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Mom’s Homemade Buns

written by Ashley Fehr

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4.96 from 183 votes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings 22 buns

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Last updated on April 8, 2024

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My Mom’s Homemade Buns are the perfect dinner roll for any occasion! Incredibly soft and fluffy, use all purpose or whole wheat flour, make a big batch and freeze for later.

moms homemade buns on baking sheet

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This recipe is long overdue here, even though I just made my first batch of my Mom’s Homemade Buns a couple weeks ago.

My mom has been well-known for a few reasons for as long as I can remember.

These Chocolate Chip Cookies are one of them.

These Double Chocolate Cookies, (Almost) No Bake Pineapple Squares, and these Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are some other reasons.

It took me entirely too long to ask my mom for her recipe for homemade dinner rolls, so once I snagged it and made them for the first time, I knew I had to share it right away!

I had to tweak my Mom’s recipe a little bit — swapping her original lard for butter (you can swap it back if you like or use shortening!), and increasing it to be a nice even amount when I halved the recipe.

I didn’t find that the extra butter made much of a difference, so I’m sticking with it!

dinner rolls overhead on baking sheet

This recipe makes 22-24 buns, depending on how large you make them. You can easily double the recipe and save some for later! See my tips below for storing these homemade buns after you’ve made them (although there might not be many left 😉 )

Can I bake these buns in a 9×13″ pan?

I know that most dinner rolls are taller, and baked closer together in a pan with higher edges, like a 9×13″ pan.

We always called them simply “buns” growing up, and we ate them with everything 😉

You can absolutely bake this recipe in a 9×13″ pan if you are going for the same look and height. For this recipe, you will likely need two 9×13″ baking pans and can put 12 rolls in each pan.

The baking time shouldn’t change.

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Can I use whole wheat flour for these dinner rolls?

You can definitely use whole wheat flour for this recipe, and I do now all the time when I am making them for our family.

I prefer to first test a recipe with all purpose flour, to see how using whole wheat flour might change it, but we tend to eat mostly whole grains and whole wheat breads.

You can start with 2-3 cups of whole wheat flour for a light whole wheat dinner roll, or use up to 100%.

When I make these for our family, I tend to stick with 50-75% whole wheat flour. I find adding even a bit of all purpose flour makes them fluffier than 100% whole wheat flour.

homemade bread rolls stacked

Use this homemade bun dough for these recipes as well:

This homemade yeast dough is extremely versatile! You can easily make a big batch of dough, bake some plain buns, bake a few cinnamon buns, make some breadsticks, etc. — the options are endless!

By doing it this way, you can make a small batch of many different recipes, which is great if you’re cooking for a small family or you’re an individual.

Here are a few recipes that this dough would work great in:

How to store homemade buns:

Keep at room temperature:

These buns will keep at room temperature in an airtight plastic bag for 4-5 days. I will warn you though — they’re so delicious fresh out of the oven that you might find they don’t last that long!

How to freeze buns and bread:

We often freeze some of these for later, otherwise we would eat buns for every meal and nothing else!

Let cool completely — I usually let mine sit for 4-6 hours on a wire rack on the counter. Place in an airtight plastic bag and freeze up to 3 months.

To thaw, place on a plate lined with paper towel to absorb any extra moisture and let sit at room temperature for an hour or two. You can also thaw at a low temperature in the microwave.

moms homemade buns split

What to serve with homemade dinner rolls:

We love having a side of these homemade buns to dunk in soup and chili! Here are a few of our favorites:

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Mom’s Homemade Buns

written by Ashley Fehr

4.96 from 183 votes
My Mom's Homemade Buns are the perfect dinner roll for any occasion! Incredibly soft and fluffy, use all purpose or whole wheat flour, make a big batch and freeze for later.
Review
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Rising time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Cuisine American
Course Bread and Baked Goods
Servings 22 buns
Calories 174cal

Ingredients

To proof yeast

  • 1/2 cup warm water (105-110 degrees F — warm but not hot)
  • 1 tablespoon instant or active dry yeast (I use instant, but either works in this recipe)
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

To make bun dough

  • 2 cups warm water
  • 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 6-7 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour
US Customary – Metric

Instructions

Proof the yeast

  • In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the warm water, yeast and sugar.
  • Let sit for 10 minutes or until bubbly — this is how you know your yeast is working. This step is technically not required when using instant yeast, but I do it always anyways, so that I know my buns will be a success.

Make the dough

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a very large bowl if you are kneading by hand), whisk together the 2 cups warm water, butter, ⅓ cup sugar and salt.
  • Add the bubbly yeast mixture and stir to combine.
  • Place the bowl in the stand mixer and put the dough hook on the machine. You can also knead by hand.
  • Add the flour, one cup at a time, and mix until nearly combined before adding more. You can use all purpose or whole wheat or a combination. Start with 4-5 cups flour, mixing until each is incorporated.
  • The closer you get to your dough being ready, the less flour you will add at once. We want a smooth, soft dough, never stiff, so we need to watch and stop adding flour at just the right moment.
  • Add up to 6-7 cups flour total, very gradually at the end, until the dough comes together in a smooth, soft ball and does not stick to the sides of the stand mixer. When you touch it, it should be smooth and slightly tacky but not sticky.
  • Place dough in a large lightly greased bowl (you can use the same bowl and grease it), and cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel.
  • Set in a warm spot (I use the oven with the light on — turn the oven on to preheat for 2-4 minutes before turning off and adding the dough) and let rise until doubled, about 1.5 hours.
  • Uncover dough, punch down, and roll out 20-24 rounds — smoothing the top and pinching the seam in the back to smooth (see video for additional details).
  • Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and let rise (you don't have to cover them) in a warm spot for 30 to 90 minutes (instant yeast will be quicker) until doubled.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until light golden brown.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 174cal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 320mg | Potassium: 38mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 129IU | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 2mg
Keywords dinner buns, dinner rolls, homemade buns

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Meet Ashley

My name is Ashley Fehr and I love creating easy meals my family loves. I also like to do things my way, which means improvising and breaking the rules when necessary. Here you will find creative twists on old favorites and some of my favorite family recipes, passed down from generations!

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Comments

  1. deanne says

    Yes I must agree on the softness of these delicious buns (versatile) .I added grated cheese.my family loved them.thank you so much for sharing.

    Reply

  2. Amy says

    I love these buns so much that I have made them several times this week and even gave some to my family. They loved them too!

    Reply

  3. Megan E Taylor says

    Can you use bread flour instead of all purpose? I just recently got bread flour because a friend who is a baker insisted, but none of the bread recipes I’ve been looking at use bread flour 😔

    Reply

    • Ashley Fehr says

      Hi Megan! I don’t have a lot of experience baking with bread flour — I like to keep things simple 🙂 I would Google the difference between them and you might get an idea if adjustments are needed

      Reply

      • Mary says

        Bread flour has higher protein, in other words more gluten and an even better texture. I used bread flour for this recipe. I use bread flour for all breads and buns, all purpose for cinnamon rolls, cakes, cookies etc. self rising is special cases

      • Ashley Fehr says

        That’s great! Since my mom has been making these buns for decades without bread flour, I don’t see any reason to buy an extra bag just for that 🙂

  4. Diane says

    I ended up putting these in a 9×13 pan because they did not hold their nice round shape on a baking sheet, they tended to flatten out. They still were delicious but I wonder what I did wrong that I didn’t have perfect round buns like pictured.

    Reply

    • Ashley Fehr says

      Hi Diane! These buns are soft and fluffy so they will not bake up tall and high if they are not touching other buns. This is how we bake them 🙂 Baking them in a tighter space will make for taller buns. Adding a touch more flour will also make them bake up taller (and less airy)

      Reply

      • Diane says

        I tried this recipe again, added a little more flour and they turned out perfectly. I also think the first time I made them I turned my oven on for a short time and put them in for the first rise. I think it was too warm in the oven and they rose too fast and that caused them to flatten out when I pit them on the baking sheet.

  7. Erin Kepich says

    I made mostly whole wheat and these turned out absolutely amazing! My husband who is normally the “chef” in the house was very impressed. We had them with homemade sloppy joes and I froze the rest for Thanksgiving!

    Reply

  10. Donna Hernandez says

    Could you put the ingredients into a bread machine for the mixing and kneading, then proceed with shaping and baking in the oven?

    Reply

  11. Jadynn says

    Hi! I was thinking of adding raspberry and chocolate chips to the recipe! Any tips to make sure it goes smoothly??

    Reply

  12. Julie says

    These are fantastic and super easy to make! Did you use an egg wash to get that pretty shine? If so, what did you use?

    Reply

  14. Laura says

    Fantastic buns. Very easy to make and so fluffy and soft. Next time will make it into bread and cinnamon buns. Thanks for the easy and tasty bun recipe.

    Reply

  15. Monica says

    Hi I would like to try this recipe and wanted to ask if I can omit the 1/3 cup sugar. Thanks.

    Reply

  16. Janice Purdy says

    Yes, this is an incredible recipe. Not only do I make rolls and cinnamon rolls, I make 3 bread loaves that are tasty and soft – makes excellent toast!
    Also, I brush melted butter on the buns, rolls or bread loaves when they are ready to be placed in the oven .

    Reply

  19. Jessica Formicola says

    I made these rolls with dinner last night and they were incredible! The whole family loved them and we will definitely be making them again soon!

    Reply

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