Honey-Wheat Dinner Rolls

By Foodiewife

October/November 2011
Why this recipe works:

Whole wheat flour gets its distinct hearty, nutty flavor from flecks of bran. Unfortunately, the sharp bran particles destroy the gluten, or structure, of bread, leaving you with a denser product than bread made with only all-purpose flour. To produce a light, fluffy whole wheat roll, we settled on a combination of whole wheat and all-purpose flours (slightly more wheat) and created extremely hydrated dough. The excess liquid softens the bran, ensuring that it doesn’t wreak havoc on the dough structure. Liquid honey worked in our favor to hydrate the dough, and a small amount of honey butter brushed on top of the warm rolls added a sweet finishing bite.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups whole milk, heated to 110 degrees, plus 1 tablespoon
• 6 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon honey
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/2 cups (13 3/4 ounces) whole wheat flour
• 1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 2 1/4 teaspoons salt

Details

Servings 16
Adapted from cookscountry.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. When oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Grease large bowl and 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Combine 1¾ cups milk, 6 tablespoons honey, 4 tablespoons butter, and egg in 4-cup liquid measuring cup.
2. Using stand mixer fitted with dough hook, mix whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, and salt on low speed until combined. Slowly add milk mixture and mix until dough comes together, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and mix until dough is smooth and almost clears sides of bowl yet still sticks to bottom, 6 to 8 minutes.
3. Transfer dough, scraping sides of bowl, to greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in turned-off oven until dough has doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
4. Punch down dough on lightly floured counter. Divide dough into quarters and cut each quarter into 4 equal pieces. Form each piece into rough ball by pinching and pulling dough edges under so that top is smooth. On clean counter, cup each ball with your palm and roll into smooth, tight ball. Arrange in prepared baking dish and cover loosely with plastic. Let rolls rest in turned-off oven until doubled in size, about 20 minutes.
5. Remove rolls from oven and discard plastic. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon butter and remaining 1 teaspoon honey in bowl. Brush rolls with remaining 1 tablespoon milk. Bake rolls until golden brown and register 200 degrees, about 20 minutes, rotating dish halfway through baking. Brush with honey butter and let cool in dish on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove rolls from dish. Serve.
Make ahead: Instead of 20-minute rise in step 4, baking dish with formed rolls can be refrigerated, covered, for 24 hours. Let dough sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before brushing with milk and baking.

Shaping Honey-Wheat Rolls

1. To get evenly sized rolls, cut the dough into quarters and then quarters again.

2. Shape each piece of dough into a ball by pulling the edges under and pinching to seal.

3. Working on a clean counter, cup the dough with your palm and roll it into a taut ball.

5. Nestle the balls closely in the dish for maximum rise: 6 down the center and 5 on either side.

Wet? You Bet.

Whole wheat flour contains a lot of bran, while white flour contains only trace amounts. While bran ads flavor and nutrients, it also causes problems for the bread baker. Bran is so sharp that it actually cuts the strands of gluten that should give rising bread its heigh and structure. To soften the bran so that it can't wreck havoc, we learned to make an especially hydrated (wet) honey-wheat dough.

JUST COMBINED
The dough looks very wet. Relax and trust us. It will come together.

AFTER KNEADING
The dough still looks comparatively wet. You may see a sticky ring around the bowl. That's good.