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Lion House Dinner Rolls with Honey Butter

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If you have ever lived in Utah, you know about these Lion House dinner rolls. The Lion House was formerly Brigham Young’s home, but it is now a restaurant and banquet/reception center. For years, my Great Aunt gave us each a traditional Christmas gift: an invitation to a dinner at the Lion House. She had a banquet there every year for her brother and sister, along with their entire families.

The rolls they serve there are out of this world. If you ever have the opportunity to try one from the restaurant, you should. They have shared the recipe, but to me, it’s still not the same as the ones from the actual Lion House.

Lion House dinner roll on a plate

The texture is a little different, but when you can’t have one from the restaurant, this recipe is the next best thing. They are also well known for their shape. That’s how everyone knows they are from the Lion House.

They are made like crescent rolls, except you shape the dough into a large rectangle instead of a circle. Then, you cut out smaller rectangles instead of triangles. More instructions are below in the recipe. I love to make these rolls for Thanksgiving.

These are usually paired with honey butter, so I have included that recipe, too. I prefer to eat them with plain old butter. This allows me to truly enjoy the flavor of the roll. The honey, to me, hides the delicious taste.

  • WATER
  • iNSTANT NONFAT DRY MILK (OR NON-INSTANT)
  • ACTIVE DRY YEAST
  • SUGAR
  • SALT
  • BUTTER, SHORTENING, OR MARGARINE (I USE CANOLA OIL)
  • LARGE EGG
  • ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR OR BREAD FLOUR
  • BUTTER
  • VANILLA
  • HONEY

Prepare the Dough:

  • In a large bowl or the bowl of an stand mixer, combine the warm water and yeast. Let it sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved and foamy.
  • Add the dry milk powder, sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups of flour to the yeast mixture. Mix on low speed until the ingredients are combined and wet. Then, mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.
  • Add another 2 cups of flour to the bowl. Mix at low speed until combined, then continue mixing at medium speed for another 2 minutes. The dough will start to get stiff, and you may need to mix the remaining flour by hand.
  • Add about 1/2 cup of flour at a time and mix until the dough is soft and slightly sticky but not stiff. You may not need to use the entire amount of flour.

First Rise:

  • Scrape the dough off the sides of the bowl and pour about one tablespoon of vegetable oil around the sides of the bowl.
  • Turn the dough over in the bowl to coat it with oil, which helps prevent it from drying out.
  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise in a warm place until it doubles in size, about 45 minutes.

Shape the Rolls and Second Rise:

  • Scrape the risen dough out onto a floured board and divide it into two equal parts.
  • Turn the dough over so it is floured on both sides, and gently flatten it to about 1 inch thick.
  • Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a rectangle approximately 12 inches long, 8 inches wide, and 1/4 inch thick.
  • Brush the dough with melted butter.
  • Using a pizza cutter or a very sharp knife, cut the dough in half lengthwise to make two strips about 4 inches wide. Then, make cuts every 2 inches along the strips, creating about 12 pieces of dough.
  • Starting with the short end of one piece of dough, roll it up with the buttered side on the inside.
  • Place the roll on a parchment-lined or greased baking pan with the seam side down. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough, ensuring all rolls face the same direction on the pan.
  • Cover the rolls lightly with plastic wrap and allow them to rise until doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Lion House Dinner Rolls | realmomkitchen.com

Bake the Rolls:

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
  • Bake the rolls for 20 minutes or until they are light to medium golden brown.
  • Brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter immediately after removing them from the oven.
  • Always add flour gradually and keep the dough as soft as you can handle. A soft dough will produce a lighter roll.
  • It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour called for in the recipe—add only enough flour to make the dough manageable.

To shorten the dough’s rising time, use one of these methods:

  1. When the dough is thoroughly mixed, oil the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Fill the sink or larger bowl with about 2 inches of hot water or enough water to come about half or three-fourths the way up outside the dough bowl. Place the bowl of dough in the bowl of water and allow it to rise until it doubles in size.
  2. Before mixing the dough, turn the oven to the lowest possible temperature. Place a pan of hot water on the bottom oven rack. When the dough is thoroughly mixed, place it in an oiled bowl. Cover the dough with plastic wrap; place in the oven. Turn the oven off, shut the oven door, and allow the dough to rise until double in size, for about 50 to 60 minutes. Shape or cut into desired rolls. Place rolls on greased or parchment-lined pans and allow to rise until double in size. Bake according to recipe.
  3. Brush the top of the rolls with butter when first taken from the oven.
up close view of Lion House roll

Lion House Dinner Rolls

Real Mom Kitchen

5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Rising 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes
Course Breads
Cuisine American
Servings 24 servings
Calories 141 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups warm water 110 to 115 degrees
  • cup nonfat dry milk instant or non-instant
  • 2 Tbsp dry yeast
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 2 tsp salt
  • cup butter shortening, or margarine (I use canola oil)
  • 1 egg
  • 5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour

Instructions
 

  • In large bowl or electric mixer, combine water and yeast; let sit 5 minutes. Add dry milk yeast, then sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups flour. Mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes at medium speed. Add 2 cups flour; mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes at medium speed. (Dough will be getting stiff and remaining flour may need to be mixed in by hand). Add about ½ cup flour and mix again, by hand or mixer. Dough should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff (It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour).
  • Scrape dough off sides of bowl and pour about one tablespoon of vegetable oil all around sides of bowl. Turn dough over in bowl so it is covered with oil. (This helps prevent dough from drying out). Cover with plastic and allow to rise in warm place until double in size, about 45 minutes.
  • Scrape dough out onto floured board. Divide dough into two. Turn dough over so it is floured on both sides; gently flatten to about 1 inch thick. With rolling pin, roll out to a rectangle about 12 inches long, 8 inches wide, and ¼ inch thick. Brush with melted butter. With pizza cutter or very sharp knife, cut dough in half to make two strips about 4 inches wide. Make cuts through strips of dough every 2 inches, making about 12 pieces of dough.
  • Starting with short end, roll up one piece of dough, with butter on the inside. Place roll on parchment-lined pan with other short end down on the paper (I just use a greased pan). Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. Be sure all rolls face the same direction on baking pan. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise until double in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until light to medium golden brown. Brush tops of rolls with melted butter. Makes 2 dozen rolls.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 serving | Calories: 141kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 236mg | Potassium: 94mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 161IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 1mg
Keyword best dinner rolls, Lion House, Utah rolls
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
bowl of Lion House honey butter

Honey Butter

Real Mom Kitchen

5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Course Breads
Cuisine American
Servings 16 servings
Calories 83 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup butter softened
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • ½ cup honey

Instructions
 

  • Whip softened butter until light and fluffy (this is the trick). Add vanilla and honey gradually. Beat for 20 minutes (I just beat til light and fluffy) . Makes 1 cup.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 serving | Calories: 83kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 0.1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 46mg | Potassium: 7mg | Fiber: 0.02g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 177IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 2mg | Iron: 0.05mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Recipes are adapted from the Lion House cookbook.

5 from 2 votes (1 rating without comment)

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16 Comments

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  4. 5 stars
    I love this recipe, but rarely have dry milk on hand. Can I sub regular milk for part of the water amount? Thanks for your help.

  5. For Thanksgiving, I decided I would use this recipe to make the rolls. I was wondering, though, if when you made the recipe you used all purpose or bread flour. I noticed that the recipe says you can use either one. However, I also read that you said the lighter the flour the lighter the texture. Which did you go for? Thanks.

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  8. The Bently Family, sorry your rolls didn’t work. Did the yeast look like it was growing? Another ting you can do is use SAF yeast. With that yeast you don’t have to put the yeast in the warm water. You just add it when you add the flour. It’s a more fail proof way to make yeast dough.

  9. Help!!!!!! I tried to make these on Monday and failed oh so miserably. I am still so sad about it. I followed your instructions to a T and my first dough didn’t rise a mm. What do you think the odds are that my yeast was bad? It was new???? My only thought was that I put a little too much oil in the bowl when i put the dough in, do you think that could do it? I was so excited to make these and then so bummed when they didn’t even close to work out. I have a bosch mixer and use that to make my rolls. How long do you usually knead the dough for?

  10. I love this recipe and make it several times a month but I’ve always made them in crescent shapes because I didn’t know how to do it the traditional Lion House way. Now I can’t wait to try it! Thanks!