Quick Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls
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These Quick Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls are flaky, soft, ready in no time, and are decidedly beautiful for the dinner table. Simple to make with 5 or 6 ingredients, they’re irresistibly delicious and perfect for holidays.
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If ever there was a recipe from my childhood I remember most, it’s these Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls.
On further thought, it’s probably not expressly true because as I’m writing this, a whole host of recipes are coming to mind!
But these dinner rolls are special. Because very often they were on the dinner table for holidays from Thanksgiving through Easter.
And Sundays? Always. Growing up, there was a restaurant in Salem, Oregon our family often frequented on Sundays after church. A gathering place for many in the community.
Although young, I distinctly remember two things about this restaurant.
- THE most delicious, homemade dinner rolls brought to every table.
- Homemade, still warm from the oven chocolate chip cookies.
As you can imagine… my siblings and I held that restaurant in HIGH esteem! Somewhere in the mix was their incredible (also homemade) strawberry jam. On warm, yeasty dinner rolls? It was amazing.
But I digress! Let’s talk about dinner rolls and fun shapes. And how this recipe is everything I loved about the dinner rolls of my childhood.
1 Hour Dinner Rolls
I would love to tell you that these rolls are 1 hour dinner rolls. But… they do require a bit more time. Here’s why.
If you make these rolls without shaping into cloverleafs, you’re right at about 1 hour. The shaping requires a bit more time. But it is oh-so-worth it. Especially at Easter as they always remind me of flowers.
If you want to skip the shaping and instead roll into balls for traditional dinner rolls, they work beautifully for that as well.
Ingredients for Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls
Specific ingredient measurements are in the recipe card below. Here’s an overview of the simple ingredients you will need:
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar to slightly sweeten the dough (honestly, it makes them irresistible).
- Instant yeast so you can add the yeast directly into the dry ingredients without proofing in liquid.
- Butter, softened to room temperature.
- Large egg
- Liquid: You can use warm water, warm milk, or a combination of the two.
- Salt to taste (amount will depend upon whether you’re using salted or unsalted butter).
How to Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls
As with most bread recipes (including the 100% whole wheat bread I make weekly) there will be two rising times.
The first rise: place the dough into an oiled bowl, covered, and let rise until it doubles. If you’re using instant yeast, it should take about 20 minutes.
Once the dough rises to double, deflate and shape into 36 equal-size ball. Place 3 balls into each standard size muffin tin cups.
Cover and let sit in a warm place until the rolls rise about 3/4 to 1-inch above the rim of the muffin cup. This should take about 15 minutes or so, which gives you ample time to preheat the oven to 400°F.
Brush the rolls with melted butter and bake until golden brown; about 18 to 22 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter one more time. Let cool slightly before removing from the tin and serving.
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Quick Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 cup warm water or combination of warm water and warm milk
- 1 egg
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add 2 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, and salt; mix and combine the ingredients.
- Add the softened butter, warm water, and egg. Mix on low speed, scraping the bowl as necessary for about 1 minute.
- Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make the dough easy to handle.
- Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough until its smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin.
- Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into 36 equal size pieces and shape them into balls. Place 3 balls in each muffin cup.
- Cover the muffin tin with wrap and let rise while the oven is preheating to 400°F; about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Brush the rolls with melted butter and bake until golden brown; about 18 to 22 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter one more time. Let cool slightly before removing them from the muffin tin and serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.