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)
Will the cornmeal and milk mixture be smooth? I poured my cornmeal in slowly and stirred constantly but it’s very lumpy. That’s as far as I’ve gotten I don’t wany to waste all the other ingredients
You can stir the milk and cornmeal together until they are mixed well together before you put them on the stove. That way it will be smooth …
You may have more luck if you put the dry cornmeal in a pot and slowly whisk in the hot milk rather than adding dry cornmeal to milk. You also need to stir CONSTANTLY once you place it over the heat since lumps will form as soon as you stop stirring. I also remove the entire pot from the heat every minute or so to slow down the rate of cooking so I can keep it stirred smooth. Please keep trying – this recipe is so worth it!
I know I am extremely late to the party, but here’s what I do to ensure the cornmeal/milk mixture is as smooth as possible: Start heating the milk, then gradually mix in the cornmeal and salt (so I don’t forget it like I did the first time :-/) using a wire whisk. Continue whisking vigorously until the mixture is bubbling and desired consistency is reached. Follow Mel’s lead of adding the butter to the hot mixture, whisking vigorously as it melts, and then the whole mix slides right out of the pot into the waiting mixing bowl. Allow it to cool slightly, then whisk the eggs into the cooled mixture before adding the rest of the ingredients. Smooth as silk after all that whisking! Hope this helps. 😀
Thank you for these tips! I was having a hard time getting my corn meal smooth! I’ve made the rolls a couple of times now and they have always turned out really good, but the cornmeal has alway been a challenge.
Hi Mel,
Can I use Bread Flour, if so, do I need to adjust the liquid amount?
Christine
Yes, you can use bread flour! Just keep an eye on the dough while adding it and add just the right amount for a soft dough.
Can you sub yellow for white corneal ?
Yes!
What type of whole white wheat do you use? Soft or hard?
I’ve used both but mostly I keep hard white wheat berries on hand.
This recipe calls for less time kneading than the original crescent roll recipe. Why is that?
I just found when I posted this dinner roll recipe that a shorter kneading time worked just fine. 🙂
They sound great, before I make them I was wondering if the butter needs to be softened or melted, I’m not clear on that. Thanks!
Either will work!
These rolls are the BEST !! I use polenta instead of the cornmeal. I’ve made these several times and always get raves about them.
Mel, hey I’m a novice with yeast doughs. After the first round of raising the dough are you supposed to punch it down? And then how exactly do you roll the dough into balls? I would sure love a picture of what your dough balls look like prior to raising and then again prior to baking…
Yes, after the dough rises, you’ll want to lightly punch it down and roll it into balls. I have an old video here on how to roll the dough into balls:
https://www.melskitchencafe.com/video-tip-how-to-shape-dinner-rolls/
i’ve made this recipe a few times for big family dinners like christmas, thanksgiving and easter, and am pleased to say they are a hit! i get requests to make these often!
Made these recently and they were SO good! It was my first time home making dinner rolls and I’ll definitely use this recipe from now on. I made the full recipe but only cooked half and put the other half in the freezer. If I want to bake the rest what’s the best way to bake from frozen?
Are they already shaped into rolls? If so, you can take them out, let them thaw and rise and then bake.
Mel,
I had a realization tonight…that leads me to a confession…and an expression of thanks.
I took two separate people (who go to church with me) some of these rolls this evening.
When I told them I made rolls today and asked if they wanted some they both quickly text back in the affirmative.
The first gal was so gracious in thanking me for the rolls. The second gal said, “These are SO good. You know they’re kind of famous, right?” I was a bit shocked – famous?? I took them to a church function a few weeks ago and it happened there too. Someone said, “Thank you so much for making your rolls. They are so good!” Are people actually talking about these rolls when I’m not around? And referring to them as “Trish’s rolls?” So that was my realization. The confession is that I haven’t given you credit for them yet, because they have been talking about them when I am not around. The next confession is that I know I should give you credit (and I will) but I’m kind of scared that soon everyone will be making “Mel’s rolls” and then they won’t seem so special anymore when I take them anywhere.
And here comes the expression of gratitude – thank you for sharing your amazing recipes! You could easily hoard them and be praised for such deliciousness that nobody knows how to replicate, and yet you share them. Thank you! My whole church congregation thanks you too apparently. 🙂
P.S. These are like my secret weapon on crazy busy/I didn’t plan dinner nights – defrost them, slice, put meatballs and mozzarella or pepperoni and cheese inside and microwave. Serve with peas, carrots, or salad, and it’s an amazing dinner with hardly any more work than cereal. So good!
Haha, I love this, Trish! And don’t you dare give me credit! You take all that credit and keep the “Trish’s rolls” fame alive! I love it!
These were so delicious on Thanksgiving. For anyone wondering about freezing, I made them ahead of time to the stage where I formed them into rolls and then froze them. I took them out of the freezer when I got up on Thanksgiving morning and put them on a baking sheet covered with oiled plastic wrap. It took about 5 hours for them to defrost and rise, which was perfect timing. It was so great to have fresh baked rolls at dinner with such minimal work that day.
Thanks so much for the feedback on freezing the unbaked rolls, Sarah!
I’m wondering about halfing this recipe. Have you tried that and did it work ok? I have 3 roll recipes I want to make for thanksgiving but only have 9 people. 6 dozen rolls might be a little excessive. Haha
I haven’t tried halving this, but it should work just fine. Good luck!
I made these this morning for an early thanksgiving dinner. I doubled the recipe and did all as follows but only added 6 cups of flour (about half the flour of the doubled amount) and I still feel like the rolls came out dense. do some roll recipes double better? I’m an not an experienced baker so im not sure what to think. im in Utah so maybe it’s an elevatotion thing? I’m sure it was user error just thought to ask about doubling it.
Hey Rachel – these usually double pretty well. Do you feel like the rolls rose enough before baking?
Thanks for getting back to me. Maybe not the second time I’ll have to try it again. Thanks
I just rode the struggle bus with these in my test run for thanksgiving. Yeast breads are my nemesis and I’m determined to conquer them! I THINK I overfloured these… or maybe over-kneaded? because they are not as light as yours but even with my errors…. they’re still delicious!! Can’t wait to try again!
Hey Jackie – what was the texture of the dough before the first rise? What did it feel like?
I made a test recipe this morning… it was really simple and the rolls turned out pretty good. Two questions:
1. If I use unsalted butter, should I add a bit more salt and if so, how much do you recommend?
2. Can I substitute honey for the sugar? Would I need to make any other adjustments?
Thank you for all the great content. I’m a better cook bc of you Mel!
Hi Amy – yes, if I were using unsalted butter, I’d add another 1/2 teaspoon salt. And yes, you can use honey…the sweet flavor will probably be slightly stronger due to honey’s flavor, and you’ll need to compensate with a bit more flour, I think, but it should work.
Only knead for 2-3 minutes?
I halved the butter and added 1/4 cup applesauce. I used 100% whole wheat flour for the flour and added 3 T vital wheat gluten and 1 T lemon juice. They are delicious. I absolutely love the flavor and texture of these rolls. Thank you for sharing, Mel!!
I’m glad it worked out so wonderfully with those changes! Thanks for letting us know.
I’m trying these with sloppy joes tonight. I usually do canned biscuits (hardly dare to admit that). But I’m out of those and not going to the store. Here we go!
Can’t believe I hadn’t left 5*’s for this recipe yet. I love these rolls, they turn out so soft & the flavor is great too, I think the cornmeal really adds to that. I was wondering if this recipe would work ok as a bread recipe? Would I need to change anything? Thanks!
In case my question wasn’t clear, I am wanting to make this into a loaf & wonder how that would work. Love the taste of these rolls!
You know, I haven’t used this as a bread recipe, but it might work! I wouldn’t change the recipe necessarily, but because I haven’t tried it, I’m not sure what size loaf pan to suggest.
Just wanted to let you know that this recipe makes 2 yummy loaves of bread! The only issues I had was the dough was hard to smooth out nicely so my loaves are a bit rustic (not an issue for me!) & the recipe makes about 62oz of dough so I should have made a couple rolls & 2 loaves but for my first time trying it I just went with 2 loaves. It made huge loaves, so next time I’ll go with a couple rolls, or you could make one loaf & the rest into rolls too. I really love this recipe!
That’s awesome, Kathy! Thanks for adding your notes about making this into bread!
Hi Mel, can you make these rolls solely out of cornmeal or is some gluten required? Can we reverse the flour and cornmeal quantities? Thank you in advance.
I haven’t tried that so I’m not sure. Sorry!
Thank you for the reply 🙂
I have made these rolls-the flavor is wonderful however i feel the yeast amount is too high-rolls rose in half the time and dough was spongy-wondering if just one packet 2 1/2 tsp. Would work better
Just wanted to follow up! I made these 100% whole white wheat and they were SOOOO delicious! I added 3/4 C vital wheat gluten to 4 C flour. Also, instead of cows milk, I used unsweetened, unflavored almond milk. Pretty sure I’ll be making these on a regular basis now, thank you! Thank you!!!!
Awesome!
Hoping to make these but with 100% white wheat. Is it possible, maybe with some vital wheat gluten? How much? What would you recommend? I (and my family) love every single one of your recipes we’ve tried! I’ve more or less given up on other food blogs bc yours never ever fails!! God bless your Holy Week and Happy Easter Mel and family!!!
Yes, I think you can! I’ve subbed in half whole wheat flour for these and they’ve turned out great!
What temperature should the butter be when added? Softened, melted, etc?
Softened is fine…any temperature will work especially since the heat of the cornmeal mixture will melt the butter.
These rolls were so delicious! They were by far the highlight of all things I made this Christmas season. My family has requested them again too!
Mel, do you think I could sub fine white cornmeal for the yellow cornmeal, as that is what I have on hand?
Yes!
I made these for a family dinner, they were a huge hit, this recipe is a keeper. I will be making them again plus trying it for a pizza dough.
Great idea about pizza dough!!! I’m totally trying this sometime.
Huge hit at Thanksgiving, planning to make again for Christmas. They turned out absolutely perfect! Thank you!
I’ve made this recipe a few times now and it always turns out amazing! It’s my favourite for dinner rolls.
I made these for Thanksgiving and they were amazing!
Thanks for letting me know, Jill!
Hi Mel,
In a comment you mention 1/4C water and a pinch of sugar for active dry yeast but in the recipe you call for 1/2C water and a tablespoon of sugar. 1/2C seems like a lot of liquid and then the flour would really have to be adjusted. Is 1/4C fine?
I made these last year but must have had instant yeast- only have dry active right now.
Hi Sara – yes, 1/4 cup can work (2 tablespoons is a lot of yeast for that amount of water, so if the yeast doesn’t dissolve fully, you might need to add a bit more water).
Hi Mel, do you add the yeast, butter, and sugar while the cornmeal mixture is still hot? I noticed in some comments you add the butter while it’s hot, do you do the yeast and sugar then as well? Thanks for all your awesome recipes!
I let it cool just slightly – and if I’m impatient, I’ll mix in the eggs quickly to help cool it down (with a cup of the flour, too, so the eggs don’t “cook”). I wait to add the yeast until it’s cooled slightly so the heat doesn’t kill the yeast. Does that help?
Best dinner rolls ever. I have baked bread and rolls for more than 50 years and I have to say these are wonderful!
They turned out fabulous! My husband ate 3 with his chili and 1 for bedtime snack..I used 1 cup of cornmeal without changing the milk amount. Then dumped it into my bread machine, added liquids then dry and put in dough setting. I started with 4.5 cups four and added about 1cup more as machine was kneading to get right consistency. I, myself was hoping for more corn flavor which I don’t think came out in these rolls but nevertheless the flavor was amazing and fluffy. It reminds me of the Asian bread method of using ‘tang zhong’ which is like a roux. The cooked cornmeal and milk acts the same producing pillowy soft rolls. I like this recipe more because the flavor is more complex than just flour. thanks for the post!
I loved this recipe. Grandchildren stop at my home after school every day. I had just taken them out of the oven. They ate several and then asked for the recipe to share with their moms.
So cute!
These rolls are delicious!
Yum! Once again I look amazing because Mel put in the work to show me step by step how to make great rolls. I used half whole wheat and half ap flour. I only used about 4 1/2 cups of flour, but the dough was the right consistency. They turned out light and fluffy. It exceeded my expectations. I recommend this recipe to anyone who is a beginner with roll making.
Glad you love these rolls, Bridget!
What directions would b used if you use regular yeast?
Proof the yeast in about 1/4 cup of water with a pinch of sugar until it is bubbly, about 5 minutes – then add it to the dough in place of the instant yeast.
I want to make these for Easter tomorrow, but realize that with the way church falls, I won’t have 4 sequential hours to finish the process. Has anyone every refrigerated the dough after the first rise? Then pulled it out and let it rise before baking?
Hi Julie – sorry for the delay in responding. I’ve refrigerated these (and other rolls) many times after they are shaped and on the pan. It should work just fine!
Any guidance on how long they could be refrigerated after shaping? I’m hoping to make my rolls on Tuesday, but not sure if that’s too long for them to sit before Thanksgiving. Thanks for your help!
I’ve only ever refrigerated shaped rolls for about 12-18 hours but you could try 24. The only risk is that they have a chance of over rising, but that may not happen if your fridge is really cold.
I don’t even know where to begin. I was intrigued by rolls with cornmeal so I decided to try them before I made them for Easter. As we were waiting for them to come out of the oven, my husband’s words were “you don’t mess with a good thing.” These rolls are PERFECT!!! I bested my “good thing.” They are incredibly soft and the perfect roll texture, but the flavor is out of this world!! Another Mel favorite!
Ha! I’m glad they won your husband over.
Is it possible that I might not need 5 1/2 cups of flour? I’m in Utah, which, as I’m sure you know, is very dry, particularly in the winter time. I didn’t even use a full 5 cups of flour though and the dough started looking like it did in your yeast tutorial! I used maybe 4 2/3 cups. The rolls seemed to rise ok, though they looked like I had pieced clumps of dough together despite my efforts to make them round. (I’ll work on presentation next time since I didn’t see your shaping tutorial until after I shaped my rolls.) The texture after baking seemed alright to me, but the rolls did become soggy since I covered them too quickly after baking. I’m a complete novice when it comes to using yeast, so I wish you were here in my kitchen showing me the way!
I wish I could be there to help you also, Caity! I think it’s definitely ok to use less flour – a lot of the exact amount will be dependent on how you measure flour (if you pack it into the cup more than I do than you’ll use less). That’s actually very intuitive and helpful that you used less despite thinking you might need more! So much depends on the texture of the dough.
I’ve made the crescent ones several times. They are so yummy. But I’m pretty sure I will like these ones even more, because more softness!!!!! Thanks Mel!
My family adores these rolls! I have made them no less than 5 times in the past month. Thank you for this wonderful recipe. Would like to report that white cornmeal works great also. You are a household name around here Mel, don’t know what we would do without you!
Thank you, Charlotte!
I just got a Bosch mixer for myself as a gift for finishing paying off my student loans and becoming debt free! These rolls are the first thing I made in my new mixer, and I’m in love! (Both with the mixer and with the rolls!) I realized that I have always severely over floured my dough when I kneaded them by hand. My rolls turned out perfect. Thank you!
Yay! And congrats on paying off those student loans!
The best part of this is that you paid off your student loans. Excellent! You just took yourself out of bondage.
These are amazing! So soft and fluffy but with amazing flavor and texture!
Hi Mel – okay, so I REALLY wanted these rolls to work and I’ve tried twice without success. :/ I’ve made lots of your recipes with great success so I’m sure it’s something I’m doing wrong, and I’m hoping you can help me troubleshoot. My dough was just barely sticky (pull it off and it’s sticky but rolls into a ball like you showed). The first time, I think I didn’t let the dough rise enough for either rise (I was in a Thanksgiving rush), but the second time, I left plenty of time for both rises. But both times the rolls just ended up flat and hard, and definitely not fluffy. I can’t figure out where I went wrong! I’d appreciate any thoughts. 🙂 Thank you!
Hi Preethi – did the rolls rise (double in size) after you shaped them and put them on the baking sheet? If they doubled in size and then fell so they were flat…it might be due to over rising OR the dough might need a bit more flour in order to hold the shape while baking.
Hi Mel – thanks for the response! The first time I made them, they didn’t totally double, which is what I thought was the problem. The second time, they looked probably 1.5-2x the original size (depending on the roll) even after 2 hours and sitting near (but not in) a warm oven. How long do your rises usually take?
I wonder if they rose too much? I’m guessing mine usually rise for right around an hour (so much depends on the temperature of your kitchen). If they rise too much, they’ll fall in the oven…but it also could be how close they are together on the baking sheet. I space mine just an inch apart so they can use each other’s sides to rise up instead of out. Do you think that could be a contributing factor?
We always have an MKC Thanksgiving. This year these rolls were the absolute hit on our table. Words like heavenly and divine were spoken in reverent tones. And the sandwiches the next couple of days were amazing.
Love you, Danielle! So happy you loved those rolls…
These were perfect! Thank you! Love the addition of the corn mush.
Also I have the same size pan as you and with 20 rolls maybe I should have put them close together. Thanks again