Soft Homemade Rye Flour Dinner Rolls Recipe

Although most bread and dinner rolls made with rye flour are dense, I developed this Soft Homemade Rye Flour Dinner Roll Recipe to be a light tender bake. What makes it different? I use not only rye flour- which is notoriously low in gluten and high in starch, but also white wheat. This keeps the rolls whole grain, but the blend produces the perfect rolls! 

More recipes that use rye flour

• Marbled rye bread recipe
• Butter rye flour pie dough
• Rye bagel recipe
• 100% rye bread recipe
• Rye chocolate chip cookies
• Salted rye flour brownies
• Rye flour buttermilk waffles
• Cinnamon Rye flour scones
• Chocolate rye cookies
• Rye flour blueberry muffins

Keys to creating soft whole grain dinner rolls

• In this recipe, it is using a blend of flours- the rye flour and white wheat work perfectly together. 
• Using a sponge. I love using this method to hydrate my whole-grain flour. 
• Vital wheat gluten- if you have never used it before, let me tell you it makes a world of difference when it comes to soft texture of whole wheat bread and rolls. 
• Not overbaking- I cannot stress this enough. I personally feel like most people's complaints about having dry whole wheat baked goods could be solved by simply not over-baking.

Ingredients

• Rye flour- I use dark rye flour as I mill my own grains. If you want to use a light or medium rye, you can use those as well. 
• White whole wheat flour- If you prefer, you can also use red wheat or spelt. Both work well for this recipe. 
• Milk- You can also use water, but I love milk in my soft dinner roll recipes.
• Active dry yeast
• Salt- Kosher salt is my go-to. 
• Melted butter- or you can also use canola oil or olive oil. 
• Sweetener- I used honey, but granulated sugar or brown sugar works as well. 
• Eggs- Eggs work for texture, flavor, and color as well- especially using it for an egg wash on the top. 
• Vital wheat gluten- This is a natural protein found in wheat. I love the improved texture in my recipes I use it in!

How to make

Sponge

Add the lukewarm milk, honey, yeast, and half the wheat flour and rye flour. Mix it in your mixing bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let this sit in a warm place for AT LEAST 15-20 minutes, but up to 3 hours. My magical time is about 45 minutes. 

You will see a lot of growth in the sponge as it sits for this time. 

How to make the dinner roll dough

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with a dough hook for about 6 minutes on medium speed. After 1 minute, check for hydration. The dough should be pulling away from the sides of the bowl. If it isn't, add a little more flour as needed. 

Once the dough ball mixes into a smooth ball, it is ready. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature until is has doubled in size.

Shaping the rolls

Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces on a lightly floured surface. Shape the dough as you like. 

Place the rolls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (this is optional, but makes for really easy cleanup). Cover again and let the rolls double. 

Baking the rolls

When they are done, brush the tops with a beaten egg (another optional step). Place them in the preheated oven. 

Bake until they are golden brown, mine took about 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven and let them cool for about 5 minutes on a cooling rack before serving. This will allow time for the starches to set in the rye bread rolls. 

Tips and variations

• For more traditional rye rolls, you can also add   2 tablespoons of caraway seeds to the dough while you are mixing OR, you can also top with caraway seeds before baking. 
• While the egg wash is optional, brush it on with a pastry brush on top of each roll, it will give the rye rolls a beautiful, shiny golden brown finish as opposed to the dull finish without it. 
• These rolls are good for up to 3 days at room temperature. Be sure to store them in an airtight container. 
• You can also freeze these for up to 1 month in the freezer. Be sure to store them in freezer bags. 
• If you want to try this with white flour, you can also sub out the white whole wheat flour for white bread flour or all-purpose flour. 
• Baking the rolls in a 9x13 baking pan will let the rolls rise together and bake side by side. Baking them this way will result in pull-apart rolls- which I love as well!

More rye recipe

• Fluffy rye pancakes
• Marbled rye bread recipe
• Flaky rye pie dough recipe
• 100% dense rye bread
• Salted chocolate chip rye cookies

Soft Homemade Rye Flour Dinner Rolls Recipe

Amy Sandidge

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

rising time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Total Time 3 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Ingredients

  

• 2 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
• ¼ cup honey
• ¾ cup warm milk
• ¾ cup rye
• 1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
• ¼ cup melted butter or oil
• 2 eggs

Instructions

 

• Add the lukewarm milk, honey, yeast, and half the wheat flour and rye flour. Mix it in your mixing bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let this sit in a warm place for AT LEAST 15-20 minutes, but up to 3 hours. My magical time is about 45 minutes.
• You will see a lot of growth in the sponge as it sits for this time.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with a dough hook for about 6 minutes on medium speed. After 1 minute, check for hydration. The dough should be pulling away from the sides of the bowl. If it isn't, add a little more flour as needed.
• Once the dough ball mixes into a smooth ball, it is ready. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature until is has doubled in size.
• Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces on a lightly floured surface. Shape the dough as you like.
• Place the rolls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (this is optional, but makes for really easy cleanup). Cover again and let the rolls double. At the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• When they are done, brush the tops with a beaten egg (another optional step). Place them in the preheated oven.
• Bake until they are golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Remove them from the oven and let them cool for about 5 minutes on a cooling rack before serving. This will allow time for the starches to set in the rye bread rolls.

Notes

• For more traditional rye rolls, you can also add   2 tablespoons of caraway seeds to the dough while you are mixing OR, you can also top with caraway seeds before baking. 
• While the egg wash is optional, brush it on with a pastry brush on top of each roll, it will give the rye rolls a beautiful, shiny golden brown finish as opposed to the dull finish without it. 
• These rolls are good for up to 3 days at room temperature. Be sure to store them in an airtight container. 
• You can also freeze these for up to 1 month in the freezer. Be sure to store them in freezer bags. 
• If you want to try this with white flour, you can also sub out the white whole wheat flour for white bread flour or all-purpose flour. 
• Baking the rolls in a 9x13 baking pan will let the rolls rise together and bake side by side. Baking them this way will result in pull-apart rolls- which I love as well!

Keyword dark rye flour, dinner rolls, honey, kosher salt, rye flour, vital wheat gluten, white wheat flour

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