These whole wheat rolls are fluffy, stay soft for days, and make excellent sandwiches! A must-have for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. With a dairy-free option. Check out the reviews if you need convincing!
Continuing on with healthier Easter recipes, I give you the gift of fluffy whole wheat dinner rolls! For me, no holiday meal is complete without dinner rolls.
I have to admit that I really love the frozen ones you can bake in the oven, but homemade and whole wheat is always better, right?
If you’re like me and don’t like your whole wheat recipes to actually taste of whole wheat, then try my whole wheat chocolate cupcakes! They’re every bit as delicious as cupcakes made with all-purpose flour.
The same is true of this whole wheat healthy carrot cake. And this whole wheat banana bread!
Your whole wheat roll search is over!
But back to today’s recipe. These whole wheat rolls could also be called Miracles of Fluff. Because they are. :D I’m so happy I found this recipe on An Oregon Cottage!
I can’t tell you how many 100% whole wheat roll recipes I tried before finding a good one. I even tried 50% whole wheat and couldn’t find a really amazing recipe. But these?! 100% and so ridiculously fluffy and tasty!
One of the best parts about this recipe is that the rolls stay soft for longer than just a few hours after baking. The rolls that other recipes I tried yield rolls that are good out of the oven, but later that night, they’re crumbly and not that appetizing. Or they’re just plain bad.
What to serve them with
Whenever I make brisket or pulled pork, I make these. I don’t know what it is about this recipe, but these always stay soft for days after making them! These rolls would also be great alongside this Paleo Pot Roast from Noshtastic! And if you’ve got an Instant Pot, try this Instant Pot chuck roast. These pork chops with apples also look wonderful.
My favorite way of enjoying these whole wheat rolls is with honey. Just a little is enough. These rolls are already slightly sweetened with honey, but they’re not that sweet. Totally acceptable for sandwiches!
Got leftover turkey? Put it in here and rejoice. :D Turkey leftovers won’t be that boring anymore!
I’ve also made these into cinnamon buns. That recipe is hopefully coming soon! They’re pretty naughty. But at least they’re still whole grain!
I’ve halved the recipe before but I always regret it. Since these wheat rolls stay good for so long, there’s no need to halve the recipe. And you can always pop them in the fridge and reheat in the microwave if needed.
You could also freeze half of the dough and make them into cinnamon buns later, which I highly recommend doing. They’ll no doubt be the fluffiest 100% whole grain cinnamon rolls you ever have.
And just like the dinner rolls, I’ve tried loads of whole wheat cinnamon bun recipes. This is the base you want to use!
I’m also excited to try the leftover rolls in these pizza sliders for a fun treat.
Other flours?
I’ve tried these with whole spelt flour and that didn’t work out. If you adjusted the liquid, it’d work, but none of the formulas for converting whole to spelt recipes have worked for me. Not yet, anyway.
I’m quite confident using a gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour wouldn’t work for this recipe. So for a gluten-free version, try these gluten-free dinner rolls.
Dairy-free whole wheat rolls
For a dairy-free version, use coconut oil instead of butter and homemade buttermilk. Use any dairy-free milk (except canned coconut milk) and 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice.
Pour the vinegar into a 1 cup measuring cup. Fill with milk. Give it a few stirs. Let sit for 5 minutes while preparing the dry ingredients. There you have dairy-free buttermilk!
If you give these rolls a try, let me know how they come out. I love feedback. :)
Photos updated 3/2020. Here’s an old one.
Whole Wheat Rolls - Soft and Fluffy Dinner Rolls!
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 24 rolls
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup (120 milliliters) warm water
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter or coconut oil1, softened + additional butter for brushing on top, if desired
- 1/4 cup (80 grams) honey
- 3 large eggs (50 gram each, out of shell), room temperature
- 1 cup (240 milliliters) room temperature or slightly warm buttermilk or homemade dairy-free buttermilk2
- 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 4 1/2 to 5 cups (563-625 grams) whole wheat flour
Directions
- In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the 1/2 cup of warm water. Set this aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and honey until well combined.
- Add the eggs, buttermilk, and yeasty water and beat until well combined.
- Add in the vital wheat gluten and the salt and switch to the dough hook.
- Add in 2 cups of the flour and mix.
- Then add in enough of the remaining flour so that the dough just comes together. Depending on the day, you may need quite a bit.
- Knead for only 2 minutes.
- Once the dough is no longer tacky, cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour. I like to turn the oven to the lowest setting for 1 minute, then turn it off and let the dough rise in there.
- Turn the dough out onto a slightly floured surface and knead it a few times, then let the dough rest for 3 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 24 balls and place these in a buttered 13" x 9" baking pan (the pieces will touch).
- Let the rolls rise for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Bake the rolls for 13 – 25 minutes or until golden brown. It's very important not to overbake the rolls!
- Remove from the oven, rub some butter over the top of the rolls, and serve immediately or let cool completely and then cover and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. Anything past that, I'd stick them in the fridge (to prevent mold).
Notes
- For the dairy-free version, use coconut oil. It should about as firm as softened butter and not melted! If you don't want any coconut taste, use refined coconut oil instead of unrefined.
- Use any dairy-free milk (except canned coconut milk) and 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Pour the vinegar into a 1 cup measuring cup. Fill with milk. Stir and ket sit for 5 minutes.
Adapted from Soft 100% Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls from An Oregon Cottage
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274 comments on “Whole Wheat Rolls (soft and ultra fluffy!)” — Add one!
31 comments are awaiting moderation!
These look incredibly amazing and worth the try! I was curious, though, if it is some how possible to subsitute the milk and buttermilk for something with no lactose? Is coconut milk/cream doable?
You can use any kind of dairy-free milk (almond milk, soy milk, etc.) but I probably wouldn’t use coconut milk / cream just because the consistency is different. And for the buttermilk, you can make your own with lemon juice or vinegar. :) Here’s a recipe. I hope you’ll enjoy them!
Can I use a bread machine for this? Can I just throw everything in the bread machine and let it do it’s job? Thanks and these look amazing! Do you know how many calories is a roll?
You only mean and mixing and kneading, right? Just making sure you don’t want to bake it into bread form! I haven’t used a bread machine in 15 years so I’m not much help but I don’t see why the mixing and kneading can’t be done in the bread machine. :) And I have no idea how many calories are in each roll but you can copy and paste the recipe here for that info, if you like. I hope you’ll enjoy them! :)
Excellent recepie dear..just awesome! Baked them today so plz tell me how long they would stay fresh at room temperature as milk is there in it..Thanks ☺
Yay! I’m happy to hear that you liked them. :) They’ll stay for 3-4 days at room temperature. Since the rolls are baked, you don’t need to worry about the milk that’s in the rolls. Thanks for the feedback! :)
These were really good. I made them to take to a family celebration and they were a real hit. Soft, tender with just a hint of sweetness. Family members asked to take the rest home. I came home empty handed, lol!
I’m so happy that everyone enjoyed them! And awesome that they liked the rolls enough to take them off your hands. ;) Thanks a bunch for the feedback!
I want to make these but do not have a stand mixer. Hmmm?
Will mixing with a hand mixer and then by hand work?
Yes! That’ll definitely work. Hope you’ll enjoy them! :)
After reading all of the comments I can’t wait to make these for the first time for Mother’s Day! I have to make them on Friday but need to keep them fresh until Sunday. What process would you suggest for this (storing and reheating)? I’m so afraid of loosing the softness everyone has been raving about…
These really do stay fresh for days. I would say that there’s almost no difference between these rolls on the first day and on the third day. There is a difference between the rolls straight from the oven and later in the day (and third day), though. Nothing beats straight from the oven but these come pretty close! :) You can also lightly reheat them in the microwave, if you like. I put mine on a plate, lightly wet a paper towel, place the paper towel on top of the rolls and heat them up in the microwave for 20 seconds or so. I haven’t tried using the oven but my fear would be that they dry out a little. I hope you and your mother will enjoy the rolls! :)
Hi ..I don’t have a mixer..can I do the kneading by hand?
Yes! That would be fine. :)
I never take the time the review a recipe, but I wanted to thank you for this amazing recipe! Miracles of fluff is completely accurate! I have only attempted yeast bread once before, but it resulted in hard biscuit-like discs. This was several years ago, and despite being a fairly seasoned home cook and baker, I was afraid to attempt yeast bread again. I have made these twice, once for Easter and then yesterday afternoon :) Both times I got fantastic results! The recipe is very forgiving. I forgot to set my butter out to soften, so I just melted it, and I left out vital wheat gluten. The second time around I used blackstrap molasses instead of honey. I also made the rolls larger the second time. They are fluffy, moist, flavorful and incredible! Thanks again!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them, Angie! Molasses instead of honey sounds yummy. :) I’ll have to try that! And I’m with you on the biscuit-like discs. No more of those for me… ever again! Thanks a bunch for taking the time to leave your review. I really appreciate it!
Can I let this dough rise in the refrigerator?
I tried that once and the result was super yeasty but someone else has tried it with good results! So I guess I need to try again. I’m thinking the problem was my yeast.
Can you substitute with lactose free milk and lemon juice for buttermilk?
Yes, that would be fine. :)
This is the BEST recipe I have ever tried. So much so that I have bookmarked it so that I can always find it when I need it. Of course now I’m going to experiment with loads more of your recipes. Quite a wonderful blog you have Erin, thanks for sharing!
Ooh… the best recipe?! What a compliment. Thank you! I’m so happy that you enjoyed the dinner rolls. I hope you’ll like the other recipes just as much. :) Thank you so much for the feedback!
I have attempted to make dinner rolls several times, both times resulting in hockey puck disasters. I followed this recipe exactly (other than omitting vital wheat gluten) and the result was the most tender whole wheat dinner roll I’ve ever had. I was so happy with results and proud to have finally made bread successfully. Thanks for the great recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that they came out well for you, Angie! And I agree on the hockey puck disaster thing. I’ve had way too many of those! Thanks a bunch for your feedback and the rating. :)
hi there! i made these last night for us to have today and didn’t realize until the morning that i underbaked them (many of them were golden brown, and they seemed pretty set, and i was SOAFRAID of overbaking!) — when i uncovered them i saw that they’d sunk down quite a bit in the middle.
now i’d much rather have a slightly doughy roll than a dry overbaked one, but i was wondering if i could stick them back in a 350 oven for a few minutes? would that mess them up, do you think? maybe i should leave the top covered with foil?
thanks!!!
Hi Amanda! Sorry for the slow reply. And I’m sorry that the rolls came out underbaked. :( If the underbaked rolls sat out overnight, I don’t know how good they’d be to eat from a safety standpoint. I’d personally do it (after baking for a few more minutes like you said) but it’s probably not the wisest thing to do. But hopefully I’m wrong! If this happens again, do cover them and immediately put them back in the oven. And if you have a thermometer, you can test them first! They should be 180-190F when done. :)
thanks! the temperature thing is very helpful for next time! they looked great when they came out of the oven so i didn’t realize til much later that they were under baked. alas, i am committed to my carbs and so we ate them anyway (a bit better after re-heating) and no sickness or anything ;) super tasty also — love that they are 100% whole wheat. thanks!!
Haha. I love that you ate them anyway! And even better that you didn’t get sick. ;) Thanks so much for coming back to let me know that it worked out in the end!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I have been trying different whole wheat recipes for ages and am never satisfied but these are great. My whole family loves them, my niece had 3 when she was over for lunch the other day.
Thank you! And I agree. A good 100% whole grain dinner roll isn’t easy to find! So happy that you and your niece enjoyed these. Thanks for the feedback! :)
Hi,
Thank you for this recipe – I haven’t made it yet, but the reviews have tempted me :-). I just had a quick question though, I wanted to make it for burgers (i.e. as burger buns) – however, I’m wondering considering they have honey in them, would they be sweet? Or would they be okay as burger buns? Do you have any tips as to what would make them more burger-bun-ny? :-) Thank you so much in advance!
Hi, Sabrina! These are already perfect as burger buns. :) At least for us. I find normal buns totally lacking in any kind of flavor, so I love these (they’re not too sweet!) I use them as buns for pulled pork, ham sandwiches, burgers, and everything else. :) I hope you’ll enjoy them!
Thank you Erin for your response! I’m excited to make them tomorrow. I’m SURE we’ll enjoy them…!
No problem! I hope they worked out. :)
I am german but live on Tenerife, spanish ( Canarian ) island…. pls tell me what I am looking for on my search for ” vital wheat gluten “. I am VERYlimited here.. ty so much for helping, i relly would love to make these !!!!!!!!!!! xxxx Peggy
It’s called Weizenkleber in German but I doubt you’ll find it on Tenerife. :( You can leave it out without a problem!
Just made your recipe yesterday and per your suggestion turned half into cinnamon rolls. Yum, who knew whole wheat cinnamon rolls could taste so good. My girls were in heaven.! These will definitely make it into our wintertime dessert of the week rotation. Though next time, I will make a pan of caramel rolls to enjoy fresh and a pan of cinnamon rolls to freeze (unfrosted) for the next month. We ate WAY too much bread this weekend.
That sounds amazing! Dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls and caramel rolls. Yum! Sorry that this recipe contributed to a huge intake of bread this weekend. At least it was 100% whole grain? ;) Thanks so much for the feedback!
Hi, I run a health cafe attahed to a spa in India. I am usually skeptical about sites that are non Indian due to lack of ingredients avaiable. Yours was a master piece and would like to thank you for your excellent steps and methods. This little dinner roll accompanies my omlettes and eggs. Thanks a tonne :)
Wow, thanks so much for your comment, Vidya! I’m so happy to hear that you liked the rolls (and masterpieces?! Thank you. :D) Thanks again for your comment! And by the way, I live in Germany so I understand what it’s like to bake without all the ingredients they have in the US. ;)
Hi Again Erin, Would know a possible way to avoid eggs in this recpie and still have them soft and fluffy? For guests who dont eat egg or are allergic to it is my question for. Please let me know. Thanks in advance.
Hi again! I haven’t tried it but I’m thinking it wouldn’t work out so well. I did some research and didn’t find any other recipes that look fluffy and don’t have eggs. I think the eggs are needed for the texture. :( Sorry I couldn’t help more!
You can use milled flax seeds in place of eggs. 1 tablespoon of flax to 3 tablespoons water equals one egg.just mix and let set for a couple of minutes before adding in.
Have you tried that specifically with this recipe? That’s great! Thanks so much for the tip and for the rating. :)
I want to make these! In list of ingredients it says 4 and one half to 5 cups flour but directions say #5 2 cups flour and #6 up to 1 cup flour How much flour do I use?
Yes, that’s correct! All together, you’ll use 4.5 – 5 cups of flour. In step #5, just add 2 cups, then in step #6, you add just enough additional flour so that it comes together. And I’ve had to add quite a bit of additional flour on some days… it just depends on the weather. Does it make sense now? Let me know if it doesn’t! I hope you’ll like the rolls. :)
Wow these are SO yummy!! This is my first time making anything with whole wheat(I used white whole wheat) and i’m so happy with how they turned out! I also used a cookie sheet and they were amazing! My family ate every single one of them and I cant wait to make them again! Thanks for sharing this recipe :)
Yay! I’m so happy that you liked them! That’s awesome that your family ate them all up. It’s fun to sneak some whole grains into them, right? And great to know that white whole wheat works! Thanks so much for the feedback. :)