Soft Cornmeal Dinner Rolls are fluffy homemade dinner rolls with incredible flavor! Yeast rolls with cornmeal have a chewy texture and are perfect served with butter & jam!
These cornmeal dinner rolls have a light sweet flavor and are so feathery and heavenly. Making cornmeal yeast rolls is easier than you make think, they come together quickly and easily.
Soft Cornmeal Dinner Rolls
I found this recipe for dinner rolls made with cornmeal a while ago and knew they would be a perfect addition to our dinner table. I adore homemade bread in any form, but there is something extra amazing about soft and buttery rolls fresh from the oven. These rolls have a lovely flavor and the texture- it is so light and and just perfect. These rolls are great for holiday meals, a side dish with your favorite soup, or use them to make little sandwiches! Really, they are so delightful any way you enjoy them! These are definitely my go-to recipe when I want a homemade fresh from the oven dinner roll!
Soft Cornmeal Rolls Ingredients
Water: You will need 2 ¼ cups water, divided, for this dinner roll recipe.
Cornmeal: Use ⅓ cup cornmeal for one of the main ingredients of this tasty roll. Plus 3 TBSP to sprinkle on top of the rolls.
Sugar: Adding in ¼ cup sugar makes these rolls perfectly sweet but not overly so.
Vegetable oil: You need 3 TBSP vegetable oil to help give these rolls a chewy texture.
Salt: Add 2 TSP salt to help enhance all the flavors in this recipe.
Dry yeast: Using 1 TBSP + 1 ½ TSP active dry yeast (2 packets) will help these dinner rolls rise nicely.
Eggs: You will need 2 eggs to achieve a great texture for these yummy rolls.
Flour: Use 5 ½ to 6 1/2 cups flour for the base of this roll recipe. *See note below regarding measurement of flour.
Butter: You need 4 TBSP melted butter for the dough and to top rolls.
How to make Soft Cornmeal Dinner Rolls
Make the dough
Start by combining 1 3/4 cup water, 1/3 cup cornmeal, sugar, vegetable oil and the salt, in a medium sized glass bowl.
Then, microwave the mixture on high for 4 minutes, the mixture will boil. Remove from microwave and let sit for about 10 minutes, until mixture cools to between 120 an 130 degrees F.
Next, dissolve the yeast in the remaining 1/2 cup of water. Stir to ensure it has fully dissolved.
After that, combine the yeast water and cornmeal mixture in a large mixing bowl. I used my Kitchen aid mixer, but you can also use an electric handheld mixer if that is what you have available.
Then, add in the eggs and half the flour and mix until smooth.
Now, add in the remaining flour and continue to mix together.
*I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and the rest all-purpose flour. If you have dough enhancer, you can replace 1/4 cup of the all-purpose flour with it as it helps to give the bread a softer, fluffier texture. How much flour you use really depends on how humid of a day it is where you live! I’ve made this with 5 1/2 cups of flour, and I’ve had to use 6 1/2 cups of flour! If you’re unsure how much to use, just add 6 cups and it will be great!
Proceed to knead the dough for 8 minutes on a low mixing speed. I do not recommend kneading this dough by hand because it is really sticky. The dough will be very soft and may not hold its shape, depending on what type of flour you used.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Let the bowl sit in a warm spot for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in size.
Roll assembly & Prep
Grab your largest baking sheet and spray it with non-stick spray, set it aside.
In a small bowl, melt 2 TBSP butter in the microwave and set aside.
Now, sprinkle your countertop with some flour and spread out.
Dust the top of dough with a little flour, punch it down and scrape onto the floured countertop.
Using a knife and/or kitchen shears, divide dough into 24 pieces.
Pinch and roll each piece into a ball. I like to take the edges of the piece and pinch them into the middle- this creates one flat side. Use that flat side to try and roll it all into a ball, then set the roll on the prepared baking sheet, round side up.
Finish off by brushing each roll with the melted butter and dust with the remaining 3 TBSP cornmeal.
Let rise in a luke-warm oven for 30 minutes. I usually turn the oven on to 350 degree F for about 3 minutes, then turn it off and put my rolls in there to rise.
Bake & Serve
Once the rolls have risen, start preheating your oven to 375 degrees F.
Put the baking sheet in the preheated oven and bake for 20-22 minutes.
Let cool for about 5-10 minutes, brush with the remaining 2 TBSP melted butter.
Serve and enjoy!
SOFT CORNMEAL DINNER ROLLS
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups water divided
- ⅓ cup cornmeal 3 TBSP cornmeal, to top rolls
- ¼ cup sugar
- 3 TBSP vegetable oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 TBSP + 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast 2 packets
- 2 eggs
- 5 ½-6 ½ cups flour*
- 4 TBSP melted butter divided
Instructions
- Start by combining 1 3/4 cup water,1/3 cup cornmeal, sugar, vegetable oil and the salt, in a medium sized glass bowl.
- Microwave the mixture on high for 4 minutes. The mixture will boil. Remove from microwave and let sit for about 10 minutes, until mixture cools to between 120 & 130 degrees F.
- Next, dissolve the yeast in the remaining 1/2 cup of water. Stir to ensure it has fully dissolved.
- Combine the yeast water and cornmeal mixture in a large mixing bowl. I used my Kitchen aid mixer, but you can also use an electric handheld mixer if that is what you have available.
- Add in the eggs and half the flour and mix until smooth. Now, add in the remaining flour and continue to mix together.
- Proceed to knead the dough for 8 minutes on a low mixing speed. I do not recommend kneading this dough by hand because it is really sticky. The dough will be very soft and may not hold its shape, depending on what type of flour you used.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Let the bowl sit in a warm spot for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in size.
- Grab your largest baking sheet and line it with parchment paper; set it aside.
- In a small bowl, melt 2 TBSP butter in the microwave and set aside.
- Now, sprinkle your countertop with some flour and spread out. Dust the top of dough with a little flour, punch it down and scrape onto the floured countertop.
- Using a knife and/or kitchen shears, divide dough into 24 pieces.
- Pinch and roll each piece into a ball. I like to take the edges of the piece and pinch them into the middle-this creates one flat side. Use that flat side to try and roll it all into a ball, then set the roll on the prepared baking sheet, round side up.
- Finish off by brushing each roll with the melted butter and dust with the remaining 3 TBSP cornmeal.
- Let rise in a luke-warm oven for 30 minutes. I usually turn the oven on to 350 degrees F for about 3 minutes, then turn it off and put my rolls in there to rise.
- Once the rolls have risen, start preheating your oven to 375 degrees F.
- Put the baking sheet in the preheated oven and bake for 20-22 minutes. Let cool for about 5-10 minutes, brush with the remaining 2 TBSP melted butter. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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Can I freeze these cornmeal dinner rolls?
You bet you can! These dinner rolls save and freeze beautifully. Just make sure they are stored in an airtight container to prevent freezer burn. When you are ready to enjoy, defrost them on the counter for 1-2 hours ahead of time. You can even put them in a warm oven to freshen and warm up before enjoying.
How do I keep dinner rolls fresh longer?
One easy way to keep rolls fresher longer is to push all the excess air from the bag before it is sealed. Air in the bag will make the bread dry out faster. Also, you can wrap each roll individually to keep it nice and fresh.
Why are my rolls hard?
Sometimes even our best efforts fail, but none hurt quite like a failed batch of soft homemade rolls. Am I right? The culprit for hard rolls could be too much flour or not the right kind. Bread or rolls made from flour with high protein could be the issue. Protein gives bread structure in the form of gluten, and the more it is mixed the more gluten you produce. Overmixing can cause the dough to become tough and the rolls to be hard. You can try to fix this issue by wrapping the rolls in a damp paper towel and microwaving for about 10 seconds. This will soften them up enough to be edible.
Enjoy this bread recipe? Try these recipes for homemade bread!
- Homemade White Bread recipe
- Homemade Hawaiian Bread
- Honey Oat Bread recipe
- Cinnamon Raisin Bread
- Parmesan Garlic Dinner Rolls
- Fabulous French Bread
- Sweet Orange Dinner Rolls
- Homemade Hawaiian Bread
- Easy Homemade Cheesy Breadsticks
- Tomato Parmesan Flatbread
- Potato Bread Recipe
- Honey Wheat Bread
Soft Cornmeal Rolls are made with simple ingredients and the results are sensational. This dinner roll recipe produces fluffy rolls with amazing flavor.
Melissa Price says
Can this be frozen and if so, at what step would I freeze them?
Nicole says
You can either freeze the rolls after they have baked and cooled completely or right before the second rise, cover them in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw for several hours on the counter or in the fridge and let rise on the counter before baking.
Jim says
Can this recipe be made with gluten free flour?
Nicole says
i haven’t tried, but i would assume a 1:1 ration gluten free baking flour should work fine
Zach says
Could you make this as a loaf instead of rolls? If so, would the recipe need to be altered and what size loaf pan would be needed? I enjoy baking but not rolling out dough.
Nicole says
Instead of dividing the dough, just roll it into a log and proof it in a bread loaf pan. You can use a standard 8×4 loaf pan. It’ll take about 30-40 minutes to cook.