It’s hard to resist these pillow-soft and buttery Cloverleaf Rolls. These are made with milk dough which has an unbelievably soft and cloud-like texture. You’ll love the delicious layers when you pull the 3 clover leaves apart.
Homemade Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls is the perfect side for your holiday table and they always get compliments even when they’re competing with the Christmas Prime Rib or Thanksgiving Roast Turkey. After all, you definitely need a roll to soak up the Turkey Gravy.
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There’s something so comforting about home-baked bread from Focaccia Bread to Banana Bread and even Pita Bread. If you love a warm and ultra-soft dinner roll, this recipe is a must-try!
Watch the video tutorial and see how easy it is to make these clover rolls.
Cloverleaf Rolls Video Tutorial
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What is Milk Bread?
Milk bread is white bread that is made with milk, egg, and butter to form a tender crumb with a rich buttery flavor. Milk bread has the most satisfying texture and it’s easy to make, which is why it’s our preferred dough for making cloverleaf rolls.
Ingredients for Cloverleaf Rolls
- Water – start with warm filtered water (110-115˚F) to activate your yeast
- Active dry yeast – you’ll need 1 packet or 2 1/4 tsp of yeast
- Milk – use warm low fat milk (whole milk will also work)
- Butter – either melted and cooled or very soft butter
- Granulated sugar – feeds the yeast to make the rolls rise beautifully
- Egg – use a large, room temperature egg
- Salt – we use fine sea salt
- Bread Flour – has a higher protein content to produce a softer bread. Also, make sure to measure flour correctly.
Common Questions
This recipe works best with active dry yeast and that is the yeast we recommend. Instant yeast will work, but it will speed up the rising process and the texture won’t be quite the same.
Yes, dinner rolls are freezer friendly and if you freeze them the day they are baked, they will taste fresher when they are thawed. See instructions for freezing in the “make-ahead” section below.
It’s best to use bread flour because of its higher protein content which helps to develop the gluten in the dough, resulting in a softer dinner roll.
Make-Ahead
- Overnight rolls – Once you have placed the oiled plastic wrap over the pan of dinner rolls, set the pan in the refrigerator overnight. A couple of hours before baking, remove the rolls from the refrigerator, let them come to room temperature and rise until visibly puffed, then butter and bake as directed.
- Freezing – Baked dinner rolls freeze really well. Let them cool to room temperature then transfer to a freezer safe zip bag, remove any excess air, and freeze for up to 2 months. If you freeze them the same day they are baked, they will taste fresh when thawed.
Tips for Making the Best Dinner Rolls
- Check the yeast – the reason for initially mixing the yeast with 3 Tbsp of warm water is to activate the yeast as well as to make sure it is still working. If you don’t see a foamy layer on your mixture after 7 minutes or so, you should buy new yeast and start over.
- Ingredient temperatures – make sure your liquid ingredients are warm when added (between 110-115˚F) for the dough to rise properly. Colder ingredients will take longer to get the yeast working.
- Proofing – proof dough in a warm place that is at least 75˚F but not more than 110˚F (high heat will kill your yeast). Putting it in the oven with the light on works well. Also, you can microwave a damp kitchen towel for a minute then turn it off and place the bowl of dough inside the warm microwave. The warm steamy environment is ideal for dough proofing.
Serve with
Sometimes all you need is to spread on Cranberry Sauce or whipped Honey Butter, but if you’re looking to pair this with a meal, here are our favorite recipes to serve with dinner rolls:
- Sweet Potato Soup
- Cabbage Soup
- Vegetable Soup
- Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
- Creamy Tomato Soup
- Chicken Pot Pie Soup
Golden, puffed, buttery, and super soft – these Cloverleaf Rolls will be the talk of your holiday table.
Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
Cloverleaf Rolls:
- 3 Tbsp warm water, (115˚F)
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast, (1 packet yeast)
- 1 cup low-fat milk, warm (105-110˚F)
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted or very soft, plus more for the pan
- 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour, divided (add an extra 1/4 cup if needed)
For the Topping:
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided, melted
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 3 Tbsp very warm water (115˚F). Sprinkle the top with 1 packet of yeast, whisk to combine, and let rest uncovered for 7 minutes until foamy on top.
- Add warm milk, melted butter, sugar, egg, and salt. Whisk until blended, then gradually whisk in 2 cups of flour then switch to the dough hook attachment and add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour in thirds, letting it incorporate with each addition. Add more flour a little bit at a time until the dough feels moist to the touch, but it shouldn’t stick to clean/dry fingertips.
- Knead 10 minutes on speed 2 of a stand mixer, or knead by hand. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl as it kneads and will be smooth and elastic.
- Transfer dough to a large oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (90-100˚F) for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in volume.
- Transfer dough to a smooth, clean work surface. You should not need any additional flour at this point. Divide the dough into 12 even pieces then divide each piece of dough into 3 small pieces. Cup your hand over each of the small pieces and roll over work surface to form a ball. Butter a 12-count muffin pan and place 3 little balls of dough into each muffin cup.
- Oil a sheet of plastic wrap and place the oiled side loosely over the rolls. Let rest in a warm place for 30-45 minutes until visibly puffed. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425˚F with a rack in the center.
- Once rolls have risen, brush the tops with 2 Tbsp melted butter and bake in a preheated oven at 425˚F for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. As soon as they are out of the oven, brush with more melted butter and sprinkle with kosher salt. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes and serve warm.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Can I use whole milk instead of 2% milk? Thanks for all of your wonderful recipes..
Hi Mark! That would be fine. I hope you love this recipe!
I really want to make these for our Easter Dinner. I am going to be slammed pretty much all week as I am also making two breakfast casseroles for our Sunrise service at church. 🙄
Can I make the dough earlier in the week? If so, at what point do I stop and then restart on Easter day? I won’t have much time after getting home from church. Lol
Thank you so much Natasha!!
Hi Beth, these are make ahead friendly, see the “Make-Ahead” section of the recipe post.
I have tried and reviewed other cloverleaf rolls recipes, but this one is the definite winner!!!! I appreciate using my stand mixer with the dough hook-so easy. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Virginia!
Exceptional! Delicious! And easy! Thank you
First made these for thanksgiving using all purpose flour and as promised they are soooo soft and delicious. I like to spread the work out so I let the dough sit overnight and then formed and baked the rolls in the morning. I’m making them again for Christmas by request.
Thank you for sharing, Melody! Merry Christmas!
OH! MY! WORD! These are the most delicious rolls I’ve ever made. I will be making these for Thanksgiving. My rolls came out huge, but delicious. I think I will make the balls a little smaller next time, and maybe get 16 out of the recipe. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
You are so very welcome, Lea! I’m so happy you loved it.
These were amazing! I messed up quite a bit but they still turned out great! I will definitely be making these for the holidays.
I’ve made these rolls several times, and my family loves them. I was wondering if I could leave the dough more or less undivided and make a single loaf, or would it make 2 loafs of bread? My 4 year old gradson loves many of your videos and watches them with me.
Hi Maria, I haven’t tried that with this recipe but it does sound like a tasty idea. If you try it out, please let me know how it goes.
These are amazing rolls with delicious texture and flavor! My go to from now on thank you for sharing all of your great recipes!
These turned out great. I know I can always trust your recipes! Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear that, Lindsey!
Hi Natasha, I don’t have bread flour can I use all purpose flour? I also wanted to let you know that I have made 35 of your recipes and we have enjoyed every one. My husband favorite is the chocolate cake.
Hello Monica! I have not personally tested that but I think that will work with a few adjustments. Hope you like the recipe!
BY far the best roll recipe I have tried. Will not have to look any further this will be my go to. Thank you for a geat recipe
Thank you for the wonderful review, Tinna!
You can’t go wrong with your recipes even if you make a small error.
Awesome recipe! Made my own bread flour for the first time, too!