9 Thanksgiving dinner roll recipes, plus holiday-worthy biscuits, muffins, scones (2024)

No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without fresh rolls and biscuits. And if you plan ahead, you can start the holiday with delicious baked goods, such as quick breads, muffins and scones that capture the flavors of fall.

Suer, you can always opt for store-bought rolls – and there are some good ones out there – but after all the effort you’ve put into the turkey, don’t you want something equally spectacular to serve with it? Also, leftover rolls are perfect for Black Friday sandwiches and other Thanksgiving leftovers.

Here are some of our favorite recipes for baked goods that would make worthy additions to your holiday menu.

Parker House Rolls

Parker House rolls are the fully loaded Cadillac of dinner rolls. These thin-crusted, fluffy-crumbed, glossy American rolls are pillowy-soft, a little sweet, and packed with butter, and this recipe for them was perfected by the good folks at America’s Test Kitchen. The rolls owe their name to Boston’s famed Parker House, a hotel that has been a bastion of Brahmin hospitality since the middle of the 19th century.

Recipe: Parker House Rolls.

Cloverleaf Hot Rolls

Kitchen Scoop columnist Alicia Ross came up with this variation on the Hot Rolls recipe from “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, 11th edition.” Because they take time to rise, this is a good baking project for the night before Thanksgiving. Just toss them in a 200-degree oven 15 minutes before serving to warm them through.

Recipe: Cloverleaf Hot Rolls.

Sweet Potato and Potato Dinner Rolls

We’ve fallen hard for these spud-centric dinner rolls from “Martha Stewart Vegetables.” They’re made with either mashed sweet potatoes or russet potatoes, which help the rolls ferment as they raise, but also guarantee that the rolls will be light.

And since these rolls can be made with leftover mashed potatoes, they're go-to recipes for Thanksgiving weekend, when you might want even more rolls to go with sandwiches or turkey soup.

Recipes: Sweet Potato Yeasted Rolls; Potato Dinner Rolls.

Sweet Sesame Dinner Rolls

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These buttery, tender seed rolls that are pull-apart delicious. The soft, pillowy rolls are perfect for wiping your plate clean. The lightly sweet flavor is the perfect complement to the many savory staples Thanksgiving offers, and leftovers are good for Black Friday sandwiches.

Recipe: Sweet Sesame Dinner Rolls.

Butter Fan Rolls

Butter Fan rolls are about as elegant as Thanksgiving baking gets, , with fanned-out, golden-brown tops that are the result of some complex assembly and gobs and gobs of butter. These rolls require up to 5 hours to pull together, though most of that is inactive rising time. If that seems like too much kitchen drama for Thanksgiving Day, they can be prepared up until the final rise the day before, then refrigerated overnight.

Recipe: Butter Fan Rolls.

Make-Ahead Old-Fashioned Dinner Rolls

This classic recipe makes about two dozen dinner rolls, guaranteeing that there will be enough leftover for making turkey sandwiches the day after Thanksgiving.

Recipe: Make-Ahead Old-Fashioned Dinner Rolls.

Cider House Butter Rolls

Buttery Parker House Rolls provide the inspiration for these easy-to-make dinner rolls, which are sweetened with fresh apple cider that’s been boiled down to a syrup.

Recipe: Cider House Butter Rolls.

Buttery Yeast Rolls

This recipe from Elizabeth Karmel is pretty foolproof and doesn’t need very much attention or kneading. The real secret is patience, as you will have to go through four rises and lots of waiting to make these tender, flaky and delicate buttery yeast rolls. Just remember what your mother said: “Good things come to those who wait!”

Recipe: Buttery Yeast Rolls.

Sharon’s Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

This incredible biscuit recipe is one of our all-time reader favorites. It was created by former staffer Sharon Maasdam. Their flaky texture makes them perfect for sopping up turkey gravy.

Recipe: Sharon’s Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits.

Make-Ahead Cornbread Buttermilk Biscuits

These rich cornbread biscuits can be prepared up to the point of baking, then arranged on the pan, wrapped tightly in plastic and frozen for up to two weeks. They can be baked right from the freezer, but be sure to allow 3 to 4 minutes of extra cooking time than is called for in the recipe.

Recipe: Make-Ahead Cornbread Buttermilk Biscuits.

Black Sesame-Orange Monkey Bread

Back in the 1980s, Monkey Bread was a regular fixture of holiday meals at the White House. This recipe isn’t from the Reagans, however. It’s from Food Network personality Aarti Sequeira, who uses refrigerated biscuits to make the easy recipe come together quickly.

Recipe: Black Sesame-Orange Monkey Bread.

Pumpkin-Cranberry Muffins

We asked baking expert Fran Costigan what would be the perfect baked treat to enjoy while watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or football games, and she came up with the stellar muffins, which have spices like nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground ginger. They’re a time-saver, too, since the flavor actually improves the second day, so bake these on Wednesday night to enjoy Thanksgiving morning.

Recipe: Spiced Pumpkin-Cranberry Muffins With Chocolate Chips and Pecans.

Bacon-Maple Pecan Scones

Contributor Ivy Manning originally came up with these sweet and savory scones for a Valentine’s breakfast in bed. But they feature classic Thanksgiving flavors, and would be a great thing for people to nibble in the morning while waiting for the big meal to come together.

Recipe: Bacon Maple Pecan Scones.

Cranberry scones

These slightly sweet scones from baking superstar Alice Medrich are perfect for Thanksgiving morning, of course, but they also could work as stand-ins for regular dinner rolls for Thanksgiving dinner.

Recipe: Corn Flour and Cranberry Scones.

Maple Pumpkin Bread

Quick breads offer breakfast, tea, snack and even dessert options, and are a great addition to the Thanksgiving game plan, particularly if your meal is going to be later in the day. This recipe from Kitchen Scoop’s Alicia Ross leaves out the dairy without compromising on taste or texture.

Recipe: Dairy-Free Maple Pumpkin Bread.

More Thanksgiving recipes

Looking for more Thanksgiving recipes? We’ve got you covered.

• A “Joy of Cooking” Thanksgiving: A new generation takes on the year’s biggest meal.
• Thanksgiving turkey: How much to buy, how long to thaw, how to roast.
• Our 12 all-time top roasted turkey recipes.
• Make-ahead mashed potatoes, plus 13 other essential Thanksgiving potato dishes.
• 29 Thanksgiving side dishes, including 3 variations on green bean casserole.
• 35 vegan, vegetarian Thanksgiving dishes to be truly thankful for.
• 12 Thanksgiving gravy recipes to pour over turkey, mashed potatoes.
• 15 Thanksgiving cranberry recipes that put sauce out of a can to shame.
• 28 Thanksgiving dessert recipes, including the best variations on pumpkin pie.

-- Grant Butler

gbutler@oregonian.com

503-221-8566; @grantbutler

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