Beginner’s Rolls

Read step by step photo post here!

1 cup milk
1 package yeast
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup white flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp (pinch) sugar
Heat the milk so that it’s warmish-hot. Pour into a bowl and add the yeast and sugar. Let the yeast dissolve for about five minutes.

Add the flours and the salt to the milk mixture and form a smooth ball but do not knead. Set in a warm place and cover with a towel for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, knead the dough briefly (only a couple minutes—don’t overdo it!) and divide into 8 portions.

Roll each portion out to form a little ball and set all 8 on a greased baking pan.

Cover the baking pan with a towel and put in a warm spot for another 30 minutes. By this time the dough should have risen to double its original size.

Bake at 425 for about 8-12 minutes, until golden brown.

22 Comments

  • Reply
    jenn
    March 11, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    Jenna, do you think I could sub buttermilk for the milk in these rolls, or would that kill the yeast or do something funky??

  • Reply
    erica
    March 12, 2008 at 9:11 pm

    yeah, i had a similar question actually.. can you substitute a non-dairy milk?

  • Reply
    jenna
    March 12, 2008 at 9:20 pm

    Good question….I would try soy milk but I have never done that variation so I can’t promise on how well it will turn out. You will have to get to some experimenting!

  • Reply
    erica
    March 15, 2008 at 5:41 pm

    sounds good! i’m def. up for the challenge. 🙂

  • Reply
    Emma
    March 25, 2008 at 12:45 am

    can i use all whole wheat flour?

  • Reply
    Tina
    April 1, 2008 at 8:28 pm

    Oooh, these look easy to make! I’ll have to give them a try!

  • Reply
    Rebecca
    April 30, 2008 at 1:35 pm

    Hi Jenna, I tried making these last night…exept the rolls didn’t rise! So, in the end I have 8 very dense dough balls (I am still eating them though). I let them sit twice for 30 minutes each, so I am not sure what went wrong. Any suggestions?

  • Reply
    Maria
    March 17, 2009 at 2:45 pm

    these were great! I just made them today…i put corn meal under the rolls instead of greasing the pan

  • Reply
    Julie
    May 18, 2010 at 5:28 pm

    Hello!
    Great recipe!
    I am vegan, so I used plain, unsweetened brown rice milk and the rolls came out beautiful!
    I also added a half handful of flaxseed meal for an extra bonus!
    Thank you for this great recipe!
    Julie
    In A Pinch, Personal Chef
    🙂

  • Reply
    Ameena
    September 2, 2010 at 10:21 pm

    I finally made these after thinking about it for ages but mine were very dense and ended up being hard. Not sure what I did wrong??

  • Reply
    Susan A.
    September 24, 2010 at 11:59 am

    Mine on the second rising looked more like flat hamberger buns. What did I do wrong? I loved trying though…very peaceful to make them, let them rise, mead, rise again…any advise? Thanks, Susan

  • Reply
    Marie @ ReciPeas & Musings
    September 28, 2010 at 11:47 am

    Hey everyone, I used almond milk and added about 1/4 tsp of baking powder, and they came out great. Not sure if it was the baking powder or the fact that I left them to rise for an hour each time. Thanks for the simple recipe Jenna!

  • Reply
    Ashley
    September 29, 2010 at 3:13 pm

    I made these last night as my first bread attempt, and tried to follow the recipe as closely as possible. I will admit, I did let the bread rest for like, an hour and 15 the second time. The rolls didn’t ever seem to rise, though! Also, when they finished 13 minutes later they were very heavy (literally seemed to weigh at least pound each). Any tips to make them not so damn…doughy?

  • Reply
    Megan (Running Foodie)
    September 29, 2010 at 4:25 pm

    For those of you whose rolls didn’t rise, it’s possible your yeast was expired. Yeast is alive and it does die eventually. I’m going to try these rolls tonight (hopefully MY yeast hasn’t expired!).

  • Reply
    Mark
    October 6, 2010 at 8:01 pm

    I just tried making these, but my rolls didn’t rise and I just bought the yeast today. I’m not sure what I did wrong. Could a possible explanation be that my milk was too hot when I put the yeast in? I’ll have to try again – I am a very unexperienced baker.

    • Reply
      jenna
      October 6, 2010 at 8:03 pm

      Very likely your milk was too hot and it killed the yeast. 🙁

      Try next time with a thermometer in the milk and add the yeast when the milk is exactly 100 degrees. Finicky, I know, but it’ll work!

  • Reply
    Lindsey @ Foodie on the Rocks
    October 14, 2010 at 11:41 am

    Made these last night and they were awesome despite every effort I made to sabotage them. Actually everything went fine at first. They rose once and even rose the second time even though I’m pretty sure I over kneaded them….

    THEN I went to peel back the plastic wrap I’d covered the dough balls with and it stuck to each roll. Huge sad face :(. All the yeasty bubbles popped and the rolls fell.

    I baked them anyways. At 350. Whoops! Haha, checked the recipe at 8 minutes and raised the temp to 450 for 5 more minutes. Somehow they are still completely delightful! Can’t wait imagine how good they’ll be when I actually get this one right!!

    Stellar beginner recipe Jenna!

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  • Reply
    Lindsay McAlester
    November 23, 2010 at 5:36 pm

    How many rolls does this recipe make?

    • Reply
      Lindsay McAlester
      November 23, 2010 at 6:44 pm

      Duh! 8…..That’s what I get for skimming. 🙂

  • Reply
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