Dinner Rolls with Freshly Milled Flour

Dinner Rolls that are pillowy soft and pull apart into the most tender sheets!

Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls with Freshly Milled Flour and Tangzhong: The Secret to Pillowy Softness

There’s something magical about pulling apart a tray of golden, buttery dinner rolls, especially when they’re made with freshly milled flour and the Tangzhong technique. If you’ve ever wondered how bakeries achieve that impossibly soft, tender crumb in their rolls, the answer is often Tangzhong. This is a simple but transformative method that originated in Asia. By cooking a portion of the flour and milk into a thick paste before adding it to the dough, you unlock a world of enhanced moisture, fluffiness, and shelf life in your bread

Why Use Tangzhong?

Tangzhong works by gelatinizing the starches in the flour, which allows the dough to absorb more liquid without becoming sticky. This extra hydration is the key to rolls that are not only soft and airy but also stay fresh longer. It’s a technique that can be applied to almost any yeasted bread, but it truly shines in dinner rolls, where tenderness and pull-apart texture are everything

Milling Your Own Flour for Maximum Freshness

For this recipe, you’ll start by milling 535g of hard white wheat berries on the finest setting. Freshly milled flour brings a nutty, wholesome flavor and a nutritional boost that you just can’t get from store-bought flour. Milling all your flour at once saves time and ensures consistency throughout the recipe.

Making the Tangzhong

Set aside 50g of your freshly milled flour for the Tangzhong. In a medium saucepan, whisk this flour with 250g of whole milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens to a gel-like consistency. This step is crucial—when the mixture reaches about 65°C (150°F), the starches in the flour gelatinize, trapping water and creating the signature softness of Tangzhong bread

Once thickened, remove the pan from the heat and whisk in cold milk to quickly cool the mixture. The goal is to bring the temperature down so it’s warm but not hot, ensuring you don’t scramble the egg in the next step. If it’s still too warm, a brief chill in the refrigerator will do the trick. Whisk in your egg, making sure it’s fully incorporated.

Mixing and Developing the Dough

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the remaining 485g of flour, sugar, amylase, and vital wheat gluten. Pour in your Tangzhong and liquid mixture, then mix until a shaggy dough forms. Allow this to rest for 15–30 minutes—this rest period, called autolysis, gives the freshly milled flour time to fully hydrate, which will make kneading easier and improve gluten development.

Next, add the yeast, salt, and softened butter. Knead the dough for 10–20 minutes, or until it passes the windowpane test—a sign that your gluten is well-developed and the dough will rise beautifully. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 45 minutes to an hour, until almost doubled. Then, refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours. This cold fermentation not only makes the dough easier to handle but also enhances the flavor and texture.

Shaping and Baking the Rolls

About an hour before baking, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Divide it into 24 equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Check out this video on shaping if you need help. Arrange the balls in concentric circles on a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about an inch between each for room to rise. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes to an hour.

Bake the rolls at 325°F for 15 minutes, or until the center of the middle roll registers 195–200°F on a probe thermometer. As soon as they come out of the oven, brush the tops with a tablespoon of melted butter for a glossy, flavorful finish.

The Tangzhong Advantage

Thanks to the Tangzhong method, these pull-apart dinner rolls will be incredibly soft, tender, and slightly sweet, with a beautiful golden crust. They’ll stay fresh and pillowy for days—if they last that long! The combination of freshly milled flour and Tangzhong not only brings superior texture but also a depth of flavor and nutrition that elevates these rolls far above anything you’ll find at the store

Whether you’re baking for a holiday feast or a simple family dinner, these rolls are sure to become a new favorite at your table. Give the Tangzhong technique a try and discover the secret to the softest, most irresistible dinner rolls you’ve ever made.

Dinner Rolls with Freshly Milled Flour

Recipe by Katelyn AmesCourse: DinnerCuisine: Japanese, AmericanDifficulty: intermediate

Servings

24

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Resting Time

2

hours 

Total time

2

hours 

45

minutes

Ingredients

• Tangzhong

• 50g hard white wheat

• 250g whole milk

• Dough

• 157g whole milk, cold

• 1 egg

• 485g hard white wheat

• 60g sugar

• 4g amylase (optional)

• 5g vital wheat gluten (optional)

• 10g yeast

• 7g salt

• 58g softened butter (4 Tbsp)

Directions

• Mill 535g hard white wheat on the finest setting. This is the combined weight for the tangzhong and the dough. I mill it all at once to save time.
• To make the tangzhong, combine 50g of the milled flour and 250g whole milk in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly until it thickens and makes a gel like consistency.
• Remove from the heat and whisk in the cold milk. This will cool the mixture down, it should be warm but not hot enough that it will cook the egg when we add it. If the mixture still feels too hot, refrigerate it until just warm. Wisk in the egg.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer. Combine the remaining 485g of flour, sugar, amylase and vital wheat gluten. Pour in the tangzhong and liquid ingredient mixture and mix until combined and a shaggy dough forms. Rest for 15-30 minutes for the flour to absorb the liquids.
• Add the yeast, salt and softened butter. Knead for 10-20 minutes or until you can form a window pane. Cover and rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until almost doubled. Refrigerate for 1 hour and up to 12 hours.
• About an hour before baking, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Divide the dough into 24 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and arrange in concentric circles on a parchment lined baking sheet about an inch apart. Cover and rise until doubled, 45 minutes to an hour.
• Bake at 325 for 15 minutes or until the center of the middle roll reads 195-200 degrees with a probe thermometer.
• Remove from the oven and brush immediately with 1 Tbsp melted butter.

Recipe Video

Notes

• Tangzhong. this is a bread-making technique where a portion of the flour and liquid from a recipe is cooked into a thick, gelatinous paste (or “roux”) that’s then added to the dough, resulting in softer, more tender bread with a longer shelf life