Our upcoming work potluck is coming up and so I figured since I bake, I might as well try bringing in some homemade baked goodness. I had done dinner rolls a long time ago, but that was the classic white bread dinner rolls. I wanted to try something else and so came up with my own recipe for whole wheat honey dinner rolls.
Ingredients:
- 250 g 100% whole wheat flour
- 250 g bread flour
- 200 g water
- 150 g whole milk
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 70 g honey
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 8 g salt
I needed to figure out a way to make this so I wouldn’t have to actively be involved for a good chunk of it because the potluck is right in the middle of the work week. I won’t be able to spend 6-8 hours making the bread. I figured I’d try to take advantage of the long slow ferment to aid in kneading.
I started the dough around 11 pm at night. I mixed together the above ingredients. The butter I threw in a small bowl and melted in the microwave. The eggs I cracked and beat prior to throwing in with everything else. Since the milk was cool, I used warm water and let the yeast sit in it for about 5 minutes before mixing it in with the rest of the ingredients above.
I let this covered mixture sit out on the counter for about 15 minutes and then put it in the fridge. Initially I was going to pull it out after about 12 hours but I had some chores to take care of and actually removed it from the fridge about 17 hours after first putting it in.
The dough was chilled though still sticky and difficult to knead. I poured this out onto the counter and did some stretch and folds (maybe 3 of them) and tried to knead it but it was just too sticky/unformed. I threw the dough back into the bowl and let it rest for 20 minutes. I then did another stretch and fold on the counter. Slowly the dough was started to form up a little more into a cohesive mass that I could manipulate. Another 20 minutes of rest and then I did the stretch and folds still in the bowl (to save of having to clean up the sticky stuff on the counter). After another 20 minutes, I floured the countertop and poured the dough out onto this and flattened it.
Using my scale, I started to divide the dough into 75-80 g pieces. For some reason my scale malfunctioned about halfway through the dough and I had to eyeball the last half of it. Each dough ball I formed into a ball and rolled on the counter to get a roughly spherical shape. I then placed the dough balls into my 12 inch cast iron. I had some leftover dough and created a standalone ~150 g ball.
I let this proof for about 1.5 hours until the dough appeared ready (I pressed down on it and the dough sprung back almost all the way). You can definitely see the dough had proofed nicely and filled in the gaps.
I pre-heated the oven to 430 F while the dough was doing its final proof. An egg wash was applied (beaten egg with some whole milk) just prior to placing in the oven. Right after putting the cast iron and separate boule into the oven I used my spray bottle to create some steam in the oven. I baked the bread at 430 F for 10 minutes.
I then dropped the temperature to 375 F and let it go for another 11.5 minutes or so (I had set the timer for an additional 15 but could tell it was done). The internal temperature of the dough was ~195-198 F.
The individual roll came out a littler darker, probably because it was baked on its own
Overall the bread has a nice soft crumb in the middle and the honey gives it a nice taste. I also like that you can tear off a roll and it comes off in a nice individual serving size.
-StewsCat
StewsCat 