Yummy Wheat & Honey Rolls

Today has turned out to be a crazy busy day. Seems these come along more and more often. As I was thinking about a blog post today, I've had one in mind for awhile now, I realized it isn’t ready to post. I still need to add some more information. So…another day for that. I was without electricity a good portion of the morning (Do you know how many things we do require electricity???) so I am really running behind. On top of that, my computer picked today to take a small fit! I can’t really get into anything that I need to…wondering now if I’ll be able to get into my blog to post this, hmm…guess we’ll see.

I’ve been thinking lately about whole wheat in our diets. I’m not very good at this. I do well for awhile then slack off. One of my goals for this year though is to use more whole wheat in my baking and cooking. I think I may have found the perfect recipe to help me do this. If you struggle with this too, you may want to give this recipe a try. This recipe for “Yummy Dinner Rolls” has been in my “recipes to try” file for some time (along with hundreds of others) but this one had made it to the top 10 list and was just waiting for me to get after it and get it done.

I love homemade rolls. I also love cinnamon rolls and I always claim that they are my weakness. However, I just may have multiple weaknesses. I’ve been thinking about making cinnamon rolls lately but I wasn’t planning to make them – I told myself I had to finish using up some stuff in my freezer before I could make and freeze cinnamon rolls. I have a recipe I love that I have used for years but it makes a huge amount so I planned on making some, freezing some of the rolls baked and some unbaked but not now.

I made sure I had all the ingredients for this about a month ago and still nothing happened. But on Tuesday afternoon as I was pondering what to have with our supper I knew I had to try to make this “Yummy dinner rolls” recipe. When I first looked at the recipe, I decided I would cut it in half because it makes a big batch, so that is what I did. The unique thing about this recipe is that it uses Krusteaz Honey Wheat Pancake mix as part of the flour. The recipe also says to add additional flour but does not specify an amount. I thought I had added too much flour. The rolls were very light but had a different texture when they were rising than the rolls I usually make. I was a little disappointed. When I started working with the dough, I realized that it had a wonderful texture; still a little nervous about how the finished product would be. They turned out wonderful!

I’m glad I only made half the batch. I still got 16 large crescent rolls and 14 large cinnamon rolls – yes, I caved in and made cinnamon rolls too – mostly because there was so much dough I didn’t know what else to do. These rolls were heavenly! Not only that, they were still very light the next day. They had such a good texture and I loved every bite. They are a little whole wheatish (I know that isn’t a word, but that’s what they were) a good mix. Next time, I’ll add an extra cup of whole wheat flour and the time after that a little more.

This recipe is a good one to experiment with. If you aren’t using much whole wheat in your bread and roll making, or even if you are, give this a try. I loved this recipe. Even though I usually use a sweet roll recipe for my cinnamon rolls, they were wonderful with this dough and glazed with caramel icing. I did increase the rising times on my rolls from what the recipe specified.

Yummy Wheat & Honey Rolls
In a separate bowl mix
6 beaten eggs
1/2 c. warm water
2 T. instant yeast
Set aside.
In large mixing bowl or Bosch, mix the following:
2 c. warm mashed potatoes
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. shortening
1 T. salt
3 c. hot water
Add 3 c. Krusteaz wheat and honey pancake mix and blend well.
Add yeast and egg mixture.
Add enough white flour for a nice dough and mix for 5-10 minutes until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
Let rise until double. (30 minutes)
Punch down and let rise again. (30 minutes)
Form into rolls, put on a greased pan and let rise again.
Bake at 400º for 15 minutes or until done.