Honey Wheat Rolls

These slightly sweetened honey wheat rolls are made with wholesome ingredients like real honey, rolled oats, and whole wheat flour. They would make a great addition to your Thanksgiving dinner table!

Honey Wheat Dinner Rolls

With Thanksgiving approaching next week (!?), I thought now would be the perfect time to share my new and improved honey wheat rolls with you! They are perfectly fluffy, chewy rolls that are lightly sweetened with honey and made more wholesome with whole wheat flour. We’ll finish them off with an extra touch of honey and a sprinkle of oats for a pretty and polished look!

This is an update of an old recipe. Unlike that one, this version is not ready in 60 minutes; however, I will gladly spend a bit more time for fluffier, chewier, and more flavorful results! I did link to the original recipe below though, in case we have any steadfast fans.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Made with a combination of whole wheat and bread flour, a mix that results in light, fluffy, flavorful, and perfectly chewy rolls with a healthy touch of whole wheat.
• More nutritious than your standard dinner rolls. Compared to all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour is higher in fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals.
• Includes lots of helpful tips for success. If you are a beginner or simply nervous about baking with yeast, don’t be! Just make sure to read through this post and the recipe thoroughly before you begin.
• Makes an excellent Thanksgiving side dish, but also pairs well with cozy dinners like beef stew, pot roast, or shepherd’s pie.

Ingredients

• Active dry yeast. We’re using classic active dry yeast here today. If you want to make honey wheat rolls with instant yeast, you can make my old version of this recipe; I linked to it in the recipe card below.
• Bread flour + whole wheat flour. You could substitute all-purpose flour for the bread flour, but your rolls won’t be as chewy if you do. As with most of my yeast recipes, you will notice that I include a range for the flour here today; that is because the amount you will actually need will vary. Don’t stress about this though–I provide lots of tips for you to know exactly when to stop adding the flour.
• Sugar. A pinch of sugar to help activate the yeast, but if you don’t want to use any refined sugar, you can skip it without issue.
• Rolled oats. These are optional, but I like to add a sprinkle to the tops of the rolls just before baking for a pretty appearance and some texture.
• Honey. We’ll add this to the dough and on top of the rolls just before they go in the oven. Use your favorite kind, just know that flavored honey will of course impart a flavor.

SAM’S TIP: Use a thermometer! Your milk/water mixture must be just the right temperature to activate the yeast without killing it. I know, the prospect of involuntary yeast-slaughter can be a little intimidating, but if you use a thermometer, you won’t have to worry.

This is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

Tips for Making Honey Wheat Rolls

• If your yeast doesn’t foam after 5-10 minutes, it is bad and you will have to start over. This recipe will NOT work if your yeast does not activate!
• Add your flour gradually. And know that you may not need all of it. Adding too much flour can result in dry, dense rolls. You’ll know you’ve added enough when the dough starts to cling to itself and pull away from the sides of the bowl.
• Use the windowpane test to know if you’ve kneaded your dough long enough.
• Always let your dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot. This can be on top of your fridge, inside your oven with the light on (and the oven turned off!), or in your pantry.
• For perfectly smooth rolls, make sure to roll your dough balls nice and tight. I like to make sure I’ve created some surface tension in each roll before placing it in my baking dish.
• Use the poke test to check that your rolls have proofed. To do this, flour your finger and gently poke your rolls; the goal is to have your rolls spring back halfway. If they spring back all the way, they need more time to proof. If they don’t spring back at all, they have over-proofed. Here is a more detailed guide on the poke test and how to know if your dough is properly proofed.
• A thermometer can tell you if your rolls have finished baking; check for an internal temperature of 185-190F (88C).

SAM’S TIP: Your pan matters! Metal pans will cook your rolls faster, while glass pans will take longer. I recommend checking your rolls at the 24 minute mark if you use a metal pan.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you really love honey, you can serve these honey wheat rolls with my honey butter!

Enjoy!

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Honey Wheat Rolls

These slightly sweetened honey wheat rolls are made with wholesome ingredients like real honey, rolled oats, and whole wheat flour. They would make a great addition to your Thanksgiving dinner table!

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Course: Appetizer, Bread

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Rising Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 15 rolls

Calories: 209kcal

Author: Sam Merritt

Ingredients

For the rolls

• ▢ ¾ cup (180 ml) whole milk
• ▢ ¼ cup (60 ml) water
• ▢ 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
• ▢ 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• ▢ ⅓ cup (75 g) unsalted butter melted
• ▢ ¼ cup (80 g) honey
• ▢ 2 eggs lightly beaten
• ▢ 1 teaspoon table salt
• ▢ 1 cup whole wheat flour
• ▢ 3 – 3 ½ cups (375-438 g) bread or all-purpose flour

Honey Glaze

• ▢ 1 Tablespoon (20 g) honey
• ▢ 1 teaspoon warm water
• ▢ Old fashioned oats for sprinkling

Recommended Equipment

• ▢
  Baking sheet
• ▢
  Mixing bowls
• ▢
  Glass or ceramic baking dish

Instructions

• In a small microwave safe bowl or measuring cup, combine milk and water and heat until warmed to 115F (45C).
  ¾ cup (180 ml) whole milk, ¼ cup (60 ml) water
• Pour milk/water mixture into a large bowl, sprinkle yeast and sugar overtop and stir until combined. Let sit undisturbed until foamy, about 5-10 minutes.
  2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• Once yeast is foamy, add butter, honey, eggs, salt, wheat flour, and 1 cup (125g) of bread flour and stir until well combined.
  ⅓ cup (75 g) unsalted butter, ¼ cup (80 g) honey, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon table salt, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 3 – 3 ½ cups (375-438 g) bread or all-purpose flour
• Gradually add remaining flour as needed, until dough begins to cling to itself in a ball and pulls away from the side of the bowl. Knead dough either by hand or with a dough hook on your stand mixer until smooth and elastic (this should take 5-10 minutes).
• Lightly grease a large bowl with oil and transfer dough to oiled bowl, turn dough to coat surface entirely with oil, cover bowl with plastic wrap or a warm, damp kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.

After rising

• Once dough has finished rising, generously grease the sides and bottom of a 9”x13” glass dish with butter, set aside.
• Punch down dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 15 equal portions (about 65-70g each) and roll each portion into a ball. Arrange rolls in prepared baking dish, cover, and allow to rise in a warm place until balls are puffed and almost touching, about 20-30 minutes. Tip: to tell that the dough is properly proofed, lightly flour your index finger and gently poke one of the rolls. If it springs back completely, it needs more time. If it springs back about halfway, the dough is properly proofed and is ready to be baked. If the dough doesn’t spring back at all, unfortunately it is over-proofed, but bake it anyway.
• While dough is proofing, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare honey topping by combining honey and warm water in a small dish and whisking until thoroughly combined.
  1 Tablespoon (20 g) honey, 1 teaspoon warm water
• Once dough is finished proofing, uncover and use a pastry brush to brush tops of dough balls thoroughly with mixture, then sprinkle lightly with oats and transfer to preheated 350F (177C) oven. Bake for 30 minutes, until rolls are a light golden brown and their internal temperature is 185-190F (88C) (if you are using a metal baking dish, check the rolls earlier, at 24 minutes).
  Old fashioned oats

Notes

Can I make the dinner rolls larger?

If you want larger rolls you can divide into 12 rolls, each 85-90g, and bake for 30 minutes, until inside temperature reaches 185-190F (88C).

Storing

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Reheating rolls

If you made the rolls in advance and wish to reheat them before serving with dinner, preheat your oven to 300F (150C) place the rolls in a baking dish, lightly spray with a mist of water (or sprinkle a few drops of water on top or brush with melted butter), cover with foil, and heat for 10 minutes or until warmed through. Don’t over-cook or they’ll be dry!

Original recipe

For anyone looking for my original 60-minute recipe, you can find that one here.

Nutrition

Serving: 1roll | Calories: 209kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 170mg | Potassium: 94mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 179IU | Vitamin C: 0.04mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

I originally published this recipe in November of 2017. I’ve updated the recipe to create fluffier rolls with a more pronounced flavor, but I’ve linked to the old/original recipe in the recipe card above if you’re looking for that one!

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