Honey Wheat Rolls

One of my Christmas presents was my very first stand mixer. I am still giddy every time I use it. I love making bread in it because I don't have to get my hands dirty and it does all the work for it. However, now I have to do extra arm exercises to replace the workout I got from kneading. My husband is just as thrilled with this new found love of bread. You see whenever I make anything and I ask if he likes it he'll tell me “It's good.” That's about as much as I ever get out of him. However, when it comes to bread he still doesn't say much, usually because his mouth is full of bread. It's the only thing that gets a rise out of him (sorry I had to). I found this recipe for honey-wheat dinner rolls and thought it might be time to start using the 300 lbs. Of wheat down in my basement. They are completely delicious. My kids gobble them up. The dough is really sticky, which is a bit of a pain. However, they are light, full of honey flavor, and oh so, mouthwatering-delicious warm out of the oven. I hope you like them too.

Honey Wheat Rolls

Prep Time: 15 minutes + rising times + cooling

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 16 dinner rolls

Ingredients:

1¾ c. whole milk, heated to 110 degrees, plus 1 tablespoon

6 T. plus 1 t. honey

5 T. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg

2½ c. whole wheat flour

1¾ c. all-purpose flour

1 T. instant or rapid-rise yeast

2¼ t. salt

Directions: 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 9 x 13 pan. Combine 1¾ c. milk, 6 T. honey, 4 T. butter, and egg in 4-cup measuring cup. Using a 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, 6-8 minutes. (I found that I have to scrap the bottom of my bowl occasionally to make sure it all mixes in.)

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.

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.

Remove rolls from oven and discard plastic. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine remaining 1 T. butter and remaining 1 t. honey in bowl. Brush rolls with remaining 1 T. 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.

Recipe originally found in Cooks Country Magazine, Nov. 2011, photo from cookscountry.com