Lion House Rolls are pillow soft, buttery and oh so tender. This will be the only dinner roll recipe you will ever need. Make them for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter or any day.

 

Let’s be honest making dinner rolls from scratch takes a bit of time. I typically make homemade rolls for holidays and special dinners. These Lion House Rolls are one of my favorites and are the BEST ROLLS to make for Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinners. they are actually quite easy to make.
If you are looking for other dinner roll recipes, consider making Easy Dinner Rolls or Texas Roadhouse Rolls.

Lion House Rolls originated in Utah but, they have become popular across the entire country with good reason I might add. When I say they are addicting, you must trust me. In fact, I quite often make 2 batches to feed my large family.

Lion House Rolls are served at the Legendary Lion House Pantry Restaurant in Salt Lake City. Notice how they are baked in a signature spiral shape and topped with lots of melted butter? This recipe makes light, fluffy and delicious homemade rolls just like the Lion House.

If you plan to make Lion House Dinner Rolls ahead of time, I recommend refrigerating or freezing them after shaping and the first rise. Then remove from the refrigerator or freezer, cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rise for about one hour before baking if refrigerated, 4 hours if frozen.

Ingredients for Lion House Rolls Recipe

These Lion House Dinner Rolls don’t need all that many ingredients to make. You might have to do a quick grocery run for the dry milk and some instant yeast but, besides those two, everything else is a fridge and pantry staple. Just in case you’re missing ingredients, double-check the ingredients list below:

• Dry Milk – Powdered milk like this tends to make bread and dinner rolls softer, more tender, rise more, and rise easier. It’s the main ingredient that makes these Lion House Dinner Rolls work.
• Yeast – Any yeast you use for baking should work here. Just know that any yeast besides instant yeast will require a bit of bloom time.
• Sugar – Regular white granulated sugar should work fine here.
• Salt
• Egg
• Butter – Use softened butter.
• Flour – You’ll want to use bread flour for this recipe for the best results. It’ll give you softer dinner rolls, which we love! If all you have is all-purpose, you can still use it (just note that your rolls will not be as soft and pillowy).
• Oil – If you can, try to use a neutral oil here like vegetable oil or grapeseed oil.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Lion House Rolls

Making Lion House Rolls is actually pretty easy, all things considered. You’ve just got to mix together some bread dough for rolls, roll it out, cut it into strips, roll them up, and let them bake. For a more in-depth, step-by-step guide, check out our Lion Roll recipe below:

• Start by adding some warm water (use a thermometer and attempt 116 degrees) and dry milk to the bottom of a stand mixer bowl. Whisk together to combine. You will want the powder milk to be completely dissolved.

• Measure out your yeast and add it to the dry milk mix along with a touch of sugar. If not using instant yeast (active dry yeast), give this around 5 minutes to bloom and to become foamy before continuing.

• Next, add salt.

• Crack an egg and add it in.

• Add remaining sugar.

• Measure out about 1/3 cup of softened butter– that’s about 5-1/3 tablespoons. Cut up into pats and add as well.

• Give everything a quick mix to combine before adding in 2 cups of flour.

• Attach dough hook to stand mixer and set bowl in place. Start mixing on low to incorporate before turning speed up to medium and mixing for 2 minutes. Turn speed back down to low, add 3 cups of flour and let incorporate before turning speed back up to medium and mixing another 2 minutes. Do not over-mix.

• If dough isn’t coming together, gradually add remaining flour. Once dough is soft and slightly sticky, slightly pulling from the sides of the bowl, turn off stand mixer, scrape sides of bowl and dough hook, and form dough into ball. Transfer to oiled bowl, top with a drizzle of oil, and cover bowl with plastic wrap or kitchen towel.

• Set bowl in a warm place for about an hour– dough should double in size. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface, divide in half, and return half to bowl.

• Roll dough out into 1/4-inch thick sheet as close to 11×14 as possible. Our goal is to end up with several 2-inch by 4-inch strips of dough before transferring to a silpat-lined or parchment-lined baking sheet.

• Add remaining butter to a separate bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds to melt. Brush bread dough strips with melted butter.

• Roll each strip up. You don’t have to roll them up extra tight but make sure they won’t unroll. Leave the tail end of the roll flat on the pan.

• Cover prepared dinner rolls with plastic wrap or kitchen towel, set in a warm place, and let them rise again until doubled in size– about 1-1/2 hours.

• Transfer baking sheet with lion dinner rolls into awaiting 375 degree oven. Let bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Enjoy!

Storage / Freezing

Storage: Homemade dinner rolls like these Lion House Dinner Rolls hold up pretty well both on the counter and in the fridge. Transfer to an airtight resealable container and keep on the counter at room temperature for 2-3 days. Lion House Dinner Rolls in the fridge last a bit longer- more like 5-7 days.

Freezing: Freezing baked dinner rolls is a bit more involved but still pretty easy. Transfer to a freezer bag, squeeze out as much excess air as you can, and store in the freezer. Expect them to keep well for 3 months- let thaw in the fridge before reheating.

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