Buttery Fluffy Cornmeal Dinner Rolls
The hint of cornmeal mingled with the light sweetness of the dough make these extra-fluffy, cornmeal dinner rolls one of my favorite rolls of all time!
I get asked all the time what my favorite, go-to homemade roll recipe is. The one I can’t imagine living without. My roll soulmate, if you will.
You can understand how questions like this cause me to panic. That’s like choosing a favorite child! A favorite pair of jeans! Favorite book! A favorite husband! (That last one was a joke. Ha.)
I love so many different roll recipes. All for varying reasons. Some might even say I have a homemade roll obsession.
But, in the interest of full disclosure, I do find myself making these buttery cornmeal dinner rolls over and over and over.
Today’s post is a little bit of a placeholder. You see, a similar variation of these rolls has been on my site for years. Behold the gloriousness of Buttery Cornmeal Crescent Rolls. The base of the dough makes up one of our most-loved meals of all time: Chicken Pillows.
As I’ve made the crescent rolls referenced above over the years, I’ve found that more often than not, I skip the crescent-shaping part and go straight for the extra-fluffy, dinner-style roll.
It’s easier to quickly shape them into a tight ball, and the rolls bake up like pillowy clouds of fluffy cornmeal heaven.
If you may have passed up the original crescent version because the shape or recipe seemed intimidating, now’s your chance to dive in and embrace the simplicity (and deliciousness).
And if you’re skeptical about the cornmeal in the recipe – you have to trust me on this. The cornmeal gives just the slightest textural boost to the rolls and mingles perfectly with the lightly sweet dough.
They are so yummy, and don’t even get me started on how wonderful they are with leftover turkey or ham.
A couple months ago I made these fluffy cornmeal dinner rolls for a cute luncheon I was helping with. It’s called the Sunshine Girls Luncheon for women over age 55, and it is kind of awesome.
Too bad I’m not invited every month (only when I’m on roll duty, I guess, since I have a few more years until I meet the minimum age requirement).
That particular month when I brought these cornmeal dinner rolls, I had one elegant, white-haired woman quietly pull me into the hallway, and she said, “Don’t tell my friends I’m asking you this, because I already make the best rolls they’ve ever had, but those rolls were better than mine; do you know who made them and where I can get the recipe?”
You know me…I’m always one to help a girl out with a recipe, so I gave her the web address of this pretty awesome food blog I know about. 🙂
She wasn’t the only one who requested the recipe that afternoon, although the other women were slightly less secretive about it.
If you are looking for THE roll to impress this holiday season, you really need to give these cornmeal dinner rolls a try. I love the round, fluffy shape even better than the original crescent roll shape. It definitely makes the roll more accessible for maximum sandwich/leftover fixings.
So while I’ll never profess my undying love for just one and only one roll recipe…just know that these rolls seem to be my go-to homemade dinner roll of 2016 with no signs of stopping.
One Year Ago: New Thanksgiving Favorite: Pretzel and Sausage Stuffing
Two Years Ago: Chocolate Caramel Pecan Pie
Three Years Ago: Black Bean Pizza with Whole Wheat Crust
Buttery Fluffy Cornmeal Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk, 1%, 2% or whole
- ⅔ cup (113 g) yellow corn meal
- 1 ½ tablespoons instant yeast
- ½ cup (113 g) salted butter
- ⅓ cup (71 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 5 ½ – 6 cups (781 to 852 g) all-purpose flour (see note)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, warm the milk to just below a simmer; tiny bubbles will appear around the edges (this is called scalding milk). Add the cornmeal and cook and stir constantly until the mixture is thickened and bubbling. It should be the consistency of porridge before taking off the heat.
- Pour the cornmeal mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook or a large bowl (if mixing by hand) and let cool until lukewarm. Add the yeast, butter and sugar (if you dissolved active dry yeast with a bit of water and sugar until it foamed, add it now). Mix.
- Add the salt and eggs. Mix well. Add the flour gradually until a soft dough forms. Knead for 2-3 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and cover with lightly greased plastic wrap; let rise until doubled.
- Portion the dough into 24 equal pieces (about 2.75 to 3 ounces each) and roll into a taut ball on the counter. Place each roll on a large, rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing about an inch apart to allow for rising (on a 11X17-inch rimmed baking sheet, I fit 24 rolls on the sheet – four across, six down). Cover lightly with greased plastic wrap. Let the rolls rise until doubled.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 14-17 minutes, until lightly browned and baked through. Remove from the oven and brush with butter while still warm.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe (similar to these Buttery Cornmeal Crescent Rolls – method changed slightly)
My family loved these rolls. They didn’t rise like I’d hoped. I ended up with 20 rolls at 2.75 oz. do you think I didn’t let them rise long enough? Also didn’t use all 6 cups of flour was worried I’d over flour. Thanks I’m a novice baker.
Rising might have been the culprit, but if you ended up with less rolls, next time space them closer together (the lesser number of rolls might be due to not adding quite as much flour, which also sometimes makes a bread/roll dough rise out instead of up). You might try adding a bit more flour next time, too…but only if the dough was on the sticky side.
Got ready to make these rolls Thanksgiving morning. Only had 1/2 cup of corn meal, so I topped it off with 1/4 cup of semolina. Warmed the milk, added the dry, and it was too liquidy. Added 1/4 cup of coarse ground yellow grits and continued to warm the milk mix until it was a little firm. Used 1/2 white whole wheat flour and 1/2 all-purpose flour, and only 2 eggs. Continued to add all-purpose flour a little at a time until the dough was the consistency Mel always describes when making bread dough – Mel has taught me well what consistency to look for which ended up being my salvation.These were great! Rose beautifully and baked even better. Hooray!
Made these for Thanksgiving. They were delicious!
Made these and they turned out great! I got the little balls of cornmeal in the dough like some others, too. Picked some out as I shaped the balls but I don’t know that anyone would notice anyway. I also wondered about the butter temperature as your recipe says to add the butter after the cornmeal is room temperature, but I just went for it while the cornmeal was still warm. I didn’t realize the cornmeal mixture would continue to thicken beyond the porridge stage so I accidentally cooked it beyond that point. (So many mistakes!) I used regular dry yeast and added extra like you said–my first rise was only 20 minutes, and once shaped, only 30! Lots of compliments on the rolls at dinner time. Will use this recipe again!
Mel, I made these for Thanksgiving the day before, gave them the first rise, then shaped them and refrigerated overnight. Took them out of the fridge about two hours before dinner. These were so delicious and fluffy. I was a little concerned they might be dense due to the cornmeal,but wow, these were a big hit! I served these with your honey butter too. So, so delicious. Thanks for a great recipe and all of your hard work.
So glad the overnight method worked! Yay!
Mel I really appreciate that you answer people’s questions! It’s so great! Here’s another one for you – do you think it would work to make these rolls all the way through shaping them and putting them on the pans the night before, refrigerate them until the next day, and then pull them out to finish raising before baking? Thanks!
That should work! Just make sure they have enough time to have all the chill taken off out of the refrigerator and that they finish their rise (but don’t over rise, which can happen if dough is refrigerated). Good luck!
The crescent rolls is our favorite recipe!! I showed my kids this photo and told them I was gonna give it a go this year but there were tears involved over how important the crescent shape is to them. 🙂
I’m wondering if I can make the dough and put it in the fridge so I can save some time in the morning.. would this work? Or should I just suck it up and get up earlier?? 🙂
Yes, you could probably put the dough in the refrigerator. Just make sure it doesn’t overrise…and take it out in time to come to room temperature and rise the rest of the way, if it hasn’t doubled in size yet (before shaping and letting rise again).
I’m sorry I’m asking so many questions about rolls lately! My goodness! Have you tried baking these in two glass 9×13 casserole dishes? Just wondering if they’d still be okay?
Hi Lindy – no worries! Ask away! I hardly ever bake rolls in glass pans because I prefer my large, rimmed baking sheets. But I know a lot of people who do and it works fine!
Hey Mel–how long do these stay fresh? Could I make them the day before and still expect them to be just as soft & yummy if I store in tupperware after cooling?
Hi Melanie – they probably won’t be quite as fresh tasting made the night before, but if that’s the best option for you, it’s definitely better than making them a couple days in advance. Just make sure they are completely cooled before covering in a container or bag so they don’t get soggy.
Oh my word. These rolls are SO good! I’m making them for Thanksgiving, but I want to double the recipe. Should I also double the amount of instant yeast?
I usually 1 1/2 the amount of yeast for a double recipe.
Ok thank you! I’m so excited for my family to taste these.
Thank you sooooo much!! I made these rolls over the weekend and the grandkids gobbled them up!! They are so good.
Is there a way to make the dough and keep it in the fridge overnight?
You could certainly try that – usually yeast doughs do quite well refrigerated overnight. I’ve found the key is to take it out in enough time for it to come to room temperature without overrising (rolling out cold dough is hard).
So I would let it come to room temp and then make into rolls and let it rise again?
I would make the dough and immediately pop it in the fridge. It will rise a bit overnight…mostly you don’t want it to more than double in size, so when you pull it out in the morning, note how much it rose overnight (it might double, it might not, just depends on a lot of factors)…then just let it come to room temperature and rise until doubled before shaping into rolls and letting the rolls rise. Does that help?
I was wondering what the consistency of porridge is? I think my cornmeal-milk mixture was too thick. Kind of thick-mashed-potatoes consistency. I had to add more liquid and use less flour to get the dough to be doughy instead of crumbly. But they still turned out yummy! For next time, though, I’d like to get the cornmeal-milk mixture right. Does it drip off the spoon? Mine just plopped.
Btw, I make your French Bread Rolls and French Bread all the time. Thank you so much for such great recipes! The French Bread kept me in bruschetta all summer.
Hey Debbie – sounds like your cornmeal mixture might have been one step too thick. It should be the consistency of a thick but still pourable muffin batter. I’ll try to take a little video of the process next time I make them.
Thanks, Mel! I’ll definitely watch the thickness of the cornmeal mixture next time.
Just wanted to add that after I made my comments, I went back to the cornmeal crescent roll recipe and saw your picture of the cornmeal mixture–sorry I didn’t check that before! I’ve now made these rolls two more times, and they’ve been delicious. Also, I used almond milk each time, and it seems to work fine. I just made your best cornbread recipe too (I’m taking both to work for a chili cook off), and it’s yummy. Thank you for the recipes!
Hi! I made these yesterday and we all really liked them and I want to make them again. I have a question though…they didn’t seem as fluffy as yours and were a little on the dense side although they still had excellent flavor and weren’t dry. I added about 5 1/2 cups of flour and we live in Southern Az (very dry and elevation of 2500ft). If you have a chance, I’d love any tips for the next time I try them!
Hey Alison – do you feel like they rose well? Usually a dense roll is from over flouring or from not rising long enough. What was the texture of the dough like before shaping?
Hi Mel! Can you substitue almond milk in place of milk in this recipe or other roll and cinnamon roll recipes? Thanks!
I’ve never tried subbing almond milk, but I believe someone else above in the comments has made them dairy-free by using almond milk.
Hi Mel, so I have this problem with bread rolls aaaalllll the time, I make them exactly how it says in the recipe, yet they turn out white and raw looking and not golden brown and soft like your pictures. They’re still pretty fluffy and soft on the inside, but the outside is first of, pale, as well as the bread rolls are more of circular egg shapes, and not squarish like yours. How are your bread rolls so tightly packed together, giving it that nice bread roll structure??
Hi Vika – you might try spacing them closer together on the baking sheet. This will help them rise up instead of out. Also, experiment with different oven rack positions in your oven. Every house (and different oven) I’ve used over the years bakes differently – in some, if I place the oven rack near the bottom, the tops of the rolls brown better, but in my current oven, the rolls brown best when in the top third of the oven.
Hi Mel, thanks for another stellar bread recipe, I just happen to have some cornmeal languishing in the pantry. And I have to tell you I made your whole meal and quinoa bread, Mel it’s just amazing! Soft and light and it also makes the best crunchy toast! Thanks again.
Oh, I agree – that bread made into toast is amazing! So happy you liked it!
I don’t have time to read all the other comments and answers. Sorry. You are one of my heroes. But lately with all the yeast /roll recipes you’ve lost me. For health problem reasons I can’t knead dough. I need to use my bread machine, then make the rolls. I’ve seen you test the same recipe in different machines before. Is there any way you could test your yeast recipes for a bread machine?
There is someone a few comments above yours who gave the bread machine directions.
Ok, made these last night and the flavor was very good. I didn’t have any problems with the cornmeal clumping, however my rolls were not super fluffy and they definitely did not look like your picture. They were a tad dense and almost spread out on the cookie sheet instead of puffing up. Is that from under-flouring or over-flouring? Or something totally different?
Thanks!! 🙂
Hi Leslie – if they spread like that, it sounds to me like they needed a bit more flour to rise up instead of out.
Mel, I made these yesterday after seeing them on my Instagram feed. Thank you!! They are my new favorite!! I made a couple tweaks to make them fit into my busy schedule: I warmed the milk in my microwave, then poured in into my bread machine with the yeast, sugar, cornmeal, egg (beaten) and butter (melted). Dumped the flour on top and then put it in on the “dough” setting. Once it was done we shaped them, rose 30 minutes and baked. In my oven they only took 11 minutes. Note, I halved the recipe because I only have three kids left at home, but the five of us ate the 16 rolls, no problem. But for Thanksgiving, I plan to make the full recipe, maybe even twice. 🙂
Love the details!! And so happy they worked out and were enjoyed!
These look lovely and just in the nick of time. Can you list the weighs of the ingredients? It really helps.
I made these last night with Swedish Meatballs and Pressure Cooker Mashed Potatoes. So good! Thanks to Abigail’s tip on sprinkling the cornmeal in the milk, I didn’t have any clumping. My kids think we should make pigs in a blanket with this roll recipe. I think we’ll be seeing these in one form or another on our table often! 🙂
You never fail to post recipes right before holidays that I feel I HAVE to add to my menu, even though I have plenty of perfectly great, tried-and-true recipes (many of yours also) in my recipe book. I love it. Makes holiday food prep way more fun when I’m doing something new.
I made these tonight and though the crescents are lovely I just didn’t have time, so I embraced the simplicity. They were devoured with the Loaded Broccoli cheese and bacon soup. Oh and I used 100% whole wheat flour and just added in gluten like you taught us in the French bread rolls recipe. It worked fabulously. In fact, they were fluffy and soft and the flavor was great and I think they’re more filling made with whole wheat flour. Just sayin’.
Like Shannon, I added some vital wheat gluten although I used 1/2 white whole wheat and 1/2 bread flour. I also used Masa Harina instead of cornmeal.* AND I had some discard sourdough starter so tossed that in :).
Lovely, lovely light and fluffy rolls – great flavor! I’ve skipped these because I never liked the canned crescent rolls so guess I had a knee jerk reaction to the “crescent” – too bad for me, but now I know!
*I always sub masa for cornmeal and have not had a problem yet!
not bread flour ??? white flour … bread on the brain!
I just made these tonight. My cornmeal mix all clumped up and made little balls of cornmeal in the dough. The rolls were also flat. Not sure what I did wrong. I am going to use these rolls for stuffing though, so it worked out!!! 🙂
Sorry they didn’t work out for you, Jessica! If the rolls flattened, it sounds like they may have needed a bit more flour. Any chance they were under floured? Was your dough sticky?
It is possible that they were under floured. I tried to double the recipe and ran out of room for the floor. I will try them again! Thanks Mel! Love your recipes!
Wow! These rolls are the most tender rolls I’ve ever eaten. This dough would be so good with chicken pillows–I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing all of your delicious recipes!!!
Will these turn out if I sub a milk alternative for the milk? (almond milk, coconut milk, rice milk…)
How about subbing dairy-free soy-free margarine for the butter? Will that mess with the results? (Earth Balance Soy-Free baking sticks)
Hi Sarah – I honestly don’t know since I’ve only ever made the recipe as-is. Sorry I’m not more help!
Sarah, I have made the original crescent rolls with cashew or almond milk and the earth balance. They came out just fine. I will say I prefer cashew milk though since it’s a little sweeter and thicker like cow’s milk.
Thank you for chiming in with your experience, Chari!
Hi is the butter supposed to be room temperature?
It doesn’t really matter, especially if it’s added to the warm cornmeal mixture. I usually add the butter to the bowl with the piping hot cornmeal mixture and let it melt while the cornmeal mixture cools to lukewarm.
Quick Question: Does the butter have to be soft, melted or does it matter if you just throw the stick in straight from the fridge? I’m assuming the luke warm cornmeal mixture will allow it to incorporate?
Thanks!
It doesn’t really matter, especially if it’s added to the warm cornmeal mixture. I usually add the butter to the bowl with the piping hot cornmeal mixture and let it melt while the cornmeal mixture cools to lukewarm.
When you warm them after freezing them do you typically do this in the oven? Microwave? Are they just as good?
I usually take them out of the freezer and let them thaw at room temp (2 hours or so) and then warm on low power in the microwave covered with a damp paper towel so they don’t dry out. (I take off the paper towel before serving)
Thank you for the response! One more question! How do you freeze them exactly? In the pan?
Hi Lindy, I usually bake them, let them cool and then take them off the pan and freeze them in large freezer ziploc bags.
Hi Mel- I’m a novice with rolls (baking, not eating!). Should the butter be melted or just room temperature? Thanks for all of these beautiful recipes and pictures! Happy thanksgiving
Hi Juli – It doesn’t really matter, especially if it’s added to the warm cornmeal mixture. I usually add the butter to the bowl with the piping hot cornmeal mixture and let it melt while the cornmeal mixture cools to lukewarm.
These look amazing! And I love the pretty yellow glow that the cornmeal gives!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
I noticed that you said ” if you added water and sugar to yeast, add now”, do you recommend doing this instead? Otherwise just put into dry ingredients then mix and add other ingredients?
I actually prefer to use the instant yeast (the kind you don’t need to proof first). If you do use active dry and proof in 1/2 cup water, you’ll need a bit more flour (par too the reason there’s a range given in the ingredients list and not a hard, fast flour amount).
if I use active dry yeast instead of instant yeast you said to proof it in 1/2 cup warm water. Should I decrease the milk in the recipe? Does that make too much liquid?
If you use active dry and proof in 1/2 cup water, you’ll need a bit more flour (par too the reason there’s a range given in the ingredients list and not a hard, fast flour amount) to compensate, but I wouldn’t decrease the milk.
Thank you! We love your blog! When I cook something new for dinner my kids ask if its from Mel’s Kitchen. They get all excited when I tell them it is. They know it will be delicious!
Thank you, Marsha!
Emily H. mentioned your buttery cornmeal crescent rolls in your chicken noodle soup recipe comments (the soup was great! Leftovers too!), and they went right on my Must Make list! I just haven’t been able to make time for shaping crescents ha ha! Can’t wait to make these!
Your buttery cornmeal crescent rolls are my favorites–but I’m willing to try them this way. The nieces and nephews, and now grandkids, love rolling up the crescent rolls, however, so they might not like the change. I do have one question–what do you suggest I do to prevent a lumpy cornmeal/milk mixture? The last time I made these it was lumpy but I used it anyway, and the rolls turned out perfectly–but I still don’t like starting off with lumps in the dough.
Hi Cinda – try lowering the heat on the cornmeal/milk mixture so it doesn’t cook too quickly; that might help!
I’ve noticed when doing the milk + cornmeal mixing, that if you add the cornmeal into the warm milk by slowly sprinkling it in as opposed to dumping the entire amount, it does not create any lumps. Trust me…I’ve made the crescent rolls about 6,352 times
Haha, you are an expert! I agree that’s good advice.
Yet another method, but it is one more thing to wash:
With gravy or a roux and this is kind of a cornmeal-milk roux, I add the liquid to the dry a small amount at a time making first a paste and then continue to add the liquid while stirring/whisking. This is how my mama taught me to make lump free gravy 🙂
So making this recipe, I added the scalded milk gradually to the cornmeal, whisking as I added and then cooked and whisked until the mix was thick.
Thanks for the tips! I’m making these for Thanksgiving and they are sure to be perfect now.
I suggest Bob;s Red Mill medium grind cornmeal, it has better nutrition, thus you must store it in the fridge.
I just posted a comment but I don’t see it- (weird)- so, please forgive me for being redundant, but I’m wondering how big you make the balls of dough, how closely you place them, and how many you put on a baking sheet, please? I’m still a novice when it comes to rolls and I always seem to mess this part up… thanks, Mel!!
Ha! I just read the recipe more thoroughly and you’ve already answered these questions! Thanks for your awesomeness!! 😉
Hopefully I’ve answered all these questions in the directions of the recipe, Amy – but please ask if you have more!
These look so good; can’t wait to try! Have you tried using whole wheat flour when making these?
Hi Lachelle – I’ve made the crescent ones and this variation with half whole wheat flour (a couple times with 100% but they were pretty heavy) – I use white wheat flour and it works really well to do 50/50.
Thank you!
I just made a double batch of the cresecent cornmeal rolls, and I have been LOVING the flaky, tender buttery-ness of them!! I’ve been contemplating doing just plain rolls with the recipe, and I’m so glad this tried and true!! Can’t wait to make another batch but roll them up this time!! Thanks, Mel!! I’m wondering, how many do you place on the pan, and how closely do you place them? I’m still a novice when it comes to roll-making, and I’m worried I won’t do it right so they fluff up like they should. Thank you!!
Yummy! Thanks for another delicious recipe. Have you tried these with wheat flour?
I have the same question as Maureen. If I were to make them ahead, should I bake them before I freeze them?
I always bake, cool and then freeze because it’s so easy to warm them lightly and serve…but yeast dough does pretty well frozen (prebaked) so you could certainly try it that way as well.
Roll making is new to me, but I’m doing it this year! Because I’m a newbie, about how long did it take for them rise to double the size. I know different homes and different temperatures, but just so I can have a ball park so I don’t show up empty handed!
Hi Jen – that’s a good question. I don’t give a time amount because so much depends on the warmth of your kitchen, but I’d say an hour or so for each rise (if your kitchen is really warm, it will be less than that).
I won’t let myself make your cornmeal crescents anymore because I can’t stop eating them. I eat them all until they are G-O-N-E. Doesn’t mean I can’t make these, right? 🙂
Right! 🙂
These are my favorite roles of all time! They are a hit everywhere I take them. It is my husband’s favorite role that I make too 🙂 it’s good to know you can shape them this way. I don’t know why I never tried before! They look absolutely fantastic! I need to make these ASAP.
I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I squealed out loud when I saw this post. Yesterday, I was literally staring at your buttery crescent roll recipe and debating on whether or not I should just make them for Thanksgiving anyways, even though I couldn’t really use them for leftover turkey sandwiches. I am beyond excited that you converted them into regular rolls (which I hadn’t even thought of – they look so pretty as crescent rolls)! I’m a “Thanksgiving isn’t Thanksgiving without the rolls” type of person, and your crescents are one of my top two favorites ever! I’m so glad to have these now, too!
I’m that kind of person, too…and it’s all about the roll that will make the BEST Thanksgiving leftover sandwiches. 🙂
Can the rolls be frozen after baking or even before baking?
Yes, I freeze them all the time after baking and cooling.
Thank you!
I was wondering the same thing! I have to make rolls for both family Thanksgivings so this will be perfect!
Ohhhh we LOVE your cornmeal crescent rolls!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m wondering if you use all purpose flour or bread flour. I’m assuming it’s all purpose since it doesn’t specify. Would one be better then the other? Love your recipes and this blog so much! Thank you!
I always use unbleached all-purpose flour, although I will say, one time I made these with bread flour and they were extra fluffy and tender. I often sub half white whole wheat flour, too.