, especially because I tried your divine breadsticks before and they didn’t turn out and after I found out I was using the wrong yeast they were perfect! So my question is- which type of yeast am I suppose to use for this one since you didn’t specify?
Thank you!
How many rolls does this make? I want to make them for 11 people.
Cori – this recipe makes a lot of rolls – easily 2-3 dozen (depending on how big you make them).
These are awesome. I have a similar recipe…but in mine I have to scald the buttermilk so it’s nice to skip that step! Yeah that I can have fresh rolls again this week!
Thank you so much for the great tips Mel. You’re awesome!
Hi Mel,
So I’m going to attempt to use these for a wedding dinner (only 50 people, buffet style). I LOVE the fact that I can make the dough 2 or 3 days in advance. PERFECT. So the question is, when I go to shape and cook the rolls the day of the wedding, what is going to be my fastest method for shaping? The cloverleaf or the the crescents or can I do just a standard roll shape?
Thanks so much!!!
Anissa
Anissa – good luck with the wedding dinner! Sounds like a lot of work, but fun, too. As for these rolls, if it were me making that many, I would go with the crescent shape. More work than a standard roll but the presentation is much nicer, plus they are less work than the cloverleaf, in my opinion (and I think overall the crescent shape is the most beautiful for a wedding dinner). Just keep in mind that if you’ve had the dough in the fridge, it doesn’t roll out very well cold, so I like to let it sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes, if I have the time, to take the chill off and make it easier to roll out. Good luck!
Anissa – I would just add that the Lion House roll shaping method (cehck out Mel’s tutorial) would probably work nicely here too, and I find it easier/faster than the crescent since I don’t need to get a decent circle shape first. I use an acrylic pizza wheel for cutting. Have fun!
Yes, I agree with that, too, Anne!
Jen – I’m glad you liked these rolls! Yes, sometimes when I make them, I open the fridge and the dough has expanded over the bowl. I’ve started using a really, really big bowl to prevent that, but either way, it’s fine to punch it down and cover it again.
I just tried these last night and loved them! This morning when I opened the fridge the dough was almost coming out of the bowl, it had risen so much (I just kept it in my kitchenaid bowl.) Is this normal? I just punched it down, but wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do. I’m kind of a newbie when it comes to baking with yeast!
love your blog, just found it!!
Yum, those rolls are my favorite. I’ve been trying to figure out how to make them for years!
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm! When your blog opened and I saw that picture, I was seriously salivating. These look fabulous. I am such a sucker for carbs :-). I’ll for sure be trying these!
i do love the glistening, buttery sheen. soft rolls slathered in butter almost make me weep with joy. 🙂
These look soooo good. That picture makes me drool!
I absolutely love making rolls for dinner, I ‘ve never made the cloverleaf though. I ‘m bookmarking to try these they sound so good!!
Cindy – thanks for trying them so quickly! I’m so glad you liked them and your idea of caramel icing sounds divine. Let me know how it goes!
Yes this is my all time favorite roll recipe! I like your cloverleafs–very nice! I almost always make the dough into the crescent shape. I should branch out!
I always make the Lion House I will have to give this recipe a try. Thanks for sharing.
Seriously? You can leave it in the fridge? I have never heard of such and it makes my heart sing to hear it now. Gotta try these.
These rolls look fantastic! I love a nice tried and true recipe that always yields delicious desserts. What great looking rolls! I’m definitely going to try out this recipe soon.
Ohmigosh, those look fabulous. I think buttermilk makes everything taste better.
I know I will be making these soon. They look perfect!
Jayme – I don’t mind at all. I just made the sloppy joes tonight – great timing! I hope you like them.
I can’t wait to try the cloverleaf next time I am making these rolls. Yum!
Well, if these are what you use next to the Lions House rolls, which are the best rolls in the world, then they must be fab. I love how pretty they are!
These are totally DELISH!!! They also taste great with homemade strawberry jam. YUMMY!
I’ve made a much more complicated cloverleaf roll. I will give these a try next time 🙂
Just made these yummy rolls–they were a hit! I think I will make cinnamon rolls with caramel icing with the remaining dough. This recipe is a keeper!
I don’t think I have ever tried yeast bread with buttermilk. I am very intrigued and can’t wait to give them a try. Every recipe I’ve made from here has been awesome, so I’m sure these will be too!
Mmmm… sounds wonderful! Can’t wait to make these. It might have to happen today! 🙂
I saw your blog off a friend’s link and what a great find! Thanks for all these great ideas! I’m in a serious cooking rut and I need new ideas! I’ll be following closely.
Very tasty — especially with the buttermilk, it’s perfect for rolls!
Just found your blog and love it! I’m making your sloppy joes tomorrow. I’m putting your link on my blog, hope you don’t mind.