These soft & fluffy whole wheat dinner rolls so delicious! They’re slightly sweetened with honey and are rich and buttery. A healthier wheat roll to go with your favorite main dishes.
Line a 9x13” baking pan with parchment paper, set aside.
Proof the Yeast
Add water, honey and yeast to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until foamy.
Make the Dough
Once yeast is proofed add the butter, milk and egg and stir on low speed until combined.
Add 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour and sea salt and knead with dough hook. Add more flour ½ cup at a time until a slightly sticky ball forms.
Transfer the sticky dough ball onto a floured surface and knead until it’s no longer sticky.
Lightly grease a large bowl, put the dough inside and cover with a damp cloth. Put it in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Once the dough has doubled, flour your hands and squeeze it to remove the gas.
Assemble
With floured hands, form 12, equally sized dough balls. (use a food scale to weight full batch of dough, then divide that number by 12 and make sure every dough ball weighs the same).
Roll each dough portion into a smooth ball.
Place the dough balls into the prepared baking sheet evenly spaced into 4 rows of 3.
Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 30-60 minutes). (do not let the towel touch the dough).
Bake & Serve
When you notice the rolls have risen about halfway, Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Place fully risen rolls into preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the rolls are golden-brown on the top and sound hollow when tapped with a wooden spoon. (Be very careful not to overbake).
Remove rolls from oven and immediately brush them with melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt.
Serve warm!
Video
Notes
Make Ahead & Freeze You can make these rolls ahead and freeze them for up to 3 weeks. Make the recipe as written, put the rolls in the baking pan and before the start ot rise cover them tightly with plastic wrap and aluminum foil or a lid.Remove them from freezer and let the rolls come to room temperature and rise fully before baking.Bake Frozen RollsOnly use these instructions if you are baking frozen rolls. Remove the foil and plastic wrap from the rolls, then bake the frozen rolls at 325 degrees F for 25 minutes, then increasing the baking temperature to 375 and baking for 10 minutes longer. Ingredient Substitutions
Whole milk. possible substitutions include half and half, heavy cream or 2% milk. I don't suggest a lower fat content than 2% milk.
All-purpose flour. to keep this recipe light and fluffy we use a little bit of all-purpose flour. I don't recommend changing this. You can use bread flour, if desired.
Whole wheat flour. white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour can also be used.
Honey. sugar can be used in place of honey
Salted butter. There is no substitute for butter in these whole wheat rolls. You can use unsalted butter.
Fine sea salt. iodized salt can be used, just reduce the amount by half.
Store/FreezeStore any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.