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Salted Sage Honey Butter Brioche Rolls. These light, airy, buttery rolls are perfectly salted and so delicious, with salty-sweet sage honey butter swirled throughout each roll. Serve these soft brioche rolls warm right out of the oven with a sprinkle of flaked sea salt. These are quick and simple dinner rolls made using flour, salt, instant yeast, honey, eggs, butter, and sage. Made in under two hours with very little fuss! The perfect rolls for all of your upcoming holiday dinner parties.
If there’s one dish that’s always on my holiday table, whether it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas, it’s a dinner roll. My family wouldn’t have it any other way, especially my mom. There’s nothing she loves more than a soft roll with her meal.
For Thanksgiving, Mom always asks for something like a crescent roll or soft brioche. If she had to pick, it would be a brioche roll all the way. And for Christmas, it’s always a candy cane bagel with extra butter on top!
She really loves her rolls, you guys.
For Thanksgiving this year, there will be just a small group here in Colorado, so I really wanted to create a dinner that I know we’ll all love. This meant I had to come up with sides that my mom would be so excited about. I knew a brioche roll would be her favorite.
And you all, these actually turned out better than I’d envisioned. I used instant yeast, which I haven’t done in forever. I was so surprised with how well it worked and how easy and quick it is to use!
I’m so excited for you all to have this recipe. If you enjoy my honey butter Parker House Rolls, please try these. I think they’re even better! Nothing beats an eggy brioche!
Here are the details
Ingredients
- flour
- instant yeast
- salt
- honey
- whole eggs + an egg yolk
- salted butter
- fresh sage
Special Tools
These rolls are easiest when you have a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. The mixer can do all the work for you! If you don’t have a mixer, you can knead the dough with your hands instead. You’ll just have to use a little more arm strength!
Steps
Step 1: make the brioche dough
In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix all the dry ingredients: flour, instant yeast, and salt. Then add in the honey and 3 large eggs. It’s best if the eggs are at room temperature.
What’s so nice about using instant yeast is that it allows you to skip the first rise and go almost directly to baking.
Mix the dough with the dough hook until it forms a smooth ball. Now cover the bowl and let the dough rest 15 minutes.
Step 2: make the honey butter
While the dough is resting, make the sage honey butter. Take those fresh sage leaves and fry them up in a skillet with a pat of butter. Get them crispy.
Once the leaves are fried, remove them from the skillet and chop them. Mix the chopped sage with salted, softened butter and honey.
Step 3: roll the dough out
Now, we can immediately move on to rolling out the dough.
On a floured counter, divide the dough in half, roll each half into a square, spread the sage butter on top, and cut each square into 6 long strips. Roll the dough up into a tight coil, like a cinnamon roll.
Arrange each roll seam side facing down in a 9×9 inch square baking dish.
Step 4: brush the rolls and let them rest
Next, beat 1 egg yolk with a splash of water. This is called an egg wash, and it creates a beautiful golden crust over each roll.
Brush the tops of the rolls with the egg wash, then let the rolls sit for another 15 minutes or up to 1 hour. They should get a little poufy and double in size.
Step 5: bake the rolls!
The final step is baking. These only take around 25 minutes, so they bake up fast!
As they bake, you’ll smell that wonderful smell of baking bread in the air—sweet honey, a touch of sage, and this eggy smell that I can’t quite explain but is wonderful. So cozy and perfect for this time of year.
Serve
As you can guess, I recommend serving these warm from the oven. You can also make them ahead of time and warm them up before you serve. The idea is that when you spread butter over each roll, it will quickly melt.
And I always serve these with extra flaked salt. Not only is it pretty, but it’s delightful with the sweet and savory mix of the sage honey butter. They’re SO GOOD every time. I mean, how can anything swirled with salted honey butter be bad? It just can’t.
Make these for Thanksgiving. They’re perfect for soaking up all that gravy and then eating for breakfast the next morning. I know you and your guests will love them!
Looking for other holiday bread recipes? Try these.
Salted Honey Butter Parker House Rolls
Perfect Popovers with Cranberry Butter
Pull-Apart Garlic Butter Bread Wreath
Salted Rosemary Popovers with Honey Butter
Parmesan Popovers with Crispy Sage Garlic Butter
Lastly, if you make these Salted Sage Honey Butter Brioche Rolls, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Salted Sage Honey Butter Brioche Rolls
Servings: 12
Calories Per Serving: 292 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 – 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup warm milk
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
- flaky sea salt
Sage Honey Butter
- 12 sage leaves
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the warm milk, honey, 3 whole eggs, and 6 tablespoons of butter. Using the dough hook, mix until the flour is completely incorporated, about 4-5 minutes. If the dough seems sticky, add a 1/4 cup of flour at a time. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes or up to 1 hour. 2. To make the sage honey butter. Fry the sage leaves with 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet set over medium heat. Remove from the pan and chop the leaves. Combine 6 tablespoons of butter and honey together in a small bowl. Mix in the fried sage and a good pinch of sea salt. 3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×9 inch baking dish with parchment paper. 4. Punch the dough down and divide it in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll each half to a 12-inch square, about 1/4-inch thick. Brush each square with honey butter, saving any leftover butter for serving. Cut each square of dough into 6 strips. Roll each strip into a coil (see above photo) and arrange seam side down in the prepared baking dish.5. Brush the rolls with the beaten egg yolk. Cover the dish and let the rolls rise for 30 minutes until puffy.6. Bake the rolls for 22-25 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and brush with the remaining honey butter. Pull them apart to serve warm with flaky sea salt.
Notes
To Make Ahead: prepare the rolls through step 4. Do not let the rolls rise at room temp. Cover the rolls and place in the fridge (up to overnight). When ready to bake, remove the rolls from the fridge 30 minutes prior to baking, then bake as directed.
To Prepare and Freeze: assemble the rolls through step 5, then cover the pan and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the rolls overnight in the fridge or on the counter for a few hours. Once thawed, bake as directed.
To Bake and Freeze: bake the rolls as directed and let cool completely. Wrap well and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and warm before serving.
To Use Active Dry Yeast: Mix 1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast with the warm milk and honey. Let sit 5-10 minutes, until bubbly and foamy on top. Add the flour and follow the directions as listed for the remainder of the recipe.
This post was originally published on November 12, 2024
Hi Tieghan,
I was wondering your thoughts on freezing the dough or baking then freezing the roll, would you recommend or wait till the time of eating to make the rolls? Im just trying to get things made ahead of time.
Hey Jennifer,
You can go ahead and follow the make ahead and freeze instructions written above:)
Please let me know if you have any other questions!
Hi Tieghan! These looks amazing! What type of 9×9 pan do you recommend? Glass, non-stick, something different?
I know different types of pan materials cook differently so want to make sure!
Thank you!
Hi Barbie,
I like to use a metal pan for these:)
Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it!
Would this work making them into just a single roll? Like not rolling them out like cinnamon rolls and just making it a typical dinner roll?
Hey Erin,
Sure, that should be just fine for you to do. I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try!
THESE ROLLS ARE DELICIOUS. THE DOUGH IS SO SOFT AND PLIABLE THAT
I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE SWEET CINNAMON ROLLS . YOUR THOUGHTS?
Hey Elizabeth,
Happy Sunday!🎃 Thanks for giving this recipe a whirl, so glad it turned out nicely for you! I don’t see why that wouldn’t work for you!
Made these for turkey day and were a huge hit! Turned out so well. I ended up baking for an additional 15 minutes and they were perfect. Definitely keeping these in the rotation!
Hi Allie,
Fantastic! I’m so glad to hear this recipe turned out well for you!
Thanks for giving it a try and your comment! Have a great week ahead!
These rolls are extremely delicious! I’ve been making them the last two years and my family and I are still in love with them! These are the first homemade rolls I tried and felt like they were very easy to accomplish for a beginner bread maker! Now it’s the only recipe I go back too! Can’t wait to make these again for thanksgiving this year!
Hey Autumn,
Happy Sunday!🎃 Thanks a bunch for making this recipe so often and your comment, so glad to hear it is always a winner!
What temperature do we bake these?
Hi Briana! Bake these rolls at 350! Hope you enjoy them, have a great weekend! 🙂 xT
The recipe says to cut each square into 6 strips, but if you do this, then you only get 12 rolls instead of the 16 shown in the pan. The recipe should say to cut each square into 8 strips!🥰 Other than that, the rolls were delicious!😋
Hi Jenni,
Happy Monday! I appreciate you trying this recipe and your feedback, love to hear it turned out well! xx
I agree with another baker, and ask, “how do these not have all 5 star reviews?” They were incredible. My family doesn’t enjoy sage, so I played it safe and only used honey butter. I will say, this recipe may not be written for a first time bread maker, trusting my intuition as I made these paid off. They were beautiful and delicious!
Thanks so much, Jenna!! So glad your family enjoyed these rolls, I appreciate you giving the recipe a try! Happy Tuesday! xx
Nice flavors but goodness, we baked for probably 15 extra minutes and they were still incredibly doughy in the centers
Hi Emily,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, sorry to hear you had issues with the baking. Next time, I would use a 9×13 baking dish. I hope this helps! xx
I didn’t realise mine still had dought centres until we went to try them hours later. I blame the F to °C fanforced conversion. I was also using a casserole dish as that was the only thing I had that size. I will try them again next week with a proper baking tray.
Had the same problem.
Delicious. Made them today
Hey Sandy,
Fantastic! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I’m so glad to hear it turned out nicely for you! Happy Friday!!
These look amazing and I would like to try and make them soon. Question for you: I would like to see how I can make the dough using a small bread maker that I have at home instead of a standard mixer or kneeding/mixing by hand, how do you recommend preparing preparing the dough?
Hi Carmen,
Thanks so much! So sorry, I have never tried this recipe using a bread maker, so I am unsure of the exact instructions for that. xx
How is anyone not rating these 5 stars? These are delicious!! Made these originally for Thanksgiving and have made them several times since. So easy and so tasty! Thanks for all your delicious recipes.
Hey Audrey,
Happy New Year!🥳 Thanks so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, love to hear it turned out well for you! xx
Baked these several times- we love them. I don’t always use the sage, but they’re great regardless.
Thank you so much Elane! xT
It makes no sense adding flour to a dough that has been already kneaded for 5 min. The gluten of the flour in the dough has been developed, the flour added later has no time to develope gluten – and that’s really what it’s all about in a yeast dough: gluten.
For non bakers, it would have helped to know that instant yeast is different than active dry yeast. That should be noted early in the recipe. Definitely messed that up and wasted expensive baking ingredients. .
Hi Aidan,
So sorry to hear this, thanks for sharing your feedback! x