Whole Wheat Rolls

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These warm, pillowy soft Whole Wheat Rolls are the perfect accompaniment for soup and chillier days! Also delicious alone slathered with butter.

If you’re looking for a delicious dinner roll, you absolutely have to try these Whole Wheat Rolls! Big, soft, fluffy and made with a mixture of whole wheat and all-purpose flour, these are the healthier rolls you’ve been dreaming of. Delicious turned into sandwiches (I’m looking at you, pulled pork) or as a tasty side served with Chili or Loaded Baked Potato Soup.

Whole Wheat Rolls

Making bread isn’t a hard thing to do, you just need some time to let your dough rise. These Whole Wheat Rolls are not any different. Easy list of ingredients and relatively simple step-by-step instructions. People don’t like making them because of the time it takes, but let me assure you most of the time is spent waiting on the dough to rise! Bread is easy to make if you know what you’re doing. HA! I will do my best to coach you through this process. Success is on your horizon.

Love bread? (Um, who doesn’t?) Here are some of my favorite bread recipes: Focaccia, Homemade White Bread, Irish Soda Bread, Hot Cross Buns, Garlic Bread.

Basic Ingredients Needed

I love baking bread because the ingredients list is generally short and simple to follow. This recipe calls for a few extras (like shortening or butter, sugar and an egg) to make this dough a little more enriched (but so delicious!) A full list of exact measurements are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• shortening– this gives great texture to the rolls! Butter also works if you don’t have/don’t want to use shortening.
• brown sugar– added for sweetness.
• milk– any kind of milk will work!
• eggs– one is used in the dough and the other is used to brush over the tops.
• yeast + warm water– a little bit of warm water activates the yeast in this roll recipe. I love love love Le Saffre yeast.
• salt– bread is only as good as the salt you put into it. Whatever you do, don’t forget the salt!
• whole wheat + all purpose flour– these rolls use a combination of all purpose and whole wheat flour to get the added fiber from the whole wheat flour while keeping them light with all purpose.

How to make Whole Wheat Rolls

You know the phrase easier said than done? This recipe is not like that. I promise its easier than you think. Take a peek at the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post with all the step by step photos to see how these are made.

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water to start blooming. Set aside.
2. Heat milk in saucepan to scald. Pour hot milk over shortening and brown sugar and whisk until shortening is completely melted and sugar as dissolved.
3. Whisk in whole wheat flour to the shortening and brown sugar mixture to cool down. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer.
4. Using the dough hook, stir in egg, salt and 2 cups of all purpose flour.
5. Add in yeast mixture and stir well.
6. Slowly incorporate more flour into the dough bit by bit until its tacky but not sticky enough to stick to your hands.
7. Transfer bread dough to a greased bowl, cover and rise until doubled in size.
8. Punch down dough and divide into 24 even sized rolls. Place into two 9×13 greased and parchment paper lined pans.
9. Cover and rise again until rolls are touching. Brush the tops of rolls with beaten egg.
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Bread making for Dummies

I hear negative comments about bread making all the time! Since this is my job and I’m consistently testing recipes, I totally understand the sentiment. Bread making is time consuming and just to have a recipe fail totally sucks. I told you I’d give you all my tips and tricks to make this as simple as possible and here they are! Working with yeast and making bread doesn’t have to be hard.

• Yeast– I use active dry yeast and love Le Saffre brand. (You can get a big 1 lb pack of it at Costco, Fred Meyer or even Super Walmart sometimes!) The brand doesn’t really matter, just make sure you are using fresh yeast that isn’t close to expiring.
• Warm Water– to ‘bloom’ the yeast, you stir it together with warm water. If the water is too hot, you will kill your yeast. If this makes you nervous, err on the side of cooler than warmer. Think baby bath water temperature.
• Kneading in the Flour– when using a stand mixer, its easy to knead in too much flour, making your rolls heavy. We aren’t going for heavy. We want light and pillowy rolls! So after adding flour in bit by bit and you notice the dough it taking shape, feel the dough. It should still be tacky but not sticky enough to leave a residue on your hands. The bottom half of the dough will still be stuck to the bowl and the top half won’t be. Totally normal.
• When in doubt: it’s better to have your dough too sticky than too dry. You can always add a bit more flour to the dough as you’re forming your rolls and you notice they are too sticky.

Roll Storing Directions

The beauty of this recipe is you can totally make them ahead and reheat when you’d like them! Simply make according to the written recipe below, cool to room temperature and store in air tight containers. The colder you store them the longer they keep. Whole Wheat rolls will stay good at room temperature for up to 4 days, in the fridge for up to 6 days and the freezer for up to 4 months! 

What to make with Whole Wheat Rolls

So, rolls of any kind are great stand alone snacks or perfect for small lunch sandwiches. But for dinner, here are some delicious options that would work perfectly with these whole wheat rolls.

• Crockpot Beef Stew
• Creamy Carrot Soup
• Creamy Cauliflower Soup
• Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup
• Creamy Ranch Chicken Casserole

Loved these Whole Wheat Rolls? Check out these other recipes:

• Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
• Whole Wheat Bread
• Whole Wheat Baking Soda Biscuits
• Whole Wheat Freezer Rolls

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5 from 2 votes

Whole Wheat Rolls

These warm, pillowy soft  Whole Wheat Rolls are perfect for soup and for chillier days! Also delicious alone slathered with butter!

servings 24 rolls

Prep Time 2 hours hrs

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 25 minutes mins

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 envelopes instant dry yeast
• ▢ 1/2 cup warm water 105 to 115 degrees F
• ▢ 2 cups milk
• ▢ 1/2 cup shortening or butter
• ▢ 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• ▢ 2 cups whole wheat flour
• ▢ 2 eggs divided
• ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• ▢ 4 3/4 to 5 1/4 cups all purpose flour

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water. Set aside.
  
• In small saucepan, bring milk to a simmer, then remove from heat immediately. While milk is coming up to a simmer, measure shortening and sugar into a large bowl. Pour hot milk over shortening and sugar.
  
• Whisk to melt and dissolve all ingredients together.
  
• Stir in whole wheat flour and cool to lukewarm {105 to 115 degrees F}.
  
• Transfer mixture to a stand mixer. Add in one egg, salt and 2 cups of flour. Stir in yeast mixture. Using the dough hook, knead in all purpose flour bit by bit until dough is moderately stiff and almost completely smooth. *You may not use all the flour listed, and that's ok!* Dough will be done when tacky but not tacky enough to stick to your hands when touched.
  
• Grease a large bowl and place dough in, turning once to grease surface of dough. Cover with a clean dish towel and rise 1-1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.
  
• Spray two 9x13 glass pans with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. Punch dough down. Remove from bowl onto clean work surface.
  
• Cut in half evenly and then cut each half into 12 even pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place into prepared pans. Cover and let rise until rolls are puffed and touching each other; 30-45 more minutes.
  
• Brush the tops of each roll with beaten egg.
  
• Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes before serving warm with lots of butter.
  

Nutrition

Calories: 114kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 159mg | Potassium: 80mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 0.5mg

Course: Breads

Cuisine: American

Keyword: dinner rolls