I have recently made it my mission to learn to bake bread. My mom is a fantastic baker, and I grew up eating homemade bread. Until recently, though, I was terrified of anything that required kneading. I made pizza dough from time to time, but I always used my Kitchen Aid mixer to do the kneading for me.
Earlier this spring, I made a batch of Cinnamon Rolls, and much to my surprise, they turned out quite well – kneading and all! So, I have been gradually trying to learn to make more bread. My goal is to start baking bread each week and stop buying bread at the store/bakery. I’m not quite there yet, but I’m getting there.
This week, on Sunday afternoon, I decided to make a batch of whole wheat dinner rolls. I was making fish for dinner, and I thought it would be good with some fresh dinner rolls. I made two different sizes of rolls – small rolls for dinner, and larger rolls that could be sliced and used for sandwiches throughout the week.
I adapted the recipe from the basic hearth bread recipe in the King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook, using part all purpose and part white whole wheat flour. I was amazed that the rolls actually turned out pretty well – moist and light. Apparently I’m learning!
Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
(Adapted from King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook)
- 2 cups milk (I used 2%)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 packet rapid rise yeast
- 3 cups white whole wheat flour
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Start by warming the milk in the microwave for a minute or two. It should feel warm, but not hot (between 95°F and 115°F). Pour the milk into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar, and stir until it is completely dissolved in the milk. Add the yeast, and stir it into the milk. Let the yeast mixture sit for a few minutes until bubbles begin to appear on the surface (proofing).
Add one cup of the whole wheat flour to the mixture, stirring to combine. Then, add the salt. Gradually add the remaining whole wheat flour and 2 cups of the all purpose flour. Once the mixture begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, turn it out onto a floured surface.
Gradually knead the remaining 1/2 cup of flour, adding only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the surface. Knead for 3-4 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic, and no longer feels sticky. Wash, dry, and grease the mixing bowl. Shape the dough into a ball, and place in the mixing bowl, turning over to grease both sides of the dough. Cover with a damp towel to rise. Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size and the dough does not spring back when poked with your fingers (about 1 – 1 1/2 hours).
Punch the dough down, and reshape into a ball. Cover again, letting the dough rise a second time. The second rise will take less time (approximately 1/2 – 3/4 hour). Punch the dough down again, and then let the dough rest for a few minutes. Divide the dough into small portions, shaping into rolls. For the dinner rolls, I took each portion of dough and divided it into three small balls, which I placed in a greased jumbo muffin pan. For the sandwich rolls, I took each portion of the dough, rolled it out into a long thin rope, and then shaped it into a spiral pattern on a greased baking sheet. Cover the rolls with a damp towel, and allow to rise again for about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Whisk together the egg and water to create an egg wash. Brush the tops of the rolls with the egg wash. Bake the rolls for about 15 – 20 minutes.
These look so perfect Jen! The crust looks amazing! And I love that their whole wheat.
Nice job on the rolls. See baking bread isn’t that scary. ;-D Since I’ve started baking my own bread, I haven’t looked at buying the store kind again. I love the cute little shape in the first photo. The swirly one look cute too.
You are a great baker! I also have a fear of bread but I’m hoping to break that sometime soon:)
Ahhh… now you’re talking my kinda talk. Homemade bread and whole wheat to boot. Your rolls look lovely Jen!
That’s an awesome bread, Jen. Keep on baking.
Good for you Jen – these look like I might even be able to cope with them!!!
Such pretty rolls!
Look so good, I will have to try, I have only made wheat bread.
GREAT job with the rolls! And whole wheat ones! :)
hello :)
good for you, your rolls turned out great. I would love to try these, but I only have instant yeast, you think I could use it instead of rapid rise yeast?
I just made this hearth bread recipe last week! (not up on my blog yet though – I’m behind!). I loved the recipe, but I never thought about making rolls with it. I’m definitely going to try that next time – I love sandwich rolls. Thanks for the suggestion! Oh, and I used half whole wheat flour, like you :)
Did you use or unbleached all purpose flour?
Sharon – I always use unbleached all purpose flour.
I’ve made this into rolls several times now, and I just made of loaf of bread with this same recipe in a 9×13 pan. It was amazing! I substituted 1/3 of a cup of milk with orange juice, and added about a tablespoon of raw honey, and got a wonderfully thick, moist loaf of bread. I have found my new wholewheat recipe! :) Thanks so much for posting it!