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?
You are so brilliant! Those are the most gorgeous whole wheat rolls I’ve ever seen, I need to try them soon. And they look perfect for sandwich makin’
The most gorgeous whole wheat rolls you’ve ever seen? Why thank you, my friend! :)
I love the flavor using whole wheat flour gives to homemade breads. Your rolls look so delicious Averie. I really need to make some homemade rolls now!
Ok, not gonna lie, allllll of your breads look equally amazing. Goodness!
Been seeing these beauties around Pinterest a whole bunch!! LOVE
OK. These look seriously to die for!! I love your dinner roll recipes, and to find a great whole wheat and NO KNEAD recipe is really fabulous! Cannot wait to give these a try!!
These little dinner rolls look so light and fluffy, love them!
Hi :) I’m really curious as to how these rolls ended up so light? Through your trial and error, did you come across some secret method??
As I said in the post, I made dozens and dozens of bad loaves before trial and error, and adaptation my own recipe, and a little bit of luck – all finally paid off.
Hooray for 100% whole wheat rolls! I’m so excited to try these, Averie! I’m with you that it’s not worth having bread if it doesn’t taste good, so whole wheat bread that is light and delicious is well worth celebrating.
You know how hard it can be with whole wheat, but I am finally happy with this version!
Oh, how I love bread. Congratulations on figuring out how to make all wheat work!
To be honest, my kids prefer fluffy white bread… They eat whole eat bread too, but I know they will choose white if there are both option. I like your confidence in this whole wheat bread which is why I already saved the recipe! Thank you for trying really hard to get a perfect recipe and sharing it with us!
thanks for pinning and yes it was HARD to get a WW flour bread that I was happy with – but finally got it!
“Brushing the tops with honey-butter”? Yeah, that’s what totally sold me on this.
And as always, thanks for being such an amazing pinner with so many of my recipes! :)
You are killing me with these bread posts. Just scrolling through the photos and the ones at the end, I’m salivating. I NEVER miss bread until I see your posts.
I used to bake only with 100% whole wheat flour, so I know how challenging it is. But your photos are incredible. You can just see how light and fluffy these are. That, with the nutty, hearty flavor? Might be worth getting ‘glutened’ for these.
Totally worth getting glutened for. They are, without a doubt, the BEST WW bread/rolls etc of any kind I’ve ever made, by a landslide. I finally, finally!!! have a recipe that’s worthwhile. Not dense, heavy, nothing like that. Glad the pics convey how they really are in real life! :)
This sounds gorgeous and easy too :) x
These look PERFECT! I can’t believe how easy they are, plus 100% whole wheat, AND fluffy!!! And omg yummmyyy honey butter. I also love the idea of using these as lil buns for sliders!
I know you make bread (pinned your flaky biscuits just today!) but you know that WW flour is a real pain. And yes, these are so easy! And i want one of your biscuits!
I much prefer the flavor of whole wheat breads over regular white (unless it’s something awesome like a baguette or a classic sourdough), and it definitely seems like you’ve nailed it with these dinner rolls! Love the thought of making these for sliders.
I adore this recipe, Averie! Baking with whole wheat flour is so much harder than one might think. It’s completely different than baking with all-purpose. Truly changes the texture and taste of anything it touches. I love eating whole wheat breads because I can feel better about it – but not when it is ovely dense and heavy. This recipe is a miracle! Soft, fluffy, and whole wheat all in one. And I laughed reading this “…but I don’t care how healthy something is if it doesn’t taste good.” – because yesterday I tried to convince myself I liked pure vegetable juice that I made in my juicer (just juiced some greens and cucumbers) and I had to add a green apple. It was gross, what was I thinking!!??
Sally you know from being a bread-baker what a chore it can be to make bread (or anything) with WW flour because it’s so heavy and doesn’t want to rise. So the fact that these rise well, don’t need kneading, and you can make them ahead and just park the dough, it’s my little dream recipe but I may be in the minority – or at least in the minority that get excited about these types of things :) Most people only seem to get excited about gooey cookies these days :)
And juicing…good for you. I sold off a couple of my juicers last fall. Now I kind of wish I hadn’t. But I hated them. The cleanup sucked. I need to get a juicer that the cleanup isn’t so hideous. Both of them were very pricey little numbers. Sigh. But I need to try again. And yes, greens and cukes are hardcore. I don’t mind cucumber juice but depending on the greens, it can be so bitter!