Whole wheat flour can be so uncooperative. It doesn’t want to rise, or stays heavy and dense.
Problems solved. And whole wheat never tasted so good.
Using whole wheat flour is often the kiss of death in bread-making. It’s like adding lead to your dough. It’s just weighs it down and can cause bread to taste like a hockey puck.
Whole wheat has less gluten than white so it doesn’t want to get puffy, fluffy, and rise as well. Or rise at all.
Sure, it’s healthier than white all-purpose flour, but I don’t care how healthy something is if it doesn’t taste good.
After lots and lots of trial and error, and lots of bread that was only good enough to feed to the birds, I finally have whole wheat bread that I am 100% proud of.
And it’s 100% whole wheat.
Many times whole wheat bread is a blend of 50/50, wheat and white. Many recipes suggest tossing some white all-purpose or white bread flour in with the wheat so the dough will rise better. And it will.
But I wanted 100% whole wheat, and now I have it.
The rolls are so easy to make. It’s both a make-ahead and a no-knead dough, adapted from my No-Knead Make-Ahead Dinner Rolls.
They’re practically work-free because there’s no kneading. I don’t even use my stand mixer and simply stir the ingredients together with a wooden spoon in a bowl.
I make the dough and let it rise, then form 16 balls. I bake 3 to 6 balls per day and keep the rest in the fridge. We have a family size of 3 and we don’t need 16 rolls all at once.
The recipe is perfect for anyone who’s never worked with yeast because it’s almost impossible to screw up, which is saying something because whole wheat is involved.
If you can dump ingredients in a bowl and stir, you can make these.
I love the flexibility of knowing I have dough waiting in the fridge. I can just grab a few balls, put them on a baking tray, let them come up to room temperature and rise for maybe an hour, and bake. Instant dinner rolls, and instant happy family.
I brush the tops with honey-butter before baking because it makes them even more scrumptious. Honey and wheat just go together. I serve them with honey butter, too.
Or skip the honey and use garlic butter. Or sprinkle with sesame seeds and use them as little slider or sandwiches buns. Form the dough into pretzels or bake as a loaf. So many possibilities.
The whole wheat adds heartiness and nuttiness, without tasting too healthy or earthy, which can sometimes happen with whole wheat, and I know it’s a turnoff for some people.
They’re soft, fluffy, light. And healthy. And they’re make-ahead and no-knead.
I couldn’t ask for anything more from a dinner roll.
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100% Whole Wheat No-Knead Make Ahead Dinner Rolls with Honey Butter
Ingredients
Rolls
- ¾ cup water, warmed to packaging directions - about 125F for Red Star Platinum yeast, about 105 to 115F for most other yeast
- ¾ cup milk, warmed
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 to 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant or active dry yeast (one 1/4-ounce packet, I use Red Star Platinum
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
Honey Butter
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, very soft
- 2 to 3 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- For the Rolls – Combine first 5 ingredients (through molasses) in a microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl and warm it to manufacturer’s directions on yeast packet, about 1 minute on high power. Take the temperature with a thermometer. If you don’t have one, mixture should be warm to the touch, but not hot. Err on the side of too cool rather than too hot because you don’t want to kill the yeast.
- Pour liquid mixture into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast over the top; wait 5 to 10 minutes, or until yeast is foamy. This means it’s alive and will work. (This is proofing and technically with instant dry yeast you don’t have to proof it, for active dry yeast; you should. I do it regardless)
- Add the flour, optional salt, and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Then stir for about 1 more minute, mashing the dough around (this is as much ‘kneading’ as this recipe requires).
- Stir dough into a ball, cover the bowl with plasticwrap, and place in a warm, draft-free place to rise until doubled in bulk, about 3 hours. Whole wheat rises slowly so don’t be surprised if it takes a long time. Tip – Create a warm environment by preheating your oven for 1 to 2 minutes to 400F, then shutting it off. This creates a 90F-ish warm spot. Slide the bowl in and wait while the yeast works. Just make sure your oven is off.
- At this point you have a choice… If you plan to bake now (through step 11) punch dough down, remove it from bowl, and turn it out onto a well-floured surface. Knead it only so much as necessary to shape it into balls for rolls (I divide the dough into 16 rolls and they’re just a bit bigger than golf balls). Or form desired shapes such as a loaf, pretzels, breadsticks, etc. Use only what you need and save the rest for later in the refrigerator.
- Place balls of dough in a cooking sprayed round baking dish or pie plate, or in an 8×8 or 9×9 pan; size depends on how many you’re making. They can be close to each other, but not squished, or they’ll rise and bake into each other.
- Cover baking dish with plasticwrap, and allow rolls to rise in a warm, draft-free environment for about 1 hour, until almost doubled in size. I use the preheated oven trick again.
- In the final minutes of rising, preheat oven to 350F.
- For the Honey Butter – Stir to combine the butter and honey. Generously brush or spread the mixture with a knife over the top of each ball of dough before baking. Reserve remainder to serve with rolls after baking.
- Bake rolls for about 15 to 18 minutes, or until lightly golden and puffed. Baking time will vary greatly based on how many rolls you’re baking, or if it’s another shape such as a mini loaf, the size of the pan, and personal preference. Watch your bread, not the clock. Don’t overbake; they will dry out.
- Allow bread to cool momentarily in baking dish and serve as soon as it’s cool enough to handle. Rolls are best fresh, but will keep airtight for up to 4 days at room temperature or may be frozen for up to 4 months.
- If you plan to bake later – Take dough that’s risen for about 3 hours from step 4, punch it down, keep it covered, and refrigerate it. I prefer to portion the dough into 16 balls before refrigerating it so I can easily grab what I need over the next few days. Dough may be kept refrigerated for up to 5 days before baking.
- When you plan to bake, pick up at step 5 and follow through step 11.
- Recipe adapted from No-Knead Make Ahead Dinner Rolls with Honey Butter
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Do you make dinner rolls or bread? What’s your favorite recipe?
Your honey rolls were great so I’m excited to try these!
Love the no-knead thing, and I would devour these rolls since one of my major weaknesses is fresh-baked bread. I need that Artisan bread cookbook you recommended!
This is an awesome recipe Averie. I need to make more whole wheat things, thanks for doing the trial and error for me. :)
And thanks for pinning. I know you know as a bread-maker that whole wheat can be a real pain, so I was especially happy about these :)
love the glossy top!
Now don’t those rolls look gorgeous!! The pictures really capture all the wheaty goodness!
These rolls look so good, you totally nailed whole wheat dough!
yesyesyes!!
We are having guests for dinner and I was seriously gonna come sift through your bread recipes for a good dinner roll (have yet to make those pretty oatmeal rolls) but this new one is such a winner!!! AND I’ll be able to get everything else done. Thanks, girlie!!
Total serendipity then! And meant to be! Please LMK how it goes if you make these – or make the white version – or a combo of them. These are truly the lightest, fluffiest (and easiest!!) wheat rolls I have ever made. After dozens of bricks, I finally have my light and fluffies :) Hope you & the fam are having a great weekend!
Made them! SUPER good :) This recipe’s a keeper!
I am so glad you made them! Same day I posted them – that is awesome! Thanks for trying them!! :)
100% Whole Wheat and it’s not dense? You go gurrrrrl! I have tried so many times to work out a whole wheat loaf, but it almost always fails. I still end up eating it! :) I will most definitely give your recipe a go!
i love the no knead here! Hope you’re well girl!
Doing great – just turned in a big project over the weekend. Such a relief :) xoxo
Yes!! This is exactly what I was waiting for! You left me hanging with those white rolls. I can totally make this vegan using almond milk and I’m def going to try using spelt. My project for my next day off- will let you know how it goes! BREAD!!!
I told a few ppl I had a whole wheat version coming – can’t remember if you were one? But yes, this is the one! Enjoy & LMK how it goes!
Yes! I’m yeast bread challenged. I love that you can only make a few of these at a time and that they’re 100% whole wheat!
They are beautiful, Averie! I love using 50/50 for the very same reason you stated above. The bread always seem to turn out better. But man these look awesome and I can not believe they are 100% whole wheat. That is just awesome. They really look light, fluffy and perfect. Plus, that honey butter just tops everything off!
As someone who works with yeast and makes a ton of bread, you KNOW full well how HARD 100% whole wheat can be b/c it’s so stubborn, thus, most people do 50/50. But yes, they are 100% WW and on top of that, no knead and make ahead. Like I said, they’re my dream rolls :)
No knead rolls are the best! I love that these are whole wheat too!
I love the health factor of whole wheat, but you’re right- it is so hard to bake with and not be too chewy and dense. I love that this is 100% whole wheat, and practically work free! It’s a perfect recipe. :)
Thanks – I agree on pretty much a perfect recipe. No knead, make ahead, 100% whole wheat that’s not lead balloons. As a bread maker, you know how hard it can be to get any one of those things happening :)
I am out of my regular whole wheat flour but I think I have just enough spelt flour and would love to try this. There is a bread recipe on the back of the bag but I like the milk and molasses in yours. I/we are loving these savory recipes you’ve been posting! My beets and carrots are in their balsamic pickle bath and I am anxious to serve them today for lunch, so I’ll go back and report on that later today.
Oh your beets sound wonderful! Yes, get back to me when they’re done and LMK how they are. I was literally eating balsamic reduction on top of some black beans earlier and it was more balsamic than beans. I love that stuff:)
And the milk/molasses in these gave them such a great texture and flavor. I don’t trust any whole wheat recipes anymore b/c they all let me down – til this one. Finally….I came up with one I was happy with!
I love how you keep improving on older recipes, Averie- and we have an excess of whole wheat flour in our pantry right now, so this is perfect! Thanks!
Enjoy! LMK if you try them! :)