No-Knead Dinner Rolls

The week between Christmas and New Year's. Grace stayed until Tuesday. Then I was alone with the kids. The clinic in Dorchester sent me onboarding paperwork. I spent three hours filling it out. I printed forms. I scanned the returned forms. I am ready for January 8.

Liam and Nora were home all week. I took them to the movies Wednesday — a kid movie, their first theater experience since before the pandemic — and they both made it through. Liam ate a whole small popcorn. Nora ate half of one and fell asleep during the last fifteen minutes.

New Year's Eve was at home. I put the kids to bed at 7:30. I watched a movie. I did not stay up until midnight. I slept. I woke at 12:30 to the fireworks at the harbor. I went back to sleep.

January 1 I made black-eyed peas and greens. The Charleston-Theresa version. We ate them. The year has begun. I am doing it.

The black-eyed peas were the Charleston-Theresa version — the one that carries a whole history in its seasoning — and I knew they needed something alongside them, something soft and warm and made by my own hands. No-knead dinner rolls felt right: low effort, high payoff, the kind of baking you can do while the kids are watching something in the other room and you’re just quietly doing the next thing. That’s where I was on January 1st — just doing the next thing, and letting the bread rise.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours (including rise time) | Servings: 12 rolls

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (1 packet)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 cup warm whole milk (about 110°F)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for brushing
1 large egg, room temperature

Instructions

Mix the dough. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, instant yeast, salt, and sugar. In a separate bowl or measuring cup, combine the warm milk, melted butter, and egg. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until a shaggy, sticky dough forms. Do not knead.
First rise. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm spot for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until roughly doubled in size.
Shape the rolls. Lightly flour your hands and a clean surface. Turn the dough out and gently divide it into 12 roughly equal pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball by tucking the edges underneath, and arrange them in a lightly buttered 9x13-inch baking dish, spacing them close together.
Second rise. Cover loosely and let the rolls rise for another 30 minutes, until puffed and touching each other.
Preheat and bake. While the rolls finish rising, preheat your oven to 375°F. Bake for 18–22 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and the rolls sound hollow when tapped.
Butter and serve. Remove from the oven and immediately brush the tops generously with melted butter. Serve warm, straight from the pan.

Nutrition (per serving)

No-Knead Dinner Rolls — The Bread That Made January Feel Possible