Honey Wheat Rolls

kingarthurflour.com http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2011/12/29/honey-wheat-rolls-hey-lose-

the-skepticism-%e2%80%93-this-is-not-your-mothers-whole-wheat-bread/

Honey Wheat Rolls: hey, lose the skepticism – this isNOT your mother’s whole wheat bread.

Imagine if this page werescratch & sniff-

Soft, warm, golden rolls,fresh from the oven,awaiting only a pat ofmelting butter, yourappetite- and your beliefin the following statement:

Whole grains CAN tastegreat.

Now, for those of yougrimacing andremembering that one loafof whole wheat bread youbaked in 1976, guesswhat? It’s time to update your culinary landscape.

Twenty or 30 years ago, whole-grain baking wasn’t so hot, frankly – in more ways than one.It wasn’t a hot trend; not many people did it. And if you DID try baking a loaf of whole-grainbread- it probably wasn’t so hot, was it?

Well, two important things have happened since then.

First, more people are baking with whole grains, which means the whole grains youpurchase at the store – chiefly, whole wheat flour – are much more likely to be fresh. Sinceold age is the chief reason whole wheat can sometimes taste bitter, that’s one big hurdleeliminated.

And second, white whole wheat – which has gradually made its way into the marketplaceover the past 20 years or so – is a “sweeter,” milder tasting wheat than traditional red wholewheat.

Our white whole wheat flour is nutritionally identical to red wheat: same amount of fiber,same amount of protein. (If you check our flour bags right now, they won’t show the sameinformation on the nutrition panel; but we’re in the process of fixing that.)

White whole wheat flour isn’t bleached; and it isn’t white flour. It’s simply whole wheat flourwhose outer bran layer is missing a certain compound – phenolic acid – that both makeswheat darker in color, and gives it a stronger whole-wheat taste.

Honey Wheat Rolls: hey, lose the skepticism – this is NOT your mother’s... http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2011/12/29/honey-wheat-rolls-hey-...

1 of 8 12/30/2011 10:35 AM

So if you bake with white whole wheat, you’re not shortchanging yourself nutritionally; you’resimply using a 100% whole wheat flour that’s much less likely to elicit the dreaded“EWWWWW” reaction from the kids.

Yeast bread is probably the toughest place to “disguise” whole wheat flour, if that’s whatyou’re trying to do. But these Honey Wheat Rolls, though warm tan rather than creamy whitein color, have the light texture and wonderful, buttery sweetness of the quintessential softwhite dinner roll.

Are you willing to put aside old prejudices, and give whole wheat a try? Step right up to the(dinner) plate-

Put the following in amixing bowl (or your breadmachine bucket, set onthe dough cycle):

2 1/4 teaspoons instantyeast*1 cup lukewarm water1/4 cup orange juice**1/4 cup (1/2 stick)unsalted butter, cut into 6pieces3 tablespoons honey1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) KingArthur UnbleachedAll-Purpose Flour2 cups (8 ounces) KingArthur Premium WholeWheat Flour or KingArthur White WholeWheat Flour1 1/4 teaspoons salt2/3 cup instant mashedpotato flakes or 1/4 cuppotato flour1/4 cup Baker’s SpecialDry Milk or nonfat dry milk

*Want to use active dryyeast instead of instant?Go for it; use the sameamount. Also, there’s no longer any need to “proof” it (dissolve it in warm water) first, unlessyou’re unsure of its quality and want to see if it’s alive. If you know your active dry yeast isgood, you can mix it right in with the rest of the ingredients.

**Don’t bother heating the orange juice to lukewarm; you can use it straight out of the fridge.The orange juice won’t add its own flavor to the rolls, but will mellow any potential bitternessin the whole wheat. Don’t want to use orange juice? Substitute lukewarm water.

Mix everything together to make a rough dough.


2 of 8 12/30/2011 10:35 AM

Next, knead until you’vemade a smooth dough.

If you’re kneading in astand mixer, you maynotice the dough stickingto the sides and bottom ofthe bowl; simply take abowl scraper, scrape itinto the center, andcontinue to knead.

Remember, the less flouryou add during kneading,the lighter and softer yourrolls will be. If the doughis still sticking a bit to thebowl when you’re donekneading (about 7minutes of kneading atmedium speed in a standmixer will do it), that’s fine.Again, better a doughthat’s a bit sticky than onethat’s dry.

Place the dough in alightly greased bowl, or inan 8-cup measure. I like touse a measuring cup forrising bread dough; it letsme track how it’s doing.

Cover the bowl or cup,and allow the dough torise, at room temperature,until it’s quite puffy butnot necessarily doubled inbulk, about 90 minutes to2 hours. Rising may takelonger, especially if you’vekneaded by hand. Give itenough time to becomequite puffy.

While the dough is rising,lightly grease a 9″ x 13″pan, or two 8″ round or 9″round cake pans.

Gently deflate the dough,and transfer it to a lightly


3 of 8 12/30/2011 10:35 AM

greased work surface; asilicone rolling mat workswell here.

Divide the dough into 16pieces (for the roundpans), or 24 pieces (forthe 9″ x 13″ pan).

Shape each piece into arough ball by pulling thedough into a very smallknot at the bottom (thinkof a balloon with itsopening knotted). Thenroll the balls under thepalm of your hand untilthey’re smooth.


4 of 8 12/30/2011 10:35 AM

Place eight rolls into eachof the round cake pans,spacing them evenly; theywon’t touch one another.

If you’re using a 9″ x 13″pan, make four rows ofsix, spacing the rollsevenly in the pan.

Cover the pans with lightlygreased plastic wrap, andallow the rolls to rise for 11/2 to 2 hours. They’llbecome very puffy, andwill reach out and touchone another.

While the rolls are rising,preheat the oven to350°F.

Bake the rolls for 15minutes, and tent themloosely with aluminum foil;they’ll be light brown.

Continue to bake untilthey’re mahogany-brownon top, but lighter coloredon the sides, an additional10 to 13 minutes.


5 of 8 12/30/2011 10:35 AM

Remove the rolls from theoven, and after 2 or 3minutes, carefully transferthem to a rack. They’ll behot and delicate, so becareful. Brush hot-from-the-oven rolls with meltedbutter, if desired, for asoft, buttery crust.

Remember what I saidabout scratch & sniff?

How about lick & taste?


6 of 8 12/30/2011 10:35 AM

Serve rolls warm, or atroom temperature.

Now I ask you – does thislook like a whole wheatroll?

Your kids will LOVEthese- and so will you(notwithstanding anyunfortunate previousexperiences with wholewheat bread-)

Read, bake, and review(please) our recipe forHoney Wheat Rolls.

Print just the recipe.

Tags: dinner rolls, honey,soft rolls, wheat rolls,whoe grain, whole wheatrolls

This entry was posted on

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

at 3:44 pm and is filed under

whole grains, yeast bread &

rolls. You can follow any

comments to this entry through

the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip

to the end and leave a

comment. Pinging is currently

not allowed.


7 of 8 12/30/2011 10:35 AM


8 of 8 12/30/2011 10:35 AM

Documents

Honey Wheat Rolls