White Whole Wheat Rolls
It snowed the other day, so I baked. There’s just something about snow falling that makes you want to turn on the oven and get knee high in flour. I do prefer the more relaxed snow flakes that fall at leisure and float merrily down to kiss the earth. When snow flakes fall calmly, everything is calm, quiet, serenely white. The sky is white, the ground is bright and you giggle as the snow flakes tickle your nose as they fall.
I don’t like snow flakes with a purpose, the ones that mean business and create havoc with their intense and relentless shower. When these hardcore, polystyrene balls of fury are out, pounding everything beneath them, the sky is gray, the ground is dull and it feels cold and dreary. We were pounded the other day. There wasn’t a lot of accumulation, but it came down hard and angry. So, I baked and filled the house with friendly aromas of fresh, buttery yeast rolls.
I like to use the white whole wheat flour for my rolls, breads and the whole wheat Indian rotis. I think it has a milder taste and is ground a bit finer than the regular whole wheat and aesthetically, it bakes up a nice golden brown colour.
These white whole wheat rolls bake up soft and buttery, perfect for a bowl of soup, in a dinner bread basket or how I ate them, as a breakfast sandwich with some spicy eggs inside.
Ingredients
4 cups/618g white whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons/9g instant, dried yeast (can use 1 packet)
2 tablespoons brown sugar ( I used raw turbinado)
2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons/57g unsalted butter
1/2 cup/118ml milk
1/4-1/2 cup warm water
milk for brushing tops before baking
melted butter for brushing tops after baking
Instructions
Proof your yeast in a 1/4 cup warm water and the sugar for about 5 minutes till the mixture is frothy.
The water cannot be too hot or it will kill the yeast.
The water temperature should be comfortably hot on your skin.
While the yeast is proofing, melt the butter and warm the milk.
I usually throw the butter into the milk and stick it in the microwave for about 45 seconds.
The butter should melt and the milk should be warm enough to not kill the yeast.
In a bowl of a mixer with the dough hook attached or a bowl if kneading by hand.
Put the flour and salt into the bowl and mix.
Add the warm milk and butter, and the yeast, sugar mixture.
Mix till the dough is nice and smooth.
You may need another 1/2 cup of water if the dough looks too dry.
This depends on the dryness of your weather that day and your flour.
Start with a 1/4 cup and increase as needed.
It took me a 1/4 cup plus a few tablespoons for me to get a nice, smooth, not sticky dough.
Take the dough out of the mixer bowl and do a couple of turns on the kitchen counter just to get it nice and smooth.
Shape into a ball and place in a greased bowl to rise in a warm place.
Depending on the temperature of your house and even where you live, it will take anywhere from 1 hour to 21/2 hours to get a good rise.
My yeast products rise quickly because of my high altitude.
Sea level may take about 2 hours.
You want the dough to almost double and be soft and airy.
Once it has doubled, put it on ythe kitchen counter and knead it few times.
Then portion into rolls, should get 15-18 rolls.
I got 15 but mine were kind of big.
Cut of a portion and roll on the counter to get a nice round shape.
Mine were not perfectly round.
Place on lightly greased baking sheet, leaving and inch or two between them.
Brush them with milk and cover with plastic wrap.
Let rise for about 30-45 minutes, until they have almost doubled.
While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 400℉/200℃ with the rack in the centre.
Remove the plastic wrap, sprinkle with coarse salt if desired, or raw sugar and place the baking sheet in the oven
Bake for 15-20 minutes until the rolls are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.
Cool on a wire rack.
Brush with some melted butter.
Serve warm.
Notes
Times are approximate, all depends on your environment. Cold rolls can be reheated in the microwave for 30 seconds or oven wrapped in foil for 10-15 minutes.
Hope you are all keeping warm. We are in for another snow storm tonight so, yes, my oven will be on tomorrow! What do you all like to do when the weather is uncooperative? I usually like to read when it’s raining, bake when it’s snowing and climb into the fridge when the sun has turned on its oven.
