Classic cloverleaf rolls are classic dinner rolls, made by placing 3 dough balls together into muffin cups, where they rise and bake into buttery, golden, pull-apart perfect dinner rolls.
Cloverleaf dinner rolls might just be my favourite! It’s hard to beat their rich, buttery flavour, and there is just something so satisfying about pulling them apart!
While this cloverleaf roll dough is enriched with butter, milk and eggs, the rolls still manage to be wonderfully tender while also being sturdy enough to butter easily.
Cloverleaf rolls are just a bit more work than regular dinner rolls, as the dough needs to be portioned into small balls to form the 3-piece dough cluster to form the distinctive cloverleaf shape. The little bit of extra effort is totally worth it, in my opinion!
Love pretty and delicious dinner rolls? You might like to try my Butterflake Rolls recipe, too!
Ingredients and substitutions
A few notes about the key ingredients …
Yeast – While Instant yeast is specified and recommended, you can use Active Dry yeast to make these rolls. See the alternative mixing method in the recipe instructions.
Bread flour – Bread flour is specified and recommended for this recipe to produce the perfect light-textured rolls. All-purpose flour will work if bread flour isn’t an option. You may need to add a bit more all-purpose flour to the dough to reach the proper dough consistency, and the finished texture of the rolls may differ slightly.
Instant mashed potato flakes – Look for instant mashed potato flakes that are unseasoned. Bob’s Red Mill Potato Flakes are a good option. If unavailable, opt for instant mashed potato flakes that have minimal additional seasoning, ideally with just added salt. In that case, you can simply reduce the added salt in the rolls slightly to accommodate the salt in the potato flakes. Avoid any instant potatoes with seasonings such as onion or garlic powders to avoid introducing those flavours to your rolls.
How to make cloverleaf dinner rolls: step-by-step
This is a visual summary of the steps to make this recipe. Scroll down to the Recipe Card below for the complete list of ingredients and instructions.
Step 1: Mix up the dough. While the dough will wrap the kneading hood, it will be moist and sticky.
Step 2: Remove the dough to a floured surface and knead by hand until smooth. Form into a ball.
Step 3: Set the dough to rise until doubled in a greased bowl covered with plastic wrap, about 90 minutes.
Step 4: Once doubled, remove the dough and weigh it to determine the total dough weight. (If you don’t have a scale, simply divide into 36 equal pieces.)
Step 5: Divide the total dough weight by 36 to determine the weight for each piece and weigh them out.
Step 6: Gather all the dough pieces on a work surface.
Step 7: Stretch the dough to create a smooth “top”, then flip the dough over on a work surface.
Step 8: Pinch the dough together to make a tight ball. Flip over, smooth side up.
Step 9: Form 3 balls into a 3-ball cluster, then gently transfer them together into a greased muffin cup.
Step 10: Repeat with the remaining dough pieces. Cover with greased plastic wrap.
Step 11: Let the rolls rise until they are puffy and crest the muffin cups a bit, about 35-45 minutes. Bake.
Step 12: While hot from the oven, brush the rolls with melted butter and sprinkle with flaky salt.
Recipe tips!
- Weighing the flour on a kitchen scale is highly recommended, as measuring flour in cups can vary. If you don’t have a scale, be sure to measure the flour with the spoon and level method, to avoid adding too much flour to the dough.
- Form the cloverleaf shape with the 3 small dough balls outside the muffin cups, then place them into the cups together, rather than dropping the dough balls into the muffin cups individually. When you drop them in, they may not sit evenly on the bottom of the muffin cup and will often rise unevenly and bake up lopsided, with one of the leaves being bigger than the other two.
- Rotating the baking pan halfway through baking ensures that the rolls brown evenly.
- An instant-read thermometer is your friend when it comes to baking rolls. Bake the roll just until the internal temperature reaches 185-190F. This will ensure that your rolls are set, but still light and fluffy.
- If your rolls are browning too quickly before the rolls are done, lay a sheet of aluminum foil loosely over the top of the rolls to prevent further browning for the last bit of baking time.
FAQ
My preferred method for reheating dinner rolls is to wrap them in foil and place them in a 350F oven until warmed (8-10 minutes). If the oven is full of other things (or at a different temperature), I will wrap the rolls in a clean tea towel and microwave them for about 30 seconds to warm.
This is one of the cases where what you can do and what you should do are different. While you could wrap frozen rolls in foil and place them in the oven, the quality of the rolls will suffer. It takes just a short time for rolls to thaw. Keep them wrapped and set them on the counter for 30-45 minutes before reheating.
In my experience, baked rolls that are frozen as soon as they have cooled will suffer very little loss of quality, so freezing freshly baked rolls will always be my go-to method for making rolls well ahead. If you are determined to freeze them unbaked to bake them fresh later, allow ample time for the dough to both thaw and rise at room temperature before baking. That could take several hours, so plan accordingly.
Making ahead, storing and freezing
These rolls are best enjoyed on the day they are baked. Once baked, allow to cool to room temperature, then wrap tightly and store at room temperature to enjoy later.
If you’d like to make them further ahead, the best strategy is to bake the rolls, cool them just to room temperature, then wrap them well and freeze. The rolls will freeze well for up to 2 months, though they are probably best enjoyed within a month. Thaw on the counter still wrapped, then enjoy as is or reheat.
I have always preferred to bake the rolls and then freeze them, as rolls freeze beautifully, with little deterioration in quality. That said, you can freeze the unbaked rolls. Simply place the 3 dough balls into the muffin cups, then immediately transfer the muffin tin to the freezer for about an hour. Remove the dough pieces to a freezer bag or container and freeze for up to one month. To bake, transfer the dough pieces to a muffin tin, cover with plastic wrap and allow to thaw and rise (could take 1 1/2-2 hours to thaw and rise) before baking as specified.
To reheat the rolls, wrap them tightly in aluminum foil and place them in a 350F oven until warmed, about 8-10 minutes.
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email and I’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Seasons and Suppers.
You can unsubscribe at any time.
Get the Recipe: Cloverleaf Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups (420 g) bread flour, spooned and levelled *see Note 1 below
- 3/4 cup (42 g) unseasoned instant potato flakes, *see Note 2 below
- 1/4 cup (50 g) white granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (9 g) fine table salt, reduce by 1/4 teaspoon if using salted butter below
- 2 teaspoons (6 g) instant yeast, *see tip below for using Active Dry yeast
- 5 Tablespoons (71 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 8 pieces
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups (284 g) whole milk, lukewarm, about 105F
For brushing after baking:
- 2 Tablespoons (28 g) butter, melted
For sprinkling after baking:
- flaky finishing salt, such as Maldon's, optional
Equipment
- 12-cup muffin tin
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the kneading hook, add the 3 1/2 cups bread flour (spooned and levelled *see Note 1 below), 3/4 cup unseasoned instant potato flakes (*see Note 2 below), 1/4 cup white granulated sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons fine table salt (reduce by 1/4 teaspoon if using salted butter below) and 2 teaspoons instant yeast (*see tip below for using Active Dry yeast). Mix briefly to combine.
- Heat the 1 1/4 cups whole milk (lukewarm, about 105F) in the microwave or a saucepan just to lukewarm, about 105F. Be sure that the milk is not too hot, or it can kill the yeast. (If using Active Dry yeast, stir it into the lukewarm milk and let stand 5-10 minutes.)
- Add the 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter (at room temperature, cut into 8 pieces), 1 large egg (at room temperature) and the lukewarm milk to the bowl and mix on Speed 2 until the dough comes together, about 1 minute.
- Increase the speed of the mixer to Speed 3 and knead for 8-10 minutes. The dough should wrap the kneading hook, but it may be sticky. (See the step-by-step photos above this Recipe Card to see the consistency of my finished dough. If your dough seems stickier, add a bit more flour to the bowl until it looks the same.)
- Scrape the dough onto a floured work surface and knead by hand for 2-3 minutes, adding more flour only if the dough is sticking to your hands or the work surface.
- Form the dough into a ball and place it into a greased bowl or an 8-cup measuring cup. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. (Your rising time may vary depending on the temperature of your kitchen. Let the dough rise just until doubled, however long that takes. It may take more or less time than specified.)
- Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface. Use a kitchen scale to weigh the total weight of the dough, then divide that number by 36 to arrive at a weight for each dough piece. (Mine was 919g total weight, and each dough piece was 26g). Weigh out 36 individual dough pieces.
- Take one dough piece and form it into a ball by stretching to form a smooth top, then pinching together underneath (see the step-by-step photos above this Recipe Card to see this process). Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.
- Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or brush with softened butter. Set aside.
- Take 3 of the dough balls and bring them together into a triangle shape, with the dough pieces just touching each other. (Again, refer to the step-by-step photos above this Recipe Card to see what this looks like.) Gently transfer the 3-ball unit into the well of a muffin cup, placing it seam-side down and with each of the 3 balls sitting evenly on the bottom of the muffin cup. Repeat until you have 12 rolls in all the muffin cups.
- Spray a large piece of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it over the muffin tin with the sprayed side down. Allow the rolls to rise until puffy and just cresting the top of the muffin cups, about 35-45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350F (regular bake setting – not convection or fan-assisted) with the rack in the centre of the oven.
- Once the rolls are ready to bake, place them in the preheated oven and bake for 16-20 minutes, rotating the pan front to back halfway through baking to create even browning. Bake until the rolls are deep golden and the internal temperature of the rolls, when tested with an instant-read thermometer, is 185-190F. (If the rolls are sufficiently browned before the rolls are fully baked, cover the top of the rolls loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil to prevent over-browning while the rolls finish baking.
- Remove from the oven and immediately brush with 2 Tablespoons butter (melted). If desired, sprinkle the tops with flaky finishing salt (such as Maldon's, optional) while the butter is still wet.
- Once brushed with butter, gently remove the rolls from the muffin cups onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely for storage or to cool to just warm if serving immediately. Transfer cooled rolls to an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 8 hours for best quality if enjoying on the same day. Store leftover rolls in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2-3 days. If making well ahead or for longer storage, wrap well and freeze as soon as they are cool for up to 1 month (for best quality) or up to 3 months. Thaw frozen rolls, still wrapped, on the counter for 1 hour before serving or warming.
- To rewarm the rolls, wrap in foil and place in a 350F oven until warmed, about 8-10 minutes. Alternatively, you can wrap in a clean tea towel and microwave for about 30 seconds to warm.
Notes
- Use a kitchen scale to weigh the ingredients for best consistency and to avoid adding too much flour to the dough, which can result in heavy rolls.
- Don’t add too much flour to the dough in the bowl. The dough should be quite moist and tacky in the bowl. If a bit more flour is needed to create a kneadable dough, do it on the counter after removing it from the bowl, adding only as much flour as is needed to remove any sticking.
- Rise the dough only until doubled, no more or no less. While it took 1 1/2 hours in my kitchen, it may take as little as an hour in yours or as much as 2 hours. Watch the dough and not the clock. When it has doubled, proceed with the recipe.
- Exact baking time will vary from oven to oven and even based on the colour of your muffin tin. Dark metal muffin tins will bake more quickly.Â
- An instant-read thermometer takes the guesswork out of knowing when your rolls are done and is highly recommended. When you’ve invested the time to make the rolls, you don’t want to be disappointed at the end if the rolls are under- or overbaked.
Adapted from a Serious Eats recipe
More dinner roll recipes to love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress-free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
