School Cafeteria Yeast Rolls – the rolls that came with my grammar school lunch were always the highlight of the meal. I found the recipe for those yummy rolls in a government cookbook & couldn’t resist trying them. OMG! SO good! Super easy to make with only 6 ingredients – bread flour, salt, sugar, vegetable oil, water, and yeast. These are now our go-to homemade rolls for the holidays!
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Pin This RecipeSchool Lunchroom Yeast Rolls
A few months ago I posted a recipe for School Cafeteria Pizza on the website. It was a HUGE hit at our house, so I decided to try another recipe from the recipe book. I decided on these School Cafeteria Yeast Rolls. OMG! These rolls are ridiculously delicious. They tasted just like the rolls we ate back in grammar school – only better! The rolls are surprisingly easy to make with only 6 simple ingredients – bread flour, yeast, sugar, dry milk, salt, oil, and water. Give these a try the next time you need some delicious homemade bread. I promise you won’t be disappointed!
How to Make School Cafeteria Yeast Rolls
I know working with yeast can be intimidating but, don’t worry, these rolls are very easy to make. It just takes a little patience for the dough to rise.
To make the rolls, start with combing yeast and warm water. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer combine flour, salt, sugar, and dry milk. Add vegetable oil and warm water. Mix for 2 minutes. Add the yeast mixture and knead the dough on medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover the bowl and let the bread rise in a warm place until doubled in size. Punch down the dough and form it into 24 balls. Place dough in a baking dish. Cover and let the rolls rise in a warm place until doubled in size. Once the rolls have risen, bake. Brush the cooked rolls with melted butter.
- This recipe calls for 2½Tablespoons of yeast. That is correct.
- Can I substitute all-purpose flour for the bread flour? Yes. The only difference between all-purpose flour and bread flour is the protein content. Bread flour has a little more protein. The extra protein will give you a slightly higher rise than all-purpose flour. You will still get a good rise from all-purpose flour.
- Can Cafeteria Yeast Rolls be frozen? Yes! You can freeze the baked rolls for later. When ready to eat, thaw and reheat in the microwave or covered in the oven.
What to Serve with Homemade Bread
These rolls are a new favorite. They are light and fluffy and especially delicious slathered in butter. Whip up some Homemade Creamy Honey Butter if you really want to put this bread over the top.
These rolls go with absolutely everything! I especially love them during the holidays. The rolls make a mean leftover ham or turkey sandwich! Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this homemade bread:
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School Cafeteria Yeast Rolls
Ingredients:
Instructions:
- In a small bowl, combine yeast and ¾ cup of water. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, salt, and dry milk powder.
- Add vegetable oil and 1¼ cup water. Mix on low for 3 minutes.
- Add yeast mixture and knead on medium speed for 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Loosely cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm spot until double in size, about 45 minutes.
- Punch dough down. Lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Divide the dough into 24 balls and place in the prepared baking dish. Loosely cover the dish and let the dough rise in a warm spot until double in size, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Bake rolls for 18 to 20 minutes.
- Brush baked rolls with melted butter and enjoy!
Notes:
- This recipe calls for 2½ Tablespoons of yeast. That is correct.
- One cup of flour weighs 4.25-ounces. To properly measure flour, give the flour a stir to loosen it up in the container. Use a spoon and lightly spoon the flour into your measuring cup. Use a flat straight edge (like the straight back of a knife) to level off the top of the flour in the measuring cup. Do NOT compact the flour in the measuring cup.
- Can I substitute all-purpose flour for the bread flour? Yes. The only difference between all-purpose flour and bread flour is the protein content. Bread flour has a little more protein. The extra protein will give you a slightly higher rise than all-purpose flour. You will still get a good rise from all-purpose flour.
- Can Cafeteria Yeast Rolls be frozen? Yes! You can freeze the baked rolls for later. When ready to eat, thaw and reheat in the microwave or covered in the oven.
Steph
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What size of pan are you using on your video site that holds all 24 rolls?
9×13
Hi there. Recipe calls for 11 tablespoons of dry milk (almost 3/4 cup). Is that right?? I’ve never used close to that much in a recipe so thought I’d check. I’m pretty confident it is since no one has sent a negative comment but doesn’t hurt to check before I use up the ingredients and take the time to make them. Thank you in advance for helping to ease my mind. And thank you for all the great school recipes!
The recipe is correct as written.
If I use the packets of yeast instead of bulk, how many packets would I use?
One packet of yeast equals 2 1/4 teaspoons
Hello Steph, I need your help. I have never baked any kind of bread or rolls. Your recipe calls for yeast, but when I went to look for yeast I found there is a few different kinds. There is active yeast, instant yeast, rapid rise/quick rising yeast, and fresh yeast. Which type of yeast does your recipe use? As I said, I’m not a baker or even a great cook so if you can be specific (maybe tell me the name brand if you are located in the U.S.). That would be helpful. Thank you for the recipe. I loved the school’s rolls and would like to attempt this recipe. Thanks for any help you can give.
active dry yeast
Hi , I have been wanting to recreate these rolls from my childhood for sometime now , when I came across your recipe. But I have a question. Could I substitute melted butter in place of the oil?
Thank you!
I’ve only made the recipe as written, so I can not say.
Can you make this in a bread machine?
I have never tried this recipe in the bread machine, so I can not say. If you try it, let us know if it works.
Yes! It works perfectly fine using the “dough” setting.
If a recipe says yeast or even dough, I’m usually out but I am definitely making these. I still remember walking into the cafeteria and smelling these rolls before I even saw them. Something I also remember from elementary is the sugar cookies. They were small and fairly crispy. I usually don’t like a crispy cookie but I still dream of those. Thanks for bringing back all the memories.
Just had a question, planning to try this this coming weekend. The yeast is going into water, is that warm/hot/cold water?
¾ cup warm water