Dairy-Free Dinner Rolls

Fluffy, soft and buttery with a hint of sweetness. These dairy-free (not vegan) dinner rolls are easy to make and satisfyingly good to eat.

Prep Time 3 15

Cook Time 25

Course Side Dish

Servings 9 rolls

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the yeast, 1 tbsp sugar and the warm milk. Cover and let bloom for 5 mins. It should look foamy.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and remaining sugar.
To the foamy yeast mixture, add ½ or about 2 tbsp of the beaten egg (reserve the rest to brush the rolls before baking) and the flour mixture. With the dough hook attachment, mix on medium low speed until the dough is shaggy, about 2-3 minutes. While the mixer is running, add the butter one piece at a time, making sure it’s incorporated before adding the next. The dough will look moist and slippery until it’s all incorporated and fully kneaded. Do not add any extra flour here! Increase the speed to medium and knead until the dough comes together smoothly and pulls away from the bowl, about 8 minutes. See Note 2.
Remove the dough from the bowl. Lightly grease the same bowl or a different one, and place the dough it it. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel, and let it rise in a warm area until it’s doubled in size and puffy, about 1 ½ hours. I place mine in the oven with the ‘proof’ function and the oven light on.
Meanwhile, grease and 8 x 8-inch baking pan with vegan butter.

When the dough is done, gently deflate it, then use a plastic scraper to ease it out of the bowl onto your work surface. Lightly grease your hands and knead the dough for an additional 1-2 minutes to get the extra air out. Optionally, you can skip the extra kneading and go straight to dividing and shaping.
Using a bench scraper, divide the dough into 9 - 12 equal pieces. Then shape each piece into a smooth ball and arrange in the greased baking pan. See the video above for demonstration.
Cover the rolls with plastic wrap or clean kitchen towel and allow to proof/rise for about 1 hour.
In the last 15-20 minutes of proofing, set your oven rack to the position below the middle and preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C).

When rolls are ready, remove plastic wrap and with a silicone or pastry brush, lightly brush the top of each roll with remaining beaten egg.
Bake the rolls for 22 - 25 minutes or until they are golden brown on top and slightly browned every where else. Remove from the oven and brush with butter. Let rolls cool for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
Place rolls in an covered container and store at room temperature for 2-3 days. See Note 3

Softened dairy free butter is preferred to room temperature butter because at room temperature - especially if you’re kitchen is warm - it is closer to being melted.
The dough will look wet and slippery when you begin incorporating the butter. This is normal for using dairy free butter. DO NOT add any extra flour! If after 8 minutes of kneading the dough is still spread out and extremely sticky, it needs more time to come together. You can knead for an additional 2-5 minutes until it comes together and pulls away from the bowl OR add 1 tsp of flour at a time, until it does.
I’ve never had them last more than 3 days or long enough to freeze them so I don’t have freezing instructions for you.

Keyword bread, dairy-free