These Easy Cheesy Dinner Rolls with Blackberry Honey Butter are about to become your new favorite thing to bake! The rolls themselves are light, fluffy, make-ahead and effortless. Basically, the stuff of dreams.
They’re also flexible… If you don’t want to use cheddar, you could sub in white cheddar, gruyere, parmesan or any other combination thereof (you want the kind of cheese that gets deliciously melty or combine it with a melty cheese).
I’ll tell you in the notes below how else you can customize these gems (Herbs? Berries? Think about it…).
Lining Your Cheesy Rolls with Parchment
Parchment Paper
I love lining dishes with parchment when baking. Specifically, for these rolls, it makes it easy to get them in and out of the baking dish, takes sticking out of the equation and makes it so you don’t have to struggle and potentially squash (the horror!) these fluffy wonders trying to get them out of the dish and into your mouth. Score.
Cheese For Your Cheesy Rolls
I went with cheddar because it sparks joy. But you could just as easily use a gruyere, white cheddar, perhaps some parmesan? Perhaps a mix of cheese you already have in your fridge? Whatever the mixture, you want it to be predominately comprised of cheese that easily melts.
Roll Add-in Ideas
I added some thyme to my rolls…but you could easily sub in parsley, rosemary (finely minced), chives…or not an herb, but what about some caramelized onions???
Butter Butter and More Butter Please!
I have you use salted butter for both the rolls, honey butter and the blackberry honey butter. Seems a bit unorthodox but I love the flavor that it gives these beauties. So it is not a typo that we use salted butter + 1 tablespoon of salt in the dough. It’s so good. If you only have unsalted, then use the requested 1 tablespoon of sea salt in the dough and add about ½ teaspoon of sea salt to both the honey butter and the blackberry honey butter.
For the Blackberry Honey Butter
Use either fresh or frozen blackberries. If you use the latter, defrost before using. Consider subbing in raspberries to mix things up a bit. Get frisky.
The Baker’s Guide to Measuring Flour
One of the biggest (and most common) mistakes in baking is how we measure flour. If you find yourself without a scale, see my top tips on how to properly measure flour for the perfect amount every time!
Why Use Potato Flour (and what to do if you don’t have it!)
Potato flour makes for a delightedly soft and fluffy roll. HOWEVER, I get that not everyone wants to stock their cupboards with another flour. You can sub in all-purpose flour 1:1.
Ovens & Bronzing Your Buns
I have you bake these in the lower third of your oven so as not to overly bronze the tops. Don’t put them on the lowest rack, utilize the space between the middle and the lowest rack. If your oven doesn’t have this option, bake them in the middle of the oven, covering the tops with foil if they start to take on too much color.
Make Ahead Cheesy Dinner Roll Dough
In the instructions I give details on how to either make these the day ahead (and let the dough get its first rise in the fridge) or you can make + bake these the same day. Choose your own adventure folks!
Let’s bake some delicious Easy Cheesy Rolls with Blackberry Honey Butter, shall we?
Easy Cheesy Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
For The Rolls
- 1 cup (8 oz/250ml) warm whole milk, ((warm to 105-110F; 41-43C))
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons (392 g) all-purpose flour (how to measure flour)
- ¼ cup (43 g) potato flour
- 5 tablespoons (76 g) salted butter, room temperature, (cut into 5 pieces)
- 1 large egg, (room temperature)
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 5 oz (142 g) cheddar cheese, (shredded)
- 2 tablespoons fresh herbs, minced (yummy options: thyme, rosemary, parsley…), (optional)
For The Honey Butter Glaze
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, (melted)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- Flaky sea salt
For the Blackberry Honey Butter
- 8 tablespoons (113 g) salted butter, (softened)
- 4 tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup blackberries smashed ((about 6 blackberries))
Instructions
For the Rolls
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the warm milk, yeast and honey and let mingle for about 10 minutes until foamy and frothy (this lets us know our yeast is working). Add in the flour, potato flour, butter, egg and sea salt and mix on low at first, working your way up to medium high. Run the machine for 10 minutes. The dough will stick to the bottom of the bowl but should be clearing the sides. Some minor sticking on the sides is fine. The dough should smooth out the longer it is kneaded. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl so that everything is incorporated.
- Lightly grease a large bowl with olive oil. Scoop the dough into this bowl and let rest for 1 1/2 hours or until double in size. **At this point, the bowl could be covered tightly and stashed in the fridge for 24 hours. When ready to use, just move onto the next step, no need to bring the dough to room temperature.
- In a small bowl toss the shredded cheddar with the minced thyme (if using). Set aside. Lightly grease and line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment, letting the excess hang over the sides…this will make it easier to lift the rolls out of the dish.
- When read to bake, separate the dough into 15 equal-sized pieces. Total dough weight should be about 789g; each dough ball should weigh roughly 52g. Roll the pieces into balls and then flatten them into about 2-inches circumference (no need for a rolling pin, you can use your hands). Fill with 1 1/2 tbsp of the gruyere-thyme mixture. Grab the edges of the dough and pinch them together to seal the cheese in the middle. Place the seam side down and gently roll until they’re a perfect little ball again. Set the balls, even-spaced apart from each other, in the prepared baking dish and cover loosely with a damp dish towel. This is a perfectly imperfect process. Some cheese will spill out, that’s fine. Let rest for 30-60 minutes or until almost double in size in a warm, draft-free area.
- Preheat your oven to 350F (177C).
For the Honey Butter Glaze
- For the glaze, in a small bowl whisk together the melted butter with the honey. Set aside.
- Sprinkle any remaining cheese over the rolls. Bake in the center of the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until bronzed. As soon as they come out of the oven, brush with the honey butter and sprinkle with sea salt flakes.
For the Blackberry Honey Butter
- To make the blackberry honey butter, in a small bowl, whisk together the softened butter with the honey until combined. Fold in the mashed blackberries.
- Use the overhanging parchment paper to get the rolls out of the baking dish. Use two forks to separate the rolls from each other (if you pull or use a knife you will crush them. These rolls are best the day they are baked. Reheat briefly in the microwave or covered in the oven to freshen them up. Serve with the blackberry honey butter and live your best life!!
Hi! Loved this recipe! The honey is a wonderful addition. Thank you for sharing!
I’m wondering— could you make this into a single loaf?
Hi Carly! I don’t know if you could make this into a single loaf because I haven’t tested it that way. However, I do think this dough could handle it. If you do make them that way, would you let me know how it goes? I would love to hear!! xoxo
I did make a loaf out of it – amazing! The dough could in fact handle it. Great little loaf for making sandwiches. Thank you!
Hi Carly!!!
I love hearing this!!!! I transformed this dough (with some tweaks) into cinnamon rolls and they were delicious!!! I’m going to be sharing the recipe soon. I can’t wait to try this as sandwich bread — thank you for the note!!!
xoxo
And I’m so glad you loved them!!!
These look amazing! My question is the amount of sea salt being 1 tablespoon. Looking at the salt to flour ratio it seems like a lot, especially with adding cheese. I personally think recipes under salt, but want to double check this ingredient. Thoughts?
Hi Jennifer! I totally get that it seems like a lot…I preferred them with that amount. Quite a few people have made them on Instagram and I haven’t received any feedback that the salt is too much. If concerned, you could step it back the first time you bake them and go from there. Let me know how it goes!! xo
Obsessed and I agree potato flour is so great in rolls.
So good!!! xoxo
Yummmmm!!!! These look so good. I love the honey butter xx
It’s so good on everything!!! xoxo