Honey Oatmeal Dinner Rolls Recipe

These honey oatmeal dinner rolls are soft, fluffy, and just slightly sweet from a touch of honey and rolled oats. They have the tender pull-apart texture you want in a dinner roll with a little extra heartiness that plain white rolls are missing.

They work for holiday tables, weeknight dinners, sandwich buns, or slathered with peanut butter for an afternoon snack. One batch makes 15 rolls and they freeze beautifully.

Easy to bake for beginners and yet deliciousness for advanced bakers, this recipe for oatmeal rolls is one you’ll turn to again and again.

Beginner Friendly

This oat rolls recipe is so basic that beginner bread bakers should feel confident in tackling it. Yes, it requires some additional steps over a basic loaf of homemade bread but they are simple and nothing that needs tons of advanced skill or practice.

Forming bread rolls isn’t difficult and honestly are quite forgiving. Just do your best to shape them into small round loaves and place in the pan. If they get a little wonky in shape, they’ll still be delicious and the more you make rolls the better you’ll get at shaping them.

Simple Ingredients

There’s nothing fancy here, you likely already have all the ingredients in your pantry. As always use the best ingredients you have for the best flavor in the final rolls.

Rolled Oats

The recipe was tested with rolled oats because that’s what I always have on hand. Quick cooking oats would likely work but I can’t guarantee.

Don’t skip the soaking of the oat in the boiling water – it is this step that adds a level of creaminess to rolls.

For more oat-forward baking, my oatmeal bread recipe is worth a look.

Sweetener

If you want to use maple syrup or even brown sugar instead of honey that would work just fine. These are not intended to be overly sweet, just a hint.

Flour Choices

For ease, I went with all-purpose flour but you could easily use bread flour if desired.

Want some whole-grain flavor? Consider substituting some of the white flour for whole wheat flour. Add it slowly as the whole grain absorbs the water differently.

Roll Size

The recipe as written makes 15 oatmeal dinner rolls of a medium size. You could go bigger or smaller as desired, just add or subtract baking time – you’ll just have to watch the baking time based on size.

Baking Pan

I chose to bake these in a 9X13 inch cake pan because I like how the rise in the pan and maintain softer edges.

However, you could bake this dinner roll recipe on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper instead, if desired.

How to Serve

Use these fluffy dinner rolls as a wonderful addition to any holiday dinner table. Simply put them in a basket and watch them be devoured.

They’re quite wonderful with eggs at breakfast.

You could use them as a soft sandwich bun.

Don’t be afraid to slather them in peanut butter or other favorite nut butter for a simple, delightful snack.

If you love dinner rolls, my yogurt dinner rolls are another soft and simple option worth trying.

How to Store

Store any leftover rolls in an airtight container where they should stay fresh up to 4 days at room temperature.

For longer term storage, place into freezer bags, wrap in plastic wrap, or place into containers and freeze.

Let frozen rolls thaw on the counter prior to serving. Use up any frozen bread within 6 months for best flavor.

Troubleshooting

The rolls are dense. The most common cause is not enough kneading or a rise that was cut short. The dough should feel smooth and elastic after kneading and should visibly double during both rise periods. Also make sure the oat mixture cooled to around 100 degrees before adding the yeast, as too much heat will kill it.

The rolls didn’t rise well. Check that your yeast foamed properly in the warm water before adding it to the oat mixture. If it didn’t foam after 10 minutes start over with fresh yeast. Also make sure the oat mixture wasn’t too hot when the yeast was added.

The rolls are dry. Overbaking is the most likely cause. Start checking at 20 minutes. The tops should be golden and the rolls should sound hollow when tapped. Pulling them right when done keeps them soft.

The rolls stuck to the pan. Make sure the pan is well greased before adding the rolls. Letting them cool for the full 5 minutes before inverting also helps them release cleanly.

The rolls are uneven in size. Weighing the dough on a kitchen scale before dividing is the easiest way to get consistent rolls. Eyeballing 15 equal pieces is harder than it looks.