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
I tried these today and they turned out beautifully! The added salt (I used flaked sea salt) on top after baking sent these over the edge… DELICIOUS!! Thanks so much for this!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Christie! I’m happy you enjoyed it!
Best rolls ever! I used my bread machine, just put all the wet ingredients first and then flour and yeast, doubled the recipe and turned out perfect! I did bake them at 375 degrees though.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
can i use whole wheat flour instead of bread flour? because i use whole wheat flour to make my dinner rolls
Hi Joanna, I honestly haven’t tested this recipe using wheat flour to advise. If you will do an experiment, please share with us how it goes.
These rolls are fabulous. I put them in the fridge overnight, baked them this morning, and they came out perfect. Thank you, as always, for the detailed instructions and video.
It is my pleasure, Nancy. Good to know that it turned out great and perfect!
This was my first time making rolls. It all looked good except when I pulled the plastic wrap off they fell. They baked fine and tasted great but were flat. What did I do wrong?
Hi Cecile, it sounds like they may have been overproofed – if they rise for too long (or in too warm of a spot), you can exhaust the yeast.
I tried to make the rolls for today and only had fat free milk and had new yeast but they didn’t rise .
HI Rayna, did you possibly have your liquids too hot which would deactivate your yeast? Also rolls rise best in about 90-100˚F temperature. If the room is too cold, it will take much longer and if you put it into a place that is too hot like an overly warm oven, you can deactivate your yeast. I hope that helps.
If you freeze them how do you heat them up? They came out amazing by the way! I decided to do them instead of the other ones because I tried those before and wanted to try something different thank you!
Hi Alyssia, you can reheat the dinner rolls straight from the freezer to the oven. You can either thaw first overnight then bake for about 10 minutes in a 300°F oven or until warmed through. You can also heat rolls from frozen (loosely wrapped in foil) and bake at 300°F for 20 to 25 minutes or rolls are warm all the way through.
Hi Natasha,
Thank you for the cloverleaf dinner roll recipe and detailed instructions which were very easy to follow. The rolls were delicious, tender, and not that hard to make.
You are very welcome. Great to hear that you enjoyed making this recipe!
have you tried this dough but shaped differently? like pan roll shape?
Hi Kathy, I haven’t yet but I bet that will just be fine. If you try that, please share with us how it goes.
Can the cloverleaf dinner rolls be doubled or make in seperate batches?
Hi Shawnda, doubling it should work! If you go to the recipe card, you can click on the number of servings to adjust the ingredients.
As a lifelong baker of cakes, cookies, etc. I lost my desire to bake bread with yeast due to it’s complexity. Thanks Natasha for this incredibly detailed recipe. The rolls turned out exceptional!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Carole!
I made your Cloverleaf Milk Bread rolls. They were AWESOME. WILL BE MAKING THEM AGAIN.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Linda!
I baked your banana bread 🍞 recipe this evening for our dessert n as you said , they were soft , fluffy, made our house smell soo delicious fragrant n the cinnamon gave it a different flavor n we both liked the taste 😃I have never ever used cinnamon in my banana bread ever !, lol , before I remembered to take a picture , we were already enjoying our dessert
Thank You , next I’m trying your peach cake using lite syrup canned cling peaches, it’s okay to use canned ingredient ?? , hope it will look n taste as awesome as yours , I have a peach cake recipe but different from your recipe 🤪
Here is the picture of my baking of your banana bread 👍🌺😀
I’m glad you really enjoyed this recipe, Maggie! Thank you for your awesome feedback too!
I just made these dinner rolls . Fantastic. I have tried three other recipes but they weren’t great. This recipe is quite easy and quick and so good. I will definitely be making them for Christmas dinner.
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, Susan! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Can I make these gluten free? If I can’t, I would love to know of a good gluten-free dinner roll recipe.
Hi Carol, I have not tried this with gluten-free flour to advise don’t the outcome. That will require a few tweeks.
Thank you for this amazing recipe. Would it be possible to have metric measurements please ?
Hi Lili, you may click Metric in the written recipe to use metric measurements.
Thank you for this amazing recipe. Would you please give us the metric measurements (especially for milk and flour) ?
Hi Lili, If you scroll down to our printable recipe card, most of our recipes have a metric conversion option on the printable recipe card. We are currently working on adding metric measurements to all of our recipes, but it is taking some time to add them one at a time. Thank you so much for being patient! In the meantime, check out our post on measuring which should help.
If I make these rolls the day before I serve it, what is the best way to store it? Will it not be soft if I make it a day ahead? Thank you!
Hi Tracy, Please see the instructions in the “make-ahead” section in the recipe.
Love your recipes, can’t wait to try these at Thanksgiving! I’m a tad nervous, because I’ll be new at bread baking, but I use to bake cakes and decorate them, so surely I can conquer these!
You’re going to love this recipe, Teresa! I can’t wait to hear your feedback!
Somehow mine came out not fluffy and soft. I used whole milk and salted butter. Is it the reason why?
Hi Tina, I highly recommend watching the video to see where things started to look different. It could be a number of things (too much flour, substitutions, overproofing for too long or on too high of heat, etc). Also, read through the tips in the post above which may help with troubleshooting.