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Brown Butter Sage Dinner Rolls

Brown butter sage dinner rolls made with an enriched, yeast-risen dough and a glossy browned-butter glaze. Bake until golden-bronze and finish with crispy sage leaves pressed on top for pull-apart softness.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
rising 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 22 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Calories: 260
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For dough
  • 0.75 cup warm whole milk about 105–110°F for activating yeast
  • 2.25 tsp instant yeast
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 0.5 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly browned reserve half for dough and half for glaze
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 cup all-purpose flour
For brown butter sage glaze
  • 0.5 cup unsalted butter the remaining butter for browning
  • 16 fresh sage leaves
  • 1 garlic, minced
  • 0.25 tsp flaky sea salt

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Brown the butter and activate the yeast
  1. Brown 1/2 cup butter in a pan, then cool slightly until warm and fragrant.
  2. In a bowl, combine warm whole milk, sugar, the browned butter, and eggs, then add instant yeast and let it foam for 5 minutes.
Make the dough and first rise
  1. Add all-purpose flour and salt to the yeast mixture and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
  2. Form the dough into a ball, cover, and let it rise for 1 hour until doubled.
  3. Divide the dough into 12 equal balls and place them in a greased 9x13 dish.
  4. Cover and let the rolls rise again for 30–40 minutes until puffy.
Bake and finish with sage glaze
  1. Preheat the oven to 375F while the rolls finish rising.
  2. Bake the rolls for 18–22 minutes, until golden and they sound hollow when tapped.
  3. For the glaze, brown the remaining butter, then fry fresh sage leaves until crispy, adding minced garlic briefly to perfume the butter.
  4. Stir in flaky sea salt, then brush the rolls generously with the brown butter sage glaze.
  5. Press the fried sage leaves onto each roll and let them stand 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

Pro tip: use warm (not hot) milk so the yeast foams reliably. Refrigerate leftover rolls in an airtight container up to 3 days; rewarm in a 300F oven for 8–10 minutes. Freezing is yes—freeze baked rolls up to 2 months and rewarm from frozen. For a lighter option, substitute 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour blend (with xanthan gum) and expect a slightly denser crumb.