Rustic Whole Grain Rolls
September 16, 2008 by Marye Audet
Filed under Breads
I have been making bread for so many years that it is natural to me to substitute ingredients and flours without much thought. I know what certain things will add as far as texture and flavor and it is a comfortable relationship I have with bread…no suprises anymore..just old friends that know what to expect from eachother.
With Marc being sick I am trying to get as much nutrition in him as possible so I have been making flour mixtures when I make bread… Freshly ground whole wheat berries, oat groats, brown rice, lentils, sun flower seeds, flax….and the list goes on. The magic that happens when the yeast starts reacting with the honey or sugar is amazing, miraculous, but always predictable.
These rolls are perfect for autumn’s chilly weather. They go with soups and stews and made into a loaf the dough makes a great sandwich. Because of the combination the bread is high in B vitamins, fiber, protien and omega-3s…best of all, it is filling and it tastes really good.
This may rise a little slower than you are used to. Give it plenty of time because the flavor develops as it rises. Feel free to experiment with ingredients…pumpkin seeds have plenty of zinc, add walnuts, dried fruit… grind up brown rice, lentils, or whatever in your blender..Just make sure that you have a ratio of about 2:1 wheat flour to other ingredients for best texture.
Rustic Whole Grain Rolls
- 4 cups warm water
- 1/2 cup melted butter, or light organic oil
- 1/2 cup honey, brown sugar, or sugar…or a combination
- 3 cups oatmeal
- 5 or more cups whole wheat flour, preferably Montana white freshly ground
- 2 cups organic white flour
- 1 cup uncooked brown rice, ground in the blender
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup flax seeds
- 1 cup sunflower seeds
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon grated orange peel, optional
- Dried fruit as desired up to 1 cup
- In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sweetener in 1/2 cup warm water. In a large bowl, mix remaining 3 1/2 cups warm water, sweetener, and butter or oil . Mix well. Add yeast mixture and stir.
- Gradually add 5 cups whole wheat flour beating well after each addition. Add the flax, orange peel, dried fruit, and sunflower seeds, stir well.
- Let stand for 30 minutes, until mixture is very light. Stir in salt and the rest of the flours until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Knead 10 to 15 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Put into a greased bowl and cover, let rise in the oven with light on until doubled, about 1 hour or more.
- Punch down and shape into 18 round balls. Brush the tops with melted butter. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- . Bake at 400 degrees F 25-35 minutes.When you put the rolls in the preheated oven throw a cup of water on the oven floor and shut the door quickly. This creates steam that gives the crust a nice, old world texture. After the first 15 minutes toss in another cup of water.
Images:Marye Audet
perfect….I am on the hunt for healthy and fibrous right now…thanks Marye…..
sure Vee!
Rustic Whole Grain Rolls. I bet this thing will flush out 20lbs from your colon!
Umm, well Drunk, only if you are full of it.
stupid question: does the rice have to be cooked? Please, don’t laugh at it – but if you aren’t good at something, those issues come up…
I will definitely try it – my boyfriend loves self-made wholegrain bread. So far I’m into self-ground spelt-flour but it’s time for other recipes… It sounds – and looks – terrific!
oh evi! I am sorry..no it does not..use raw rice and blend it in the blender until it turns to a flour…you can leave it out if you like and use something else as well.
These look wonderful. I might suggest olive oil as the fat – I make something similar and the olive oil gives such amazing flavor.
thanks Marye – most of all for not laughing at me.
And of course for your help. I already printed the recipe and hopefully will get around to trying it within the next couple of days.
YUM!
That would work, Jen, especially if you used lemon peel rather than orange…
evi- I would never laugh! I appreciate you asking because when I read back over it it was rather confusing.
Okay…first…bread making is NOT my friend. No matter how many years that i have tried to make bread…it has rejected me. I don’t need this kind of rejection. I need someone to make the dough and then cook it and then mail it to me….hint hint
LOL! Better yet my friend, come stay with m e for a few days and we will conquer the yeast monster together.
MARYE!!! I did the second batch and cooked the rice before using it (I don’t have a grinder and my chopper almost died on the rice ;-<). It worked out soooo well!
Not I thought that would be possible but now my boyfriend loves me even more, haha! I am baking them once a week and he eats the rolls day-in and day-out without getting tired of them. Thank you so much for the recipe, I already converted it into grams and liters and celsius and whatever-else-there-is-different-between-you-over-there-and-me-over-here and put it into my recipe-book. LOVING’ IT!!!
Are these rolls okay to freeze before cooking? I’d like to be able to make them at will, so I’ll have no excuse not to be eating what I should.
And what texture do the rolls have, and especially the difference with the water? I like soft rolls a lot, so should I make any changes or is that what I can expect? Thank you so much, this recipe looks amazing… it just has everything.
Milk or buttermilk will always give a softer roll. Yep, they freeze well before cooking. What I would do though is to cook until just done but not browned…then freeze and cook like brown and serve rolls.
Thanks!! That’s very helpful.