Buttery Cloverleaf Rolls (Video)

Soft, buttery, and taken up a notch with a sprinkling of kosher salt. Our cloverleaf rolls are simply the best! One batch makes a dozen, but you might want to go ahead and make a double recipe. They'll go fast!

You might also like our 1-hour dinner rolls or our quick garlic parmesan breadsticks.

Watch our step by step video!

What Are Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls?

Cloverleaf dinner rolls are an absolute classic. 3 small balls of dough are packed tightly together in muffin cups to form the clover shape. Once baked, the clover shape makes the rolls easy to section off into thirds simply by pulling. They have a soft, buttery texture and are taken up a notch with a sprinkling of kosher salt.

They aren't hard to make so there's no reason to only save them for Thanksgiving dinner! Made with our fool-proof Amish white bread dough, these cloverleaf-shaped dinner rolls are perfect to serve with potato chowder or chili!

The cloverleaf shape is perfect for St. Patrick's Day! I like adding a few drops of food coloring to the butter for "green butter" to spread on toast and rolls on St. Patrick's Day.

Cloverleaf Rolls Ingredients

You can make cloverleaf dinner rolls with any roll recipe. If you prefer milk bread (rolls made with milk and eggs) you can use our knotted roll recipe for the dough. I like our Amish white bread recipe because it’s fluffy and light, uses the most basic of ingredients and has great flavor!

• warm water
• active dry yeast
• sugar
• olive oil
• salt
• flour (bread flour or all-purpose flour)

Topping

• melted butter
• kosher salt

How To Make Cloverleaf Rolls

How to Make Roll Dough

1. In a large bowl, combine warm water, sugar, and yeast. Cover for 5 minutes until foamy.
2. Add olive oil and salt. Stir.
3. Add flour, one cup at a time, to the water mixture and stir with a wooden spoon, or a Danish dough whisk, or mix with a stand mixer (with a dough hook) until dough forms.
4. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic.
5. Place dough into an oiled bowl (add a tablespoon of olive oil to your bowl, place dough inside, and flip over to coat evenly).
6. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise until doubled inside, about an hour.
7. Punch down dough.

How To Shape Cloverleaf Rolls

1. Divide dough into 12 sections.
2. Divide each section into thirds.
3. Shape into tight balls of dough.

Note: if the dough is sticking to your hands you can lightly oil your fingers to make shaping the rolls a little easer.

Baking Rolls

1. Grease a muffin pan and place 3 balls of dough into each muffin cavity.
2. Let rolls rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Melt butter in the microwave. Brush rolls lightly with melted butter and then sprinkle with kosher salt before baking.
4. Bake rolls for 12-14 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

Brush with remaining melted butter after baking.

Allow rolls to cool in pan for 5 minutes before cooling on a wire rack.

What is the Best Flour To Use for Bread and Roll Making?

Bread flour is ideal due to the higher protein which produces gluten. I typically use whatever I have on hand (bread flour or all-purpose flour).

CAN YOU USE INSTANT AND DRY ACTIVE YEAST INTERCHANGEABLY?

For the most part, I use whatever yeast is available. Most of the time it’s the instant yeast that comes in a large package from Sam’s Club. When I use dry active yeast I add 10-15 minutes to the rise time. Technically you do not need to proof instant yeast, only dry active yeast, but I’ve gotten so used to proofing my yeast that I proof it for every recipe.

Overnight Dinner Roll Instructions

After shaping the rolls and placing them into the muffin pan, cover gently with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Place covered rolls into the refrigerator. A couple of hours before baking pull out and let sit on the counter until rolls have come to room temperature and have puffed up slightly. Bake as directed.

Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls Recipe

Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls

Soft, buttery, and taken up a notch with a sprinkling of kosher salt. Our cloverleaf rolls are simply the best! One batch makes a dozen, but you might want to go ahead and make a double recipe. They'll go fast!

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 14 minutes minutes

rise: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 54 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 rolls

Calories: 144kcal

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 ¼ teaspoon yeast (1 packet)
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2 ¾ cups flour bread flour or all purpose flour

Topping

• ¼ cup melted butter
• kosher salt for sprinkling on rolls

Instructions

• In a large bowl, combine warm water, sugar and yeast. Cover for 5 minutes until foamy.
• Add olive oil and salt. Stir.
• Add flour, one cup at a time, and mix until dough forms.
• Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes until smooth.
• Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the dough bowl, place dough inside, and turn over to coat dough in oil.
• Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled inside, about an hour.
• Punch down dough.
• Divide dough into 12 sections.
• Divide each section into thirds.
• Shape into tight balls of dough (3 per roll).
• Grease a muffin pan and place 3 balls of dough into each muffin cavity.
• Let rolls rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Brush rolls lightly with melted butter and sprinkle with kosher salt before baking.
• Bake rolls for 12-14 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
• Brush with remaining melted butter after baking.
• Allow rolls to cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Notes

Store rolls in an airtight container. Rolls will stay fresh for 3 days at room temperature and can be frozen for longer storage.

Nutrition

Calories: 144kcal