Honey Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

I am going to be a little liberal with the term "Makeover Monday" today.  But, hey, this is my blog so I can do whatever I want!  Honestly, we have been doing so much traveling for the holidays that I haven't spent much time in my own kitchen.  And I can't say I've been making a lot of healthy foods recently.  Oops.

But today I am going to share an amazing recipe for whole wheat dinner rolls.  It's whole wheat, and I used skim milk instead of whole milk, so I'm calling that good enough for a makeover.  I have tried making whole wheat dinner rolls a couple of times before finding this recipe in an issue of Cook's Country.  My previous recipes resulted in dense, short, and basically tasteless balls of bread that were certainly not worth the time it took to make them.  

Not so with these.  Cook's Country never disappoints.  This recipe gave me rolls that were tall, with a tasty wheaty flavor, but still light and fluffy.  And they were actually easier to make then I remember.  This recipe is definitely a keeper!

If that's not enough to convince you to make these, how about how delicious they look?  There is just nothing as delicious as fresh-baked bread.  These soft rolls practically melt in your mouth.  Plus, I think the smell alone of fresh bread baking in my house on a cold winter day is worth getting my little booty off the couch and into the kitchen.

These can even be made a day in advance.  To do so, skip the final 20 minutes of rising time and cover rolls after forming.  Store them in the refrigerate for 24 hours.  When you are ready to bake your rolls, let the dough sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before you put them in the oven.  Then proceed as directed.  I have done this, and it worked out just fine.  I have also baked them for about 15 minutes instead of 20, and then finished the baking before eating the rolls so that they still had that fresh-out-of-the-oven taste that makes homemade rolls so amazing.

So the next time you are wanting bread, go for the hearty, wheaty taste of whole grain.  And if you are going to eat bread, make sure it is the best bread.  It's gotta be worth those calories!  This bread definitely worth it.  If you make these delicious rolls, I promise you won't be sorry!

Honey Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup skim milk, heated to 110 degrees, plus 1 Tbsp
1/3 cup honey, 1 tsp
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled, divided
1 large egg
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp instant or rapid-rise yeast
2 1/4 tsp salt
Directions:
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees.  When oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off.  Grease large bowl and 13x9-inch baking dish.  Set aside.
Combine 1 3/4 cup milk, 1/3 cup honey, 4 Tbsp butter, and egg in 4-cup liquid measuring cup.
Using stand mixer fitted with dough hook, mix whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, and salt on low speed until combined.  Slowly add milk mixture and mix until dough comes together, about 1 minute.  Increase speed to medium and mix until dough is smooth and almost clears sides of bowl yet still sticks to bottom, 6-8 minutes.
Transfer dough to greased bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in turned-off oven until dough has doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
Punch dough down on lightly floured counter or cutting board.  Divide dough into quarters and cut each quarter into 4 equal pieces.  Form each piece into rough ball by pinching and pulling dough edges under so that top is smooth.  On clean counter, cup each ball with your palm and roll into smooth, tight ball.  Arrange in prepared baking dish and cover loosely with plastic.  Let rolls rest in turned-off oven until doubled in size, about 20 minutes.
Remove rolls from oven and discard plastic.  Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Brush rolls with remaining 1 Tbsp milk.  Bake rolls until golden brown and register 200 degrees, about 20 minutes.
While rolls are baking, combine remaining 1 Tbsp butter and remaining 1 tsp honey in small bowl.  When rolls are done baking, brush with honey butter and let cool in dish on wire rack for 10 minutes.  Remove rolls from dish.  Serve.

Recipe adapted slightly from Cooks Country, October/November 2011