Better Than White Rolls

As you may have noticed by now, bread is one of my favorite things. White, wheat, sweet, sourdough, cheesy, salty, I'm really surprisingly un-picky about my bread, considering how picky I am about everything else. But normally a slightly sweet white bread is definitely my favorite, and I found a good recipe for white rolls a couple of years ago, so I usually stick to those when I want hot rolls.

But last night we were taking mac and cheese with us for game night, and I didn't want to go totally overboard with the white flour, so I decided to try a recipe for wheat rolls that I found more than two years ago, but had never gotten around to trying. I think part of the reason that I had avoided it was that it wasn't my usual type of bread recipe--I usually use a bread machine for the kneading/rising part, and then just shape the completed dough. This recipe, however, called for actual kneading (gasp!) but I decided it was about time I try making bread by hand, so I tackled it...

...and discovered that it was really easy. I should've done this years ago! The only part that worried me a little bit was the part where you're supposed to heat the water to 110 degrees. Since I don't have a candy thermometer (hey Mom--you can add that to my Christmas list by the way) I used the decidedly unscientific method of microwaving the water in ten second intervals and periodically sticking my finger in it till it felt like what I thought 110 degrees probably felt like. I was scared that I might've gotten the water too hot and inadvertently killed my yeast, but it seemed to work out ok.

The rolls were hearty and wheaty, but still sweet and buttery. They tasted amazing last night, and today I took two to work for lunch, and they tasted really good again after about ten seconds in the microwave to soften them a bit. They're good with or without extra butter, and I think they'd really go with just about any meal. So if you're scared of yeast/kneading--don't be! These are so good and so easy that you'll be very, very proud of yourself for making them, and you can feel slightly virtuous about consuming large quantities of them since you just burned calories kneading them!

My only warning is to make sure you have enough time to make them. You're only actually working for about 20-25 minutes, but there's so much rising time in between the steps that you need to allow a little more than three hours from start to finish. But hey, you could go exercise while they're rising, and then feel even more virtuous. Or you could make the aforementioned mac and cheese and eat some chocolate chip cookies to tide you over till dinner. Whatever you prefer.

Soft Wheat Rolls

(from allrecipes.com)

2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 egg, beaten
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let the yeast stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Mix the sugar, salt, 1/4 cup melted butter, beaten egg, and whole wheat flour into yeast mixture. Stir in the all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl (I ended up using a few tablespoons more than the 2 1/2 cups called for).

Turn dough out onto a well floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil or butter a large bowl, place the dough in bowl, and turn the dough to coat with the oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough, cover, and let rise in warm place until doubled again, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile grease 2 dozen muffin cups. Punch down dough, and divide into two equal portions. Either roll each portion into a 6x14 inch rectangle, and then cut the rectangle into twelve 7x1 inch strips, or split the portion into thirds, and then divide each third into twelve small balls of dough. (For a total of thirty-six balls from each portion. Not thirty-three like I did because I can't count.)

If you choose the strip method, roll strips up into spirals, and place into muffin cups. Brush tops with melted butter. Let rise uncovered in a warm place 40 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. If you choose the ball method, place 3 small dough balls into each muffin cup, brush tops with melted butter, and let rise in the same manner.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven, and brush again with melted butter (I skipped this final buttering, I felt like they'd had enough already, and the rolls were served with butter, so I didn't want to unnecessarily clog anyone's arteries.)

I did one portion of my dough in the strip method, resulting in rolls that looked a bit cinnamon-roll-ish, leaving a long curl of softness on the inside, with a crispy edge around the first ring. I did the other portion in the ball method, making for rolls that pulled apart easily and that I think were a little softer than the cinnamon-roll way. Both were delicious though, and it's kind of fun to have both shapes in the bread basket, it makes things look more festive. Oh yeah, I totally forgot to take a picture of the bread basket. Next time....