Basic Sweet Yeast Dough Recipe

My favorite go-to sweet roll dough for just about any kind of sweet roll or bread. This is a basic sweet yeast dough that can be used for just about any sweet bread. Its especially great for sweet rolls, dinner rolls, monkey bread and even homemade donuts.

Prep time: PT50M

Total time: PT170M

Rating

4.46 stars (50 reviews)

Keywords

Sweet Yeast Dough

Ingredients

1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 cup very warm milk (115 F, I use whole milk.)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter (well softened almost melting.)
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs (room temperature)
4 cups all purpose flour

Cuisine

American

Steps

In a large bowl, stir together the yeast and milk until dissolved. Beat in the sugar, butter, salt and eggs until well combined. Add the flour, one cup at a time, stirring until incorporated. The dough should be shaggy and still sticky.
Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead 5-6 minutes until smooth and elastic. Or if you use a mixer knead 4-5 minutes. Freeze or refrigerate at this point if desired.
If baking now, continue by placing the kneaded dough into a greased bowl. Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. The length of time needed to rise will depend on how warm the room is. Ideal rising temperature is 72 F.
When the dough has risen, punch dough down with a floured hand and shape and bake as desired.

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 /24
Calories: 139 kcal
Carbohydrates: 20 g
Protein: 4 g
Fat: 5 g
Saturated Fat: 3 g
Cholesterol: 28 mg
Sodium: 135 mg
Sugar: 3 g
Unsaturated Fat: 2 g

Reviews

Bardis Dismuke on 2026-05-04 (5 stars):
Thanks, it has been several years since I have made yeast rolls. I haven’t forgotten how to make them. Just need a refresher for a recipe.
Jessica on 2026-03-18 (5 stars):
I've been making this recipe for rolls for YEARS now, and I retraced my steps so I could THANK YOU for making me look so good! They are always a hit, and the recipe scales up beautifully. They hold well, and they freeze perfectly! I've had friends tell me they are the best rolls they've ever had. Just wonderful. Thank you for sharing this!
Monica Lee on 2026-02-20 (3 stars):
There are no baking directions for a loaf of bread. Can you not use it for bread?
Ray on 2026-01-09 (5 stars):
Clearly people here don’t know how to cook lol love the recipe doing it now for apple butter cinnamon bread