Whole Wheat Yeast Rolls and Cinnamon Rolls!!

This yeast dough recipe is our standby recipe for dough.  We use it to make rolls, bread in bread pans, cinnamon rolls, bread sticks and so much more.  It is easy but especially easy, if you have a Kitchen-Aid mixer.   As if you have a mixer you have to touch this dough very little and the whole process is basically a baby sitting project to get great tasting rolls and bread.  (This recipe is for you Patricia!)

When I make this, I often make it twice back to back as I can either have twice as many rolls or as I am doing today, making rolls out of the first batch and cinnamon rolls out of the second batch. 

Fresh Ground Wheat Yeast Dough

2 cups very warm water
1/2 cup oil (I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
1/2 cup honey, or succanut
4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 egg
5 cups fresh ground wheat flour
2 teaspoons salt


In your Kitchen-Aid Mixer, with the dough hook on it, put in your bowl the water, oil and honey(or succanut if you are using this instead.  I am using succanut today).  

Then put in 3 cups of the fresh wheat flour, salt, yeast and egg.  Mix well. 

Add the remaining 2 cups of flour and mix well for a few minutes. 

This dough is going to be very sticky.  If you keep adding flour till it is not sticky your Wheat bread or rolls you are making will be heavy and dense.  The key to them being lighter for a wheat bread, is less flour and more moisture.  So try to hold yourself back from adding in more flour.

Now since I am making another batch I scraped out this batch into a mixing bowl and covered with a clean towel to let it rise.

I then repeated the recipe above and left that batch to rise in the mixers bowl.  I took off the hook and placed a towel over it as well.

Once the first batch rose to double.

I pour up a small bowl of oil and oil a cookie sheet and my hands to keep the sticky dough from sticking to my hands.

Then, with well oiled hands, grab a bit of dough and make it into a little log. Tie it in a simple half-knot: just cross through once.  Re-oil your hands as needed to keep the dough from sticking.

 If you do not tie or loop the dough, it is such a loose wet dough, it will spread while baking. 

Cover and let rise until double.

Bake in a preheated oven at 400 and once ready, bake these rolls for 12-14 minutes. (This size.)

I made huge ones because I was making meatball sandwiches that night.  But you can make them any size as long as they are all the same size.  So they bake evenly.   If they are big like these you will need to bake them 12-14 minutes.  If they are smaller bake them for 9-10 minutes.  To see if baked thru just stick a toothpick in them and when it comes out clean they are done.

 YUM!!

I know this post is getting long but now for the cinnamon rolls.  Well worth the wait and not hard to make.  Just messy.  I took my second batch (in the mixer bowl) of the very same dough once it has risen to double.

This dough is very sticky but when making cinnamon rolls I try to keep my hands clean by using flour as I have to roll it out.  First oil or grease a cookie sheet.  Then scrape your dough out onto a well floured counter.

I flour the dough very well so I can roll it out with out it sticking to anything.

I then pat it out into a rectangle shape before I start to roll it out.

Now is the fun part.  If you have read here on this blog much, you know I don't use measurements a lot when cooking and baking.  This is one of those times.  Sprinkle succanut or sugar evenly all over the dough leaving about an inch of space around the edges.

 Do the same thing with the cinnamon.

 Melt a stick of butter in a sauce pan and drizzle over the whole thing.

Then roll it up!

Then slice off in inch and a half sections and place them on their side on the greased cookie sheet.

When you place them on the cookie sheet leave some spaces as they will rise some.  Cover them and let them rise till the look light and airy.

Bake in a preheated oven set at 400 for 15-20 minutes.  I always keep an eye on them as they bake according to how thick you slice them. 

Once they are out and cooling mix up your frosting.

1/3 cup softened butter
3 cups confectionery sugar
4 table spoons milk
1 tsp vanilla

Blend the butter vanilla and milk and slowly add in the confectionery sugar till you have a good frosting consistency.

Once the rolls are cooled a little spread the frosting over them.  It will melt some which sure is tasty!!!  These are great warm out of the oven or over the next few days.  But they don't last that long in our house!  Yum!!

 
I pray everyone is having a wonderful fall and holiday season!

Blessings and Happy Farming!
susan