French Bread Rolls {Step-by-Step}
These popular, no-fail French bread rolls are light, fluffy and delicious! They are so easy to make; perfect for bread-making beginners and experts alike!
If you want one of the easiest, foolproof, most delicious roll recipes around, this is it.
This French bread roll recipe has been around a loooooong time, and after 10+ years, it is still the roll recipe I probably make the most (that’s saying a lot, because I have a lot of favorite roll recipes).

A Very Forgiving Dough
The dough for these French bread rolls is straightforward and very forgiving. I usually use my Bosch stand mixer, but many of you make this dough in a KitchenAid mixer and others make it by hand.
Dough ingredients:
- warm water
- yeast (instant or active dry yeast)
- sugar
- oil
- salt
- flour (all-purpose or bread flour)
Mix all the ingredients together until the dough forms a soft, slightly sticky ball of dough that clears the sides of the bowl and doesn’t leave a lot of sticky residue on your fingers.
How to Make Yeast Dough at Home
Stop stressing about adding the exact amount of flour called for in a recipe! Many, many factors determine how much flour is needed (elevation, humidity, how we each measure flour, etc.)
Judge the dough based on how it feels and how it looks. If you need to add a bit more flour, that’s ok!
For this recipe, grab a piece of dough after the flour has been added. Initially, it might leave a little sticky residue on your fingers.
Try rolling it into a ball without any oil or cooking spray on your hands. If it can form a ball shape without sticking to your hands in a shaggy, horror-movie mess, you are good to go. If not, add a bit more flour (a couple tablespoons), mix and try again.
Adding too much flour can spell death to light and fluffy homemade bread or rolls.
Let it Rise
I’m lazy and let the dough rise right in the mixing bowl. It is a pretty quick-rising dough.
Once it has doubled in size, it’s ready to get shaped into rolls.
Shape the Rolls
Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. I usually weigh each piece to make sure they are uniform. Each dough piece usually weighs right around 2.6 to 2.7 ounces.
Cup your hand and roll the dough into a smooth ball (keep the pinky side of your hand against the counter while you roll). Pinch the bottom to seal, if needed.
Place the rolls in a greased 9X13-inch pan.
For a double batch (I almost always double the batch), I like to place and bake the rolls on a half sheet pan (24 rolls fit perfectly).
Bake the rolls until golden and then brush the tops with butter.
The Perfect Roll for Sandwiches or Subs
Over the years, these French bread rolls have become more than a dinner roll.
These French bread rolls have become my go-to for any recipe that needs a wonderful all-purpose roll or bun.
Here are a few examples:
Whole Wheat Version
I also posted a 100% whole wheat version of these French bread rolls with a few small but important notes/changes, so if whole wheat is more your jam, check that out (although you can definitely add whole wheat flour to the recipe below as I’ve done many a time throughout the years).
Freezer Friendly
There is not an easier, more perfect roll recipe out there!
These French bread rolls come together fast, and honestly, I haven’t met a single person who wouldn’t fight to the death for one of these fluffy, heavenly rolls.
I always, always at least double (most often triple) the French bread rolls batch, because the baked and cooled rolls freeze amazingly well!
Step by Step French Bread Rolls
Tools for Making French Bread Rolls at Home:
*Affiliate links included below for products I’ve purchased from Amazon; feel free to shop around for the best price!*
- -I like to weigh out the dough for this recipe and others; this is the beloved kitchen scale that I have
- -Here is the large 8-quart container I use for letting the dough rise (comes in many different sizes; also carried in stores like Standard Restaurant Supply, if you have one local); smaller 4-quart version here (keep in mind you have to purchase the lids separately)
- –Silicone pastry brush for slathering on the butter
- -My favorite OXO bench knife for portioning out the dough
A quick note about mixers: I have a Bosch Universal and use it for 99% of the bread recipes I make. Here is a side-by-side (unsponsored) review I did between a Bosch stand mixer and a KitchenAid stand mixer.
French Bread Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups warm water
- 1 tablespoon instant or active dry yeast (see note)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar or honey
- 2 tablespoons canola oil, vegetable oil or other neutral-flavored oil (olive oil will work, too)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 ½ to 4 cups (497 to 569 g) all-purpose or bread flour, more or less (see note)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook or in a large bowl by hand, combine the warm water, instant yeast, sugar, oil, salt and 2 cups of the flour.
- Begin mixing, and continue to add the rest of the flour gradually until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Begin kneading the dough for 4-5 minutes in a stand mixer (7-9 minutes by hand).
- The dough should be soft and smooth but still slightly tacky to the touch. After a few minutes of kneading, stop the mixer and grab a small piece of dough to test if it needs more flour or not. It might leave a little bit of sticky residue on your fingers, but if you can roll it into a small ball without it sticking all over to your hands, it is good to go. If not, gradually add a bit more flour as needed.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover. Let the dough rise until doubled, 1-2 hours.
- Lightly punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly greased countertop.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (about 2.75 ounces each, more or less), and form the dough into round balls (video tutorial here right at minute marker 2:20).
- Place the rolls in a lightly greased 9X13-inch pan or on a large, rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment or lightly greased. Space the rolls about 1/2- to 1-inch apart.
- Cover the rolls with lightly greased plastic wrap taking care not to pin the plastic wrap under the baking sheet or else the rolls will flatten while rising. Let the plastic wrap gently hang over the sides of the pan to fully cover the rolls but not press them down.
- Let the rolls rise until very puffy and doubled, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 15-17 minutes until lightly browned and cooked through.
- Immediately out of the oven, brush with butter.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Recipe originally published 12/2007; updated with new pictures, step-by-step tutorial, and recipe notes.
Carlin – I make these rolls constantly so I am very, very glad you liked them. Thanks for letting me know!
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I make it every single time there is a get together, and everyone raves about them. I sub 1 cup of whole wheat flour for white and they turn out so amazing. Thanks! I’m making them right now for Christmas dinner. mmmmm I can’t wait!
The Three Amigos – I also sub whole wheat flour for these (at least half whole wheat, half white) and it works great, so I’m very glad you like them, too!
I love these rolls! I find they work better (rise up rather than out) when I crowd them into cake pans. A half recipe fits perfectly into one 9 inch round pan. Thanks so much for your GREAT directions!
Layton – great tip on using a cake pan and for listing how much of the dough fits in. Thanks! I’m really glad you like this recipe.
the Robinsons – I double this recipe all the time and if you are using active dry yeast, then yes, definitely double the yeast along with the other ingredients. If you are using instant yeast, you can get away with using 1 1/2 tablespoons for a doubled recipe. Hope that helps!
These rolls are so good my family loves them! I make them a lot and now everyone is requesting them for Thanksgiving. If I double the recipe, do I also double the yeast?
Molly – what a great meal for when you are working late and want dinner for your family. You are a good mom. I’m glad the rolls and Italian beef were a hit. Thanks for letting me know!
I made these with your Italian Beef Sandwiches recipe and it’s a keeper! I used my bread machine and made the rolls the day before. I put the beef in the crockpot on the morning of my longest work day. I don’t get home until 8:00 p.m. so my family was able to have a hot, simple filling dinner without much fuss. Wonderful!
Ursala – glad these were such a hit with the fam!
I made these tonight…YUMMY! Patrick ate 4 of them! 🙂
shweetpotato – so glad you liked these little beauties! Thanks for letting me know.
omgosh DELICIOUS< I just took these out of the oven and my daughter has already eaten 2 of them lol, I need to double it next time, YUMM
I made these last night! YUMMO! They were sooooo easy and quick for yeast rolls and they were really good. Ian thought they were the best rolls I ever made 🙂 Plus, there is no butter or eggs which means less points for my weight watchers! Yay!
Amber – your comment made me smile. I’m sure your rolls were not ugly but next time I make these, I’ll take some pictures of how I form them and put them on the cookie sheets. Until then, the amount of dough I roll into balls is usually about golf ball size and I put three across on a standard size cookie sheet (11X17 is the size, I think). Hope that helps!
Amy and Pamela – I’m wondering if you both made these the same day since your comments came on the same day!
I’m glad you both liked the recipe.
As for the shaping issue, Amy, I pinch off a golf-ball size portion of dough and roll it on the counter while cupping the dough in the palm of my hand as I roll it – the same way you would make a ball out of play-dough. I roll it around on the counter and it forms a ball due to the palm of my hand cupping it into a round shape. I keep rolling until it is smooth. Hope that helps!
Thanks, Melanie! I actually made the dough before I was able to read your reply. When it was ready to deflate, I gently pushed on it and it, well, it deflated! I felt a little silly! Now they are all rolled and raising again! I’ve also got your Mom’s Lasagna going! I’m hungry just thinking about it!! Thanks again…you really have a great blog here!
Another roll snob here. These remind of the rolls they serve at Little America. I will be trying these soon too!
Hi! I can’t wait to make these rolls…but what does it mean to ‘deflate the dough’? I’m new to the whole bread making thing! Thanks!!
Thanks, Evelyn! I hope the rolls and lasagna turned out great for you. Don’t hesitate to let me know either way!
Anonymous – awesome job on your first attempt at bread. I’m glad you liked these! I’m not sure why they were so sweet – mine aren’t any sweeter than a normal roll when I make them. Thanks for letting me know how it went!
Bharti – thanks for letting me know you tried these! I’m on my way to check out your post…
Norah – glad you tried the rolls and liked them. I make them all the time because they are easy and delicious. I’m glad you commented so now I can check out your recipe blog, too!
I really really liked these rolls. I ran out of white flour and ended up using about 3/4 cup of amaranth flour but they were very tasty. I will be making this recipe again.
I made these and have blogged about them. Thanks for posting this super easy and doable recipe!
I made a double batch of these for our Easter dinner and they were a big hit…I will def. make these again!
Arundathi – thanks for commenting, especially because now I can peruse your blog of Indian cuisine – yum! I’m glad you liked these rolls, they are definitely a family favorite at my house.
Yeah I have to say that I am definitely a roll snob myself. So far I ONLY make Lion House Rolls because like you said…they are the only kind to make. But Im excited to try this recipe because frankly I like baking any kind of bread….hey if you have a good recipe for yummy fluffy bisquits I would REALLY appreciate it!
Brittany – I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to post the Lion House rolls this week but if you email me at mykitchencafe {at} gmail {dot} com then I’ll email you the recipe I have.
mmmmmm… these look delicious. Once again, your pictures make them mouthwatering and I want to go whip them up even though it is 1 am in the morning! 🙂
Thanks for this recipe! I’m having it for dinner tonight! You have such amazing recipes that I’ve come to love! Thanks for sharing!
I made these tonight and they were divine! Easy, quick and delicious. Thanks for sharing!
Matt in Overlook – thanks for letting me know you tried these rolls and liked them! I’m glad to hear it.
just made these tonight and am eating it now and they are divine! 🙂 thanks so much for an awesome recipe.
I would love to try these for Thanksgiving- but also, since I don’t have the Lion House rolls recipe- could you post it? Those are so good!
Hi Evelyn – thanks for your comment. Deflating the dough means to press it down gently after it has risen to press the air out of it and get it ready to shape into rolls. Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Sook – I hope these turned out ok for you! It’s fun to check your blog, too. Your recipes all look so wonderful!
I love that every time I want to bug you for a recipe- I can usually find it on here. Those rolls were delicious, especially for ham sandwiches the next day. Thanks! Do you still have ham left over? We are going to put ours on homemade pizza this weekend.
Okay, I made these for Easter Dinner and although I doubled the recipe people were still looking for more. They were amazingly good! But they were ugly. I’m not capable of making rolls look like in your picture. Can you do a post showing the size of balled dough and how close together you put them and what they look like in the pan before you put them in the oven? Help a girl out please?
I’ve made these rolls a couple times too, and they taste great, but I also am having a hard time getting the shape/look right. I am good to the point of the dough having risen the first time and them punching it down. But what is the best way to shape the rolls? Do you just roll them in your hands, or kind of pull and tuck under. I know this sounds kind of dumb, but I really want mine to be pretty like yours! 🙂
I made these rolls today. My house smelled wonderful through the whole process– there’s something so special about baking bread.
When they came out of the oven, they were oddly sweet. I’m not sure why this was.
Next time I’d follow the instructions to make them a little more crisp.
Over all, for my first attempt at making bread, I think they turned out pretty good.
I made these a few days ago, and although yours look even lighter and fluffier; they’re already gone! Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
Kids first day back at school and I am going to surprise everyone with these yummy sounding fresh rolls…I love this blog and have always had great success with your recipes- Thank You!
Sunshine – what a good mom you are!! I hope they love the french bread rolls. Thanks for your comment – I’m glad you’ve enjoyed some of the recipes. (Let me know if you find those club crackers for the Caramel Crunch Bars!)
hey! i ike your recipes- and i love bread, however, i do not have an oven and therefore can’t bake any 🙁 i have a toaster oven though! any recipes for those?! 😀
I made these yesterday and they were delicious! Thank you! They did turn out a bit flatter than I thought they’d be. The bottoms also started burning with about 5 minutes to go on the baking time. Maybe my oven is hotter than it should be?
Hi Jess – if the bottoms of the rolls were browning too much, you may try baking them less time (or reducing the oven temperature by 25 degrees). I’m glad you still liked them though. Thanks for letting me know!
I make these for any funeral or occasion when I don’t know for sure if there are allergies. They go like hotcakes! yum-O. It’s the first roll reciepe I have ever gotten to come out light and fluffy. Thanks!
Hi Mel,
I hope you are doing well! I just wanted to let you know that I still love this recipe so much and use it all the time. I didn’t realize until the other day when I had to write down the measurements again just how much I’ve changed the way I make them from the original – I just wanted to let you know and share the link to my post about them.
Holly
http://phemomenon.blogspot.com/2009/09/1-bowl-1-hour-perfect-dinner-rolls.html
Jillian – these are great rolls for allergy concerns since there are no milk and eggs. Glad they turned out so well!