My First Award, My First Award!! Oh and some Killer Whole Wheat Honey Rolls on the Side.

What an amazing surprise to come home to this afternoon!  A fellow foodie blogger and long distance soul sister, Alex at Ma What’s for Dinner, (we both have three boys and love to cook and eat; what more to life is there really) left me my very first award!

I’m thrilled and need to shout it from the rooftops!  It’s funny how when someone does something nice like this (thank you so much Alex!), you suddenly feel like blogging is just that much more worth while.  I mean, people are actually reading and appreciating what I write.  How cool is that?

Ok, now that I am glowing from my recognition, it’s time to make some killer honey whole wheat rolls.  These rolls were the final piece of my tarragon lemon chicken,alfredo with a side of dinner, and asparagus Sunday dinner and they were delicious!

Ingredients Needed:

11/2 Cups of Warm Water
1 Pkg of Active Yeast
1 Tbsp of White Sugar
1 Tbsp of Honey
2 Tbsp of Olive Oil
1 tsp of Salt
2 Cups of Bread Flour
2 Cups of Whole Wheat Flour

First off, you’ll want to put the warm water in a bowl and add your yeast, honey, and sugar.  Stir it well to combine and then let it rest for a couple minutes.  Make sure your water is warm but not hot or you’ll kill the yeast.  Ideally, the temperature should be between 105 and 115 degrees, or just slightly warm to your touch.

After the yeast mixture has had a few minutes to rest, add in your salt and 1 cup of each of the white and whole wheat flour.  Combine the flour well and then continue to add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, kneading as you go.  Add flour until your dough is elastic and no longer sticky.  You may or may not need the entire two cups.  Knead your dough for a good 5-7 minutes and then set it aside to rise.  Here’s what your dough should look like.

For rising I usually put a small swirl of olive oil in my bowl, throw my ball of dough in to cover the bottom and then turn the dough over so the other side gets a cover of oil as well.  This way your dough won’t stick when you go to pull it out after it’s risen. Now cover your dough with a kitchen towel and let the yeast do it’s thing.

I’ve written this before, but a tip I read once that I use all the time for bread rising is to turn your oven on to 170 degrees for 1 minute and then turn it off.  This should just put a touch of warmth into your oven for rising.  Be sure that you can still fully put your hand on the side of the oven.  If you can’t it’s too warm and you need to leave the door open for a minute before placing your dough in.

Once your dough has had a chance to rise; I usually let it sit for 50 minutes to an hour, bring it out and punch it back down, kneading the dough out for a couple minutes.  Now, separate the dough into individual balls; about 3-4 tbsp worth of dough a piece, and place them in your greased muffin tin. For making good balls, I roll the dough around in a circular motion on a lightly floured counter with my hands to get a basic ball shape and then I pull all the edges of the dough to the bottom and cinch it, almost like I’m trying to pull the dough around a super ball.  This gives you a nice smooth roll top.

When all your balls are made, cover your rolls with the kitchen towel once again and let them rise in your oven.  This time for about 30-40 minutes.  And here are my rolls after rising but before being cooked.  Aren’t they looking pretty?

Time to cook ’em up!  Place the rolls in an oven preheated to 375 degrees and bake them for about 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. And that’s that.  Now your whole house should smell like fresh bread, your family should be running to the kitchen begging for a warm whole wheat honey roll and you can sit back and relish in the fact that you brought all of this happiness into your home!

Whole Wheat Honey Rolls

Total Time: 2 hour 30 min

Ingredients:

11/2 Cups Warm Water
1 Pkg Active Yeast
1 Tbsp White Sugar
1 Tbsp Honey
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Salt
2 Cups Bread Flour
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

Directions:

Pour the warm water into a bowl and add your yeast, honey, and sugar. Stir it well to combine and then let it rest for a couple minutes.

Add in the salt and 1 cup each of the white and whole wheat flour.

Combine the flour well and then continue to add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, kneading as you go. Add flour until your dough is elastic and no longer sticky. You may or may not need the entire two cups. Knead your dough for a good 5-7 minutes and then set it aside to rise.

Once your dough has had a chance to rise punch it back down, kneading the dough out for a couple minutes.

Separate the dough into individual balls; about 3-4 tbsp worth of dough a piece, and place them in your greased muffin tin.

Cover your rolls with the kitchen towel once again and let them rise in your oven. This time for about 30-40 minutes.

Place the rolls in an oven preheated to 375 degrees and bake them for about 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

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