I wish you were here for dinner so you could taste these! You will not believe how unbelievably soft, yummy, quick, and versatile these rolls are. Did I mention yummy?! 
These are a variation on my Quick Rise Cinnamon Rolls – a super HEALTHY variation! However, I’ve decided these are so good this way, I’m going to keep this as my cinnamon roll recipe too! In fact, in the last few weeks I have used this recipe to make hamburger buns, hot dog buns, and dinner rolls! The recipe only takes about an hour start to finish, so you can easily pop them in last minute and surprise your family with some yummy goodness that is good for them!
The original recipe called for mostly all-purpose flour with only a token bit of whole wheat flour mixed in. This recipe is ENTIRELY WHOLE WHEAT!
The original recipe also called for a cup of oil, which usually ended up vegetable oil in our household. But, I’ve ditched all the vegetable oil and have gone exclusively to coconut oil, olive oil, and palm shortening. (I purchase most of these from Azure Standard.) So, this recipe uses all coconut oil – and let me tell you, the results are fantastic!
The final tweak I made happened because I was out of eggs. I began searching for a substitute and ran across the idea of using flax meal and water in place of egg. It was perfect! I loved it so much, I kept it instead of the eggs.
Even my child who tends to turn his nose up at anything “brown and healthy”, LOVED these! Definitely a keeper!
Healthy & Quick Whole Wheat Rolls/Buns
3 1/2 c. warm water
1 c. coconut oil (I buy in gallon pails from Azure)
1 c. honey (use local & raw if you can)
6 Tbsp yeast
3 Tbsp flax meal mixed with 9 Tbsp water (I buy flax meal from Azure or Amazon)
*if not using flax, use 3 eggs
1 Tbsp salt (I use Celtic Sea Salt or RealSalt)
10 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (I buy from Azure – If you can, use a hard WHITE winter wheat)
{By they way, our local Azure Standard drop is facilitated by Covenant Ranch Trucking – visit their site for more information, great recipes, and interesting articles! I think you will really enjoy their site!}
Mix water, coconut oil, honey and yeast in a large mixing bowl or a Bosch mixer with dough hooks. (In the winter you will need to warm your coconut oil to get it to a liquid form. Just make sure it isn’t so hot it kills your yeast.) Let rest 15 minutes to sponge.
Add in flax meal mixture, salt, and 2 cups of the wheat flour and mix. Add in the rest of the wheat flour and mix. Knead 5 minutes by hand or 1-2 minutes if using a Bosch.
If making dinner rolls, use a golf-ball sized portion and roll into balls and place on a baking sheet or stone. If making hamburger buns or hot dog buns, use a tennis ball sized portion and shape accordingly.
Let them rise for 30 minutes or more, until they are just the size you want them. In the winter, I like to warm my oven slightly and then shut it off and let the rolls rise in the oven.
Once the rolls/buns have risen sufficiently, bake at 425° for about 10 minutes, or until they are a beautiful golden brown. Let them rest at least 15 minutes before cutting into them for buns.
nicole oden says
How many buns or rolls does this recipe make?
Amy says
You’ll get around 36 buns. If you make them smaller for rolls, you’ll get close to double that.
Laura says
If you don’t have flax meal, how many eggs?
Amy says
3 🙂
Helen says
Does anyone know if this recipe would work well with Spelt?
Kate says
Think it’s possible to gluten free this recipe? Oat flour maybe?
Amy says
Not sure – might want to run this recipe past another blogger who is gluten free. 🙂
Kate says
I made these using a gluten free flour blend (2 parts sorghum, 2 parts brown rice flour, 1 part arrowroot starch and 1 part potato starch – I use this blend frequently and have it on hand). They turned out great!
Clair says
This was great gluten free but I have learned to mix several different kinds of flour and add a little unflavored gelatin. I made it last night and they were great. I make a much smaller batch because I have learned that gluten free baked goods do not keep. They get rock hard. Here is what I did:
3/4 c water
1 t apple cider vinegar
2 T flaxseed mixed with 6 T water and boiled until “gooey”
3 T coconut oil (add to the flaxseed mixture in the pot but off the burner just to melt it)
3 T honey (add this to the pot as well to melt a little before adding to the bowl)
1/2 t salt
1 t unflavored gelatin
2/3 c tapioca flour or starch
3/4 c millet
1/3 c sorghum
1/4 c teff
1/4 c coconut flour
1 1/2 T yeast
Mix all the wet ingredients. Add the dry. Mix in the yeast last and do not let rise. I then baked them in muffin tins at 400 for about 15 minutes. (It might have been more since they were not done the first time or two that I checked them) These turned out great.
Clair says
By the way, I get all my flours and honey from Azure Standard.
Charissa says
We are a family of eight. Do you think I could freeze some of them after shaping, before rising (kinda like biscuits) and then thaw and let rise later in the month? I’ve started making all of our bread but haven’t yet experimented with freezing dough. This recipe sounds yummy!
Amy says
I’ve never tried that, but I know my mom used to freeze rolls all the time. Give it a try and let me know!
Clair says
Thanks so much for posting this recipe! It’s delicious! I made it yesterday for supper with soup and everybody loved it!
Amy says
Wonderful!
Clair says
I made the whole wheat exactly as your recipe and then I made the gluten free ones for the 3 in my family who cannot have gluten. They all loved it.
Carolyn says
Hi! I was just wondering about your recipe on the buns… I made them and they were delicious although some of my kids said they were quite sweet. Do you think if I lessened the honey, maybe do 3/4 cup, would they still turn out? And would I then have to add a bit less flour? I love to bake and I’ve done lots of sweets, but I am slowly venturing into buns/bread and so it’s kind of new territory. Thanks for any input.
Carolyn
Amy says
With the coconut oil, they are sweeter than the original recipe (which calls for canola). I don’t think lessening the honey would hurt at all. Use a little less flour and check the consistency of the dough. If it’s too sticky, add more! 🙂