Julie Clark
Updated:
Pudding Dinner Rolls
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These no egg Pudding Dinner Rolls have vanilla pudding in the mix to keep them soft. Serve them alongside your favorite comfort meal.
Can you imagine a fall-time dinner without dinner rolls? I certainly can’t.
When I think of dinner this time of year, I think of some good homemade soup, a soft dinner roll and maybe a few green beans on the side.
These soft vanilla Pudding Dinner Rolls go perfectly with just about any main dish or soup.
Pudding Dinner Rolls
Vanilla pudding…in a roll? I’ll admit it sounds sketchy, but this recipe is from my grandma and it is how she made not only dinner rolls, but it was her base to homemade cinnamon rolls as well.
Here’s what they are like:
- Flavor: Many dinner roll recipes call for sugar, so the sugar in this recipe is added in with the vanilla pudding powder. And honestly, a little vanilla flavor in a bread roll is not a bad idea.
- Texture: Soft and fluffy. You may wonder what rolls without eggs are like, but don’t worry. They are fluffy and soft. Not as “chewy” as a traditional yeast roll, but if soft dinner rolls are your thing, this is the recipe for you.
No Egg Dinner Rolls
A unique thing about these rolls: No eggs. Vanilla pudding, yeast, milk, butter, water, salt, and flour, but no eggs. So if you have an egg allergy, today’s your lucky day. You can eat this easy dinner roll recipe!
Three methods to make bread dough:
- Knead by hand. This is the old fashioned way. No special tools needed, but your arms will get a workout. What to watch out for with this method? Don’t add too much flour. The dough needs to stay sticky, and that can be tricky when you are kneading by hand.
- Knead with a stand mixer. The dough hook attachment for your stand mixer works beautifully to knead the dough, and it keeps you from adding too much flour. Plus, it is hands-off so you can clean up the kitchen while the dough kneads.
- Make the dough in a bread machine. This is the method I most often use to make dough. I have a Zojirushi and I love it. It is easy to set it and get a few other things done while the bread maker does its job. Add the ingredients in the order that the manufacturer of your machine suggests. Ours starts with liquids and then ends with dry ingredients, flour and yeast.
How to Make Pudding Rolls
Start with the yeast. My favorite brand is Red Star Platinum baking yeast. If you’re unsure what kind of yeast you have, read the back of your yeast packet to see if the yeast needs to proof first. The back of the yeast packet will tell you how to do it for the type of yeast you have.
If you’re a yeast beginner, don’t worry…we’ll walk you through all the steps to ensure success. Read our guide to baking with yeast and our tips for helping yeast dough rise. You can do this! Reach out if you have any questions!
- In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water (Make sure it is the correct temperature so it does not kill the yeast.) Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pudding mix and the milk.
- Mix in the softened butter. Add the yeast mixture and mix well. Set aside.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour and the salt. Add the flour mixture to the milk mixture and mix until well combined. Knead the dough for 4-5 minutes by hand, until you can pull a section of the dough out 3-4″ and it doesn’t break.
- Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for 25-30 minutes or until it nearly doubles.
- Divide the dough into 12 pieces and roll dough into balls.
- Place the balls in a greased 9×13″ baking dish. Cover the pan and let the dough rise on the counter one last time for about 15-20 minutes, while the oven is heating to 350ºF. If the rolls don’t look like they’ve risen much, it’s ok! They’ll rise in the oven.
- Optional step: Want golden brown rolls? Whisk together 1 large egg and 1 tablespoon of water. Then use a pastry brush to brush the wash over the top of the rolls right before baking. The rolls will look amazing!
- Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Recipe Variations
- Make Vanilla Pudding Bread. Shape a loaf of bread with this pudding roll recipe.
- Make Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls. Roll the dough into a rectangle shape on a floured surface, melt butter and slather the dough with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Bake according to our homemade cinnamon roll recipe, then frost with cinnamon roll icing. They make a delicious brunch!
How to Reheat Pudding Rolls
Dinner rolls are best served warm, so I recommend baking the rolls and serving right away. If you cannot do that or happen to have leftovers, here’s how to do it.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Place the rolls on a baking sheet and brush them with butter (this prevents them from drying out).
- Warm them for 5-7 minutes (or for as long as it takes to heat them).
- You can also wrap the rolls in foil, then place them in the oven.
This method works great for reheating and is so easy!
Storage Instructions
Store in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also double wrap the rolls with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 6 weeks. Allow the rolls to fully thaw before unwrapping them so they stay fresh.
Pudding Dinner Rolls
These no egg Pudding Dinner Rolls have vanilla pudding in the mix to keep them soft. Serve them alongside your favorite comfort meal.
Servings 12
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Rise Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup warm water (110-115º Fahrenheit)
- 1 package instant yeast 2 ¼ teaspoons
- 3.4 ounces instant vanilla pudding powder 1 box, not sugar free
- 1 1/4 cups 2% milk warmed to 100ºF
- 1/2 cup salted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 1/4 cups bread flour
Instructions
- In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water (Make sure it is the correct temperature so it does not kill the yeast.) Set aside. ¼ cup warm water, 1 package instant yeast
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pudding and the milk. 3.4 ounces instant vanilla pudding powder, 1 ¼ cups 2% milk
- Mix in the softened butter. Add the yeast/water mixture and mix well. Set aside. ½ cup salted butter
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour and the salt. Add the flour mixture to the milk mixture and mix until well combined. Knead the dough for 4-5 minutes by hand, until you can pull a section of the dough out 3-4" and it doesn't break. 4 ¼ cups bread flour, 1 teaspoon salt
- Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for 25-30 minutes or until it nearly doubles.
- Divide the dough into 12 pieces and roll the pieces into dough balls.
- Place the balls in a greased 9×13 pan. Cover the pan and let the dough rise on the counter one last time for about 20 minutes, while the oven is heating to 350ºF.
- Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Video
Notes
*Use a stand mixer to mix the dough if you don’t want to knead by hand. Or better yet, use a bread machine on the dough setting.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.
- Want golden brown rolls? Whisk together 1 large egg and 1 tablespoon of water. Then use a pastry brush to brush the wash over the rolls right before baking. The rolls will look amazing!
- Refer to the article above for more tips and tricks.
Nutrition
Calories: 272kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 318mg | Potassium: 88mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 262IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 0.4mg
Is it possible to use the pudding powder that needs to be cooked?
These rolls are absolutely wonderful!
I made some dinner rolls made with pudding and my family loved them. Unfortunately I lost the recipe and have wanted to try to find the recipe again, when I stumbled upon it here! Will have to make these to make my family smile with joy! Thank you for posting this recipe!
Would this recipe do well if I put it in the Refrigerator to rise overnight? This recipe is Awesome”. It will be my go to recipe for dinner rolls. I’m going to see if I can find a pineapple Instant pudding mix, because this would be a great Copycats for Hawaiian rolls. This is a keeper ✴✴✴✴✴‼