Birthday Baking

Mom and Dave very kindly bought me a copy of the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking cookbook and the Bob's Red Mill Baking Book for my birthday back in March. Both were very happily received because I've been searching for whole grain recipes to replace the white bread in our lives.

In honor of my high opinion of King Arthur Flour, I gave the Wheat Rolls recipe a go first.

Here it is, adapted from the original recipe, with accompanying photos:



Wheat Rolls

Ingredients:

1 cup lukewarm water
1/4 cup orange juice
4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons agave nectar
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Heaping 1/2 cup dried potato flakes
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk (I crushed the dried milk I had with a rolling pin until it had the consistency of flour)
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients, and mix and knead them (I used the mixer) until you have a medium-soft, smooth dough.

2. Cover and allow the dough to rise until quite puffy, though probably not doubled in bulk, 1-2 hours. (Because my house was so cold in March, when I made this recipe, I took advantage of the fact that John was doing the laundry and placed the bowl with the dough on the dryer to help it along in its rising.)
3. Gently (and I do mean gently) deflate the dough and transfer it to a lightly greased surface. Divide it into the number of rolls you wish to make (the original recipe makes 16, but I made 12 long, thick sandwich rolls).
4. Shape each piece the way you wish (I just rolled them with my hands into long tube-like structures), and place each on your lightly greased pan.

5. Lightly oil your rolls and cover them with plastic wrap.
6. Allow the rolls to rise for 1-2 hours. They should be really puffy by then.

7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
8. Uncover the rolls and bake them until they are deep golden brown on the top, but lighter on the sides (23-25 minutes).

9. Remove them from the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack.
10. Brush tops with melted butter for a soft, satiny crust.

Enjoy!

These rolls came out very well. I used them for sandwiches, as did John, although he said he'd prefer smaller ones for dinner rolls (as they were originally intended). They freeze very well when double bagged in ziplock freezer bags.