Granny Buns (Old Fashioned Dinner Rolls)

I love the name Granny buns because these truly are my Granny's buns. These Old Fashioned Dinner Rolls are the ones she made all the time when I was growing up. They would be at all holiday family dinners and they were highly coveted. These homemade Granny buns are light, fluffy, soft, and taste heavenly!

These fluffy dinner rolls are popular during holiday dinners such as Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas brunch, or Easter brunch , but are great for any time of the year. Grandma Buns are also ideal for bringing along to a potluck, family gathering, or a backyard BBQ~!

🥘 Ingredient Notes

Although I make a lot of bread in my bread machine, there is nothing, in this world as divine as the smell of yeast and fresh buns baking in the oven! Personally, it brings back some of the most wonderful baking (and eating) memories from my childhood. My aunt loves this nostalgic aroma so much that she makes them just for that reason, even though she's celiac and can't even eat them!

Yeast is the key ingredient but these dinner rolls have all the other usual suspects like water, oil, flour, and eggs. but it's the additional sugar that makes them special. They are a little sweeter than your typical homemade roll.  

For this bun recipe, you'll need:

• Warm water and white granulated sugar. These activate the yeast.
• Quick-rise yeast (aka instant yeast). Buns made with instant yeast will rise more quickly.
• Eggs. Serve as the binder in these buns.
• Cooking oil. Adds moisture *I use Canola oil. It's the most popular baking oil as it's stable at high temperatures, is cost-effective, and has a very natural flavor. It also has only 7% saturated fat and contains omega-3.
• White vinegar. Results in a less dense and chewy bread.
• Baking powder. Serves as a leavener.
• All- purpose flour. In North America, all-purpose flour is quite high in protein so you don't need to use bread flour.
• Melted butter (optional). When brushed on the buns before baking, it gives them an extra boost of flavor and shine.
• White granulated sugar. Because of the sugar, these buns are a bit sweeter than many dinner buns I've tried and that's what makes them so unique and special!

🔪How to Make Granny Buns

Okay, so I'm going to be very honest - this is a day job! But a really FUN day job 🙂 These buns are very time-consuming (4-5 hours) not including clean up. But they are also sooo worth the effort!

So if you're up for a challenge or for simply enjoying some zen baking (and have some time on your hands), then this recipe is for you. If you are in a hurry, do not make these!

I have very detailed step-by-step instructions because it can be tricky to get it right, especially if you're not a seasoned bread maker.

Dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar in 1 cup water.

Sprinkle yeast (do not stir), then let stand for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer), beat together: 3 eggs, 1 cup oil, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 2 tsps vinegar.

Add yeast mixture to egg mixture.

Add 4 cups warm water and 4 cups flour. Beat well with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes on low speed. *Using a stand mixer is ideal

Add 6 more cups of flour and mix well.

* If you are using a hand mixer, switch to a spoon at this point.

*If using a stand mixer continue to mix with mixer

Then add more flour (½ cup at a time) until dough is soft and spongy **I added about about 1 ½ additional cups flour in addition, but you may not need as much flour (or you may need more)!

But it will depend on how the dough feels soft and spongy. *you don't want it to be sticky - it should come away from your fingers.

Grease the inside of a large bowl and place dough inside greased bowl (Make sure to grease the sides of the bowl).

Cover with a clean kitchen towel and place in a draft-free warm place

First rise: Allow dough to rise for 20 minutes, then punch down (See VIDEO in NOTES for how to punch down dough)

Second rise: Let rise again in a warm spot, until double in size (this takes about an hour)

*You will likely need to move it to a larger bowl

*If you plan to freeze part of the dough, remove it now and place it in a labelled Ziploc freezer bag and freeze it for up to 3 months.

When it's defrosted at room temperature, you can go on to the next step and form it into balls, then rise agian and bake as per directions.

Spray two to three 9X13 pans with non-stick cooking spray and form the dough into a dough ball.

Take enough dough so that you can make the size between a golf ball and a tennis ball.

Make it into a round(ish) shape and place in greased pan (you can grease the pan with butter or use PAM -I use PAM)

*You can make them smaller if you want to get more buns out of them

Keep making dough balls until the dough runs out but only put 12 per pan.

Cover with a clean towel and let rise for 2 more hours!

*This is how they should look after this final rise

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/176 degrees C

Optional: Use a pastry brush to brush tops with a little butter before putting buns in the oven. (I did this!)

.* Some may brown a little darker than others, depending on how the butter is distributed

Bake at 325 degrees F/176 degrees C for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown
Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove and place buns on a cooling rack.

🌡️Storage

Store these leftover dinner rolls in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. If you are just storing them overnight, you can keep them in the pan and cover it with plastic wrap.

🌡️ Can these homemade dinner rolls be frozen?

Yes, these homemade dinner rolls freeze well. After they are completely cool, I put leftover rolls into a large ziplock bag and freeze them for up to 3 months (you could even push it to 6 months).

You can also freeze the dough. You'll want to do this after STEP 11 (the second dough rise)

It's best to defrost them at room temperature, but you can put them in the microwave for 20 seconds to defrost them if you need them STAT (as I just did while I was writing this post 🙂 )

👪 Servings Size

This homemade rolls recipe makes about 3-4 dozen (36-48 buns) but that depends on how large you make them. If you make them the size I did, you'll get 36, but you can make them smaller and get up to 48.

🥗 What to serve with Grandma Buns?

Old Fashioned Buns go with just about ANY meal, especially a big holiday meal! If you're serving them for Easter dinner, try them with my Picnic Shoulder Ham, Old Fashioned Scalloped Potatoes, Healthy Glazed Carrots (shown), and this Easter Punch recipe!

I also love to eat them slathered with butter (or in our house, we eat my daughter's dairy-free Becel Vegan margarine), and they still taste amazing! They also make a great sandwich bun and pair well with soups, stews, chili, and salads.

However, they are simply amazing as a side with holiday dinners. I'll be having them with my Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter dinners this year, and I would encourage you to do the same!