Honey Butter Dinner Rolls

Have you ever baked bread using tangzhong? Tangzhong is an Asian bread-making technique where a portion of the flour and liquid—either water or milk—is cooked into a thick, béchamel-like paste before being added to the main dough. This water roux, also known as yukone, allows the flour to absorb and retain more liquid, resulting in bread that’s incredibly soft, fluffy, and moist. It also stays fresh much longer.

This little extra step takes barely ten minutes, yet it transforms a simple roll into something extraordinary—a cloud-like bread that pulls apart easily and melts in your mouth. It’s well worth the effort.

Here’s a recipe for dinner rolls with a light honey glaze—simple, tender, and perfect for turning any meal into a small feast.

Tangzhong
43 g water (3 Tbsp)
43 g milk (3 Tbsp)
14 g all-purpose flour (2 Tbsp)

Dough
300 g all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp dry milk
50 g caster sugar
6 g salt
1 Tbsp active dry yeast
57 g unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg, room temperature

Honey glaze
2 Tbsp liquid honey
2 Tbsp melted butter

Preparation
To make the tangzhong, whisk together all the ingredients in a small saucepan until smooth and lump-free. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and the whisk leaves trails on the bottom of the pan, about 3–5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes.

While the tangzhong cools, prepare the dough. Combine all dough ingredients, then knead—by hand or with a stand mixer—until smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 60–90 minutes, until puffy but not necessarily doubled. (A warm oven with a bowl of hot water nearby provides excellent humidity for proofing.)

Gently deflate the dough and divide it into 10 equal pieces. Shape each one into a smooth ball and arrange them in a lightly greased 8- or 9-inch round cake pan. Cover and let rest for about 45 minutes, until puffy.

Preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F). Brush the rolls with milk or egg wash and bake for 25–30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then brush with the honey-butter mixture. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

These rolls are beautifully soft and lightly sweet, with a golden glaze that makes them as lovely to look at as they are to eat.