Fluffy Dinner Rolls with Honey Butter Glaze

Christmas week. The kids are vibrating at a frequency that only dogs and parents can detect. The countdown calendars are almost empty, the presents are hidden in the closet behind the winter coats where they think I don't look (I do look, I am five steps ahead at all times, this is motherhood), and the general energy in the house is somewhere between excitement and chaos, with a brief stop at "can I open just one present early?" The answer is no. It is always no. It will be no until Christmas morning and then it will be yes and they will forget they ever asked.

I'm cooking for Christmas Eve dinner at our house — Mom and Dad are coming down, and we're doing the Holloway tradition: ham. Not the Weber tradition, which was roast beef, because Kevin's family does ham and when you marry someone you marry their holiday proteins. The ham is a spiral-cut, glazed with brown sugar, mustard, and cloves, baked until the edges caramelize and the kitchen smells like everything Christmas should smell like. I'm also making scalloped potatoes, green beans from the August canning, rolls, and a Jello salad because no Iowa Christmas table is complete without a Jello salad, and I will not be apologizing for Jello salad today or ever.

The Jello salad is lime Jello with crushed pineapple and cottage cheese, which sounds disgusting and is. It's also tradition, and tradition doesn't have to taste good to be important. Phyllis Holloway has been making this exact Jello salad since 1972 and I inherited it when I married Kevin, and I will make it until I die because that's how Midwest food traditions work — they survive not on merit but on sheer stubbornness and the fear of being the generation that broke the chain.

Jack made a Christmas present for Roger in kindergarten — a clay handprint painted red with "Grandpa" scratched into the back. It weighs approximately three pounds and will crack the first time it's dropped, but Dad will put it on his windowsill next to the garden photos and it will be the most valuable thing in that house and everyone knows it.

Kevin wrapped presents in the garage after the kids went to bed. His wrapping looks like it was done by a man wearing oven mitts in a wind tunnel. My wrapping looks like it was done by a person who owns a ruler and tape dispenser. We are different people. We complement each other. That's the story of us, told in gift wrap.

There’s something about the chaos of Christmas week — the lopsided wrapping, the three-pound clay handprint, the Jello salad we make out of stubbornness and love — that makes me want to bake bread. Not fancy bread. Not bread that requires anything other than a warm kitchen and a little patience. Kevin’s family does gifts; my family does rolls, the kind that come out of the oven so soft you could cry, glazed with honey butter and eaten while still too hot. This year, standing in that garage watching him wrestle with tape and tissue paper, I knew exactly what I was bringing to the table.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Rise Time: 1 hour 15 minutes | Cook Time: 18 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 53 minutes | Servings: 16 rolls

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk, warmed to 110°F
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one standard packet)
3 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Honey Butter Glaze:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt, for finishing

Instructions

Activate the yeast. Combine warm milk, yeast, and 1 tablespoon of the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir gently and let sit 5–8 minutes until foamy. If it doesn’t foam, your yeast is not active—start over with fresh yeast.
Make the dough. Add the egg, softened butter, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt to the yeast mixture. Using the dough hook, mix on low to combine. Add flour one cup at a time, mixing until a soft, slightly tacky dough forms. Increase speed to medium and knead 6–8 minutes until the dough is smooth and pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.
First rise. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel, and set in a warm spot. Let rise until doubled in size, about 45–60 minutes.
Shape the rolls. Punch down the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a smooth ball by cupping your hand over it and rolling in a tight circular motion. Arrange in a greased 9x13-inch baking pan, placing rolls just touching.
Second rise. Cover the pan loosely and let rolls rise again until puffy and touching, about 25–30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F during this time.
Make the glaze. Whisk together the melted butter and honey in a small bowl. Set aside.
Bake. Brush rolls lightly with half the honey butter glaze before baking. Bake 16–18 minutes until tops are deep golden brown and the internal temperature reads 190°F. Do not underbake—pale rolls will be gummy inside.
Finish and serve. Remove from oven and immediately brush with remaining honey butter glaze. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Serve warm, straight from the pan.

Nutrition (per serving)

Fluffy Dinner Rolls with Honey Butter Glaze — The Rolls That Belong on Every Holloway Christmas Table