I promise these will be the softest 100% whole wheat dinner rolls you’ve ever had – and they are easy to make with this complete step-by-step tutorial (& make-ahead tip). These are so easy and so good – with or without butter!
Check out more of our best bread recipes here.
This is the best dinner roll recipe – truly. Originally published in AOC’s first year, 2009, this incredible all whole wheat dinner roll recipe remains one of the site’s most popular recipes, which it deserves – I’ve actually had a friend tell me she dreamed about these rolls!
You have both the picture tutorial and a video showing you all the steps below, so there are a couple of ways to learn how to make these soft dinner rolls even if you’ve never made bread before. And you’ll want to – they really are amazing!
My family loves, loves this whole wheat dinner rolls recipe (well, they all tell me that yeast rolls are better than baking powder biscuits, but just between us, I also secretly crave these).
Along with my 100% whole wheat sandwich bread, these sweetened-with-honey whole wheat rolls are what finally made me believe that “soft” and “whole wheat” could actually coexist in a bread.
Can you really have fluffy and soft dinner rolls that are 100% whole wheat?
Actually, after tasting these rolls, many people have told me they don’t believe they are 100% whole wheat (and just plain old regular whole wheat at that). They think I’ve added at least some all-purpose flour.
But it’s all true. These soft and fluffy dinner rolls are made with only whole wheat (I’ve also made them with all spelt flour, too, with good results). It’s the eggs, butter, and honey that make these a so-good-you-can’t-eat-just-one type of roll. They are light and fluffy and almost don’t need any butter – but go ahead anyway.
If you bring (or serve) these rolls to any dinner, holiday or otherwise, everyone will be begging asking you for the recipe. And they’re easy, too, once you get the hang of working with a slightly wetter dough.
Don’t believe me? Follow along and I’ll show you all the steps, including what the dough should look like so you can see that it’s all true.
Be like the thousands of other people who’ve made these rolls and been the star of the party!
How to Make Soft 100% Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
Note: this is a picture tutorial – for full printed recipe, scroll to the bottom of the page. Some links in this article are affiliate links and if you click on them I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.
1. The first step is to dissolve the yeast in a 1/2 cup of warm, not hot, water. Just measure out the water in a glass measuring cup using warm tap water, add the yeast and stir it in with a whisk, and set it aside.
2. Add softened butter (no substitutes, please- now is not the time!) into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the honey and cream them together with the paddle attachment.
3. Add the eggs and beat, scraping the butter from the sides. Pour in your warmed buttermilk (or milk) and the yeast mixture.
Note: It will not be smooth, as this picture above shows- it’s OK to see lumps of butter floating around.
4. Mix in 4-1/2 cups of whole wheat flour and 1-1/2 teaspoons salt (trust me, you don’t want to leave the salt out- I speak from experience), and mix well.
This is the whole wheat flour I like, and this is a lighter whole wheat flour that will make your rolls even fluffier.
5. Change to the dough hook and knead for only a couple of minutes– we’re just trying to lose the extreme stickiness here, not really to develop gluten. Add a couple more tablespoons of flour, if needed.
Tip: if you keep kneading, the flour will absorb and the dough will stick to the bowl again. You should need just a minute or two, added the bit of flour and scraping the sides.
This was hard to photograph, but a finger touched on the surface should not come away with any dough on it, even though the dough looks sticky. In the photo above, the dough is still sticking to the bowl (good), but not to my finger, so it’s ready to rise.
6. Leave it in the mixing bowl, cover it with a towel and let sit at room temperature for an hour.
NOTE: This is where the video may really help explain better if you’re wondering what the dough should be like (the #1 problem people have is adding too much flour and coming out with dense, heavy rolls).
I have answered a lot of questions about this recipe over the years, but with hundreds of comments, it’s not like you are going to attempt to wade through them all. From what the dough should look like, to equipment, to adding too much flour – I try to address the most often asked questions and comments in this video. (UPDATE: for some reason I have 1 cup of water in the video, but it’s only 1/2 cup – use the printable recipe ingredients below!)
This is the dough after the first rise. As you can see, it has risen some, but is not really “doubled.” It’s OK, they will rise more in the pan.
7. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead with hands a few times, then cover it with a towel and let rest for 3 minutes. TIP: I like to use a clean tea towel for easy clean-up, plus it helps use less flour.
8. While the dough is resting, pull out a 13×9-inch pan and butter it generously on the bottom and sides.
9. Cut the dough into 24 even (or as close as you can get) pieces. Flatten it out into a rectangle shape and use a knife to cut it into 24 pieces.
As you can see above, the middle pieces are bigger than the corner ones, so I just cut some off the middle pieces and add them to the corners.
10. Shape the dough pieces.
Here’s how I learned to shape dinner rolls when I volunteered at my kid’s summer camp: with your left hand (if you’re right-handed) make a circle shape with the thumb and fingers then take the dough in your right hand and push it up through the circle, pushing up in the middle of the dough to form a rounded top.
Then turn the dough ball over and pinch the ends in together.
11. Place the seam side down in the buttered dish- four balls across and six down. They should be touching in the pan in order to make all the soft sides everyone loves (the center ones are my favorites…).
12. Cover the pan (I shake off the towel I used to shape them, then cover with that), and let rise for another hour. TIP: Set the timer for 45 minutes, though, so you can turn the oven on to 350 degrees to preheat for the last 15 minutes of the rising time.
This is what they will look like after 1 hour of rising. They are not spilling over the pan, but all the sides are touching now.
13. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. I rotate them after 10 minutes for even browning.
14. Brush the tops with softened butter when they come out of the oven (just do it – you’ll be glad you did).
As soon as they are cooled to just warm, pull them out of the pan and pull apart to serve. Look at that texture- no heavy whole wheat rolls here. These are so good, please give them a try!
These make terrific whole wheat sandwich rolls, too – think of all the ‘sliders’ you can make healthier now!
To Make Ahead:
- You can make these up to a month in advance, let the cool in the pan, remove them as one piece, separate into 2 sections of 12 rolls and place each section of rolls into a gallon sized freezer baggie.
- Freeze until needed, or up to 4 months.
- When ready to serve, take them out in the morning to thaw, then wrap the 12-roll section in tin foil and heat in a 300-350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until warm.
Soft 100% Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast* instant works, too
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup lukewarm buttermilk or milk
- 4½ to 5 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Dissolve the yeast in the 1/2 cup warm water in a glass measure. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and honey in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the eggs and mix, scraping the sides. Add the warmed milk along with the yeast mixture.
- Add 4½ cups of flour and the salt, mixing until combined. Change to dough hook and knead for 2-3 minutes only, just until no longer tacky, adding a tablespoon or two of flour at a time, if needed. (Do not add too much.)
- Let sit in bowl, covered, to rise for one hour. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead a couple of times, then let rest 3 minutes.
- Divide into 24 equal pieces, shaping each into a ball and placing in a buttered 13x9-inch baking dish with the pieces touching.
- Let rise, covered for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
Notes
- You can make these up to a month in advance, let the cool in the pan, remove them as one piece, separate into 2 sections of 12 rolls and place each section of rolls into a gallon sized freezer baggie.
- Freeze until needed.
- When ready to serve, take them out in the morning to thaw, then wrap the 12-roll section in tin foil and heat in a 300-350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until warm.
Nutrition
Want more easy, you’ll-never-buy-bread-again recipes?
Whole Wheat, Soft & Easy Sandwich Bread
Quick & Tender Homemade Hamburger Buns {or Breadsticks}
Tutorial: Simple French Baguettes Recipe {or The Bread You Can’t Stop Eating}
Disclosure: affiliate links in this article will earn commission based on sales, but it doesn’t change your price. Click here to read my full disclaimer and advertising disclosure.
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Marty Caballero says
Hey there! I made these rolls for Thanksgiving this year and they were really good. However, I think there may be a typo on your recipe. You call for 2 tablespoons of yeast…this seems like an awful lot of yeast for only 24 rolls. I used almost 3 packets of instant yeast to get 2 tablespoons and I’m pretty sure I can taste all of that yeast, hehe. They were still better than the normal brown and serve cheap ones I usually use.
Anyway, I think I will make these rolls regularly but next time use 2 teaspoons of yeast and see how that goes. If I am wrong, please let me know 🙂
Jami says
No, not a typo, but you can use less if you want! Two packets would be fine – that would be about 1-1/2 TB of yeast.
Marnie Zeigler says
Thank you for this recipe! I have been looking for a whole wheat roll recipe, and finally found this. I made these for my Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, and they turned out perfectly! Just follow the directions, and you’ll have no trouble! I would leave 5 stars, but there is text over the stars and it won’t let me.
Jami says
Thank you for the review, Marnie, I’m glad they worked for your holiday dinner!
Bummer about the text over the stars – I’ll see if I can get that figured out.
Jessica says
I love this roll recipe! I used my freshly milled hard red wheat and it was soooo good!! Fluffy and they make the whole house smell so yummy. I’m making them again tomorrow for Thanksgiving and I plan to amp up the salt a little bit. I use pink Himalayan and I think I’ll try 2 teaspoons.
Jami says
Glad you liked this, Jessica, and that they worked with your milled flour!
Robert says
Made these twice now. The first time I didn’t watch the video and just followed the written recipe and the rolls came out dense. The second time I watched the video and found that the baker used 1 cup of water and 1 cup of warm milk not 1/2 cup as it is written down in the recipe. The rolls came out much better this time.
Jami says
If that works for you, great, Robert, but the written recipe is the correct one that I use (the video has a mistake in it and YouTube won’t let us add anything…). Dense rolls usually means too much flour was added, which is easy to do with this wetter dough.
Jan says
This seems like a LOT of yeast. My normal recipe calls for one packet or 2.25 teaspoons for 24 rolls. Your recipe calls for 2 tablespoons which is 3 times that amount.
Jami says
I added a note about this in the recipe, Jan. Two packets is about 1-1/2 TB (2.25 x 2), so that would be fine to use if you want to add less.
linda says
very disappointing; I have baked buns for years and these are not pleasant=- not fluffy at all.
Jami says
I wonder if you added too much flour? Just thinking this recipe has 100s of comments of people loving the fluffy rolls, so I know they work for others beside only me…
Mary Anne says
I don’t have a stand mixer. Can you do this with a portable mixer or should I try to mix by hand?
Jami says
I think by hand would be better than a mixer, just because it’s a wetter dough. It doesn’t need a lot of kneading, just enough to bring it together.
Deb says
I would like to make these ahead of time for Thanksgiving.
Can these rolls be frozen before baking?
Jami says
Yes! I do that all the time.
Victoria E Graff says
Hi, I was so excited to try your recipe, so I actually went out and purchased a Kitchen Aid mixer. I have baked bread since I was a child, but have always kneaded by hand.
I know the dough is suppose to be very moist and almost sticky to the touch, but it didn’t rise! What did I do wrong!
V
Jami says
Did your yeast bubble when it was in the cup? What temperature was your warm water (hot water can kill yeast)?
Something was obviously wrong with the yeast, I think!
Diana says
These are the best dinner rolls we ever had! followed the recipe as explained and everything turns out perfect, plus its so easy with the mixer! Love it
Jami says
Thanks for the review, Diana, I’m so glad you like these!
Laura says
Do you know if oat milk or coconut milk will work instead? My son can’t have too much dairy.
Jami says
I haven’t tried it, Laura, but I think I’ve gotten comments from others who have. I’d probably go with oat over coconut, just for flavor. Milk in bread recipes is to tenderize the crumb, so hopefully the milk alternatives will do the same!
Amy says
Can you leave out the honey or reduce it?
Thanks!
Jami says
You can leave it out, although the flavor and rise will be affected (a bit of sugar helps feed the yeast quicker). You can try reducing. You can also use sugar or maple syrup if it’s just the honey you’re avoiding.
Ellena says
Can I use Atta flour?
Jami says
I had to look it up, Ellena, and according to this article, it won’t work unless you grind the berries yourself – it has to do with the way the flour is ground.
Colleen says
Made these for the second time today. I used half wheat flour and half Bobs Red Mill Organic White Flour both times. The only thing I did differently was make the rolls a larger size and cut them with scissors on the top before baking to make it easier to open and butter later. Love this recipe.
Jami says
Oh, love that idea of cutting the tops, Colleen!
RaychelleA Choyce says
Can I substitute the honey for maple syrup instead of subbing for sugar
Jami says
Yes!
Michele says
I meant BRUSH TOPS sorry for the typo.
Thanks again
Michele
Jami says
I brush with butter when they come out of the oven – so good!
Michele says
Do you. Rush the tops with egg white before baking and anything after baking?
Thanks so much,
Michele
Samantha Shirley says
Hi, I have a question. In my experience with whole wheat you have to knead the daylights out of it to develop the gluten to support the structure necessary for rising. When you can pull it until it is slightly translucent and it doesn’t break, your done. This usually takes 20 minutes with my Kitchenaid. What is it about this recipe that gets around that? Or is there another trick I’m missing? Thanks!
Jami says
I’m not a scientist, but I think it’s the fact that it uses more yeast (as do no-knead yeast breads typically), and it’s a rich dough with eggs, butter and milk.
k says
could i use sugar instead of honey? if i could, do i use the same quantities?
Jami says
Yes – and same amounts. 🙂
Candy Kerber says
I have made the wheat rolls 5 or so times and all turned out great, i made them again last week and they where dry. I wondered if someone could tell me what i did wrong?
Deepa Surendran says
Hey Jami
I want to halve this recipe, can I do that. If so what adjustments in quantity should I make. Thanks indeed. Can’t wait to try.
Regards
Deepa
Jami says
Many people have told me they’ve halved it successfully, though I haven’t. You’ll find in the comments section what they’ve done, though I think they used 1 whole egg and then a yolk, halving all the other ingredients.
saman asif says
i’ve halved ingredients twice, today i beat the second egg ( i used small eggs)
and kept back a small amout. the recipe is fabulous, by the way!!
Jami says
Okay, great!
saman asif says
just had one with tea, still warm, with butter and homemade plum/peach jam.mmmmmmmmm!!