Braided Dinner Rolls with Whipped Herb Butter

The one thing you should make for your next dinner party.

This is one of my favorite things to make for a dinner party, so I thought it would be the perfect recipe to share ahead of Thanksgiving. I love every dinner roll I’ve ever met — potato, King’s Hawaiian, Parker House — but nothing beats the ones that are still warm from the oven.

I like to braid mine and serve them directly on the table with a side of fluffy whipped butter. Guests can tear off tender pieces, dress them in a swipe of butter and pick at them throughout the night. This experience feels somehow both opulent and careless — like eating grapes off the vine.

In this recipe, warm milk speeds up the rising time so you can prep these after lunch and still have them ready for dinner. Buttermilk keeps them light and tender, but be sure to note the order of operations. It doesn’t take much heat to curdle, so adding it after the sugar, butter, water and eggs have brought down the temperature of the milk is important. This recipe assumes you know how to braid, but the rise and oven spring offer a pretty forgiving amount of puffiness if you’re a bit out of practice.