Healthy Fluffy Dinner Rolls
I made these Fluffy Dinner Rolls last Thanksgiving for my family and they absolutely loved them (and to my surprise, since I don’t have that much experience with yeast). I was expecting a total flop when I healthified this recipe by using 100% whole wheat flour instead of refined flour and olive oil instead of butter. I crossed my fingers that the recipe would work, because dinner was just a few short hours away…
Amazingly enough, the dinner rolls turned out perfectly! They are fluffy and moist, kind of like sliced bread but in bun form. These rolls were easy enough for me to make, of all people, so I’m sure anyone could make these 😉
And the fact that it requires only 6 ingredients makes this recipe that much better.
Healthy Fluffy Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 2½ tsp Active Dry Yeast
- 3 tbs Pure Cane Sugar
- ⅓ cup Warm Water
- ¾ cup Unsweetened Almond Milk (warm)
- 42g (3 tbs) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 360g (3 cups) Whole Wheat Flour (plus extra for kneading)
- 32g (¼ cup) Arrowroot Starch
- 1¼ tsp Sea Salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the yeast and sugar. Whisk in the warm water and let sit for 5 minutes. Then add the almond milk and oil.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, starch, and salt. Dump into the wet ingredients and stir until a thick dough is formed (shouldn't be super sticky, you should be able to form a ball).
- Lightly knead the dough on a silicone baking sheet or a clean, floured table surface. Do not overwork the dough!
- Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and put the dough ball in. Cover the bowl and place in a warm spot for 1½ hours, or until doubled in size.
- Generously grease a 9" brownie pan with cooking spray.
- Divide the dough into twelve and roll into balls. Place the dough balls inside the prepared pan, and cover with plastic wrap that has been greased with cooking spray. Let sit in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until puffy.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the rolls for ~20 minutes, or until the surface of the rolls spring back when tapped. Flip the pan onto a wire cooling rack, then flip again so the rolls are right side up. Brush the rolls with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve immediately!
It’s important to mention that it’s not always about the nutrition facts, it’s about the quality of the ingredients.
Refined, white all purpose flour versus whole grain flour is basically this: flour that spikes your blood sugar and promotes fat gain versus flour that keeps your energy levels steady, can fight fat and can even lower your cholesterol! Not to mention, whole grains are more filling so you are likely to eat less… especially at a large holiday dinner…
Sooo fluffy. If you want healthy Fluffy Dinner Rolls, these are definitely them!
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With love and good eats,
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– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
Looking forward to trying this recipe, looks delicious! Any ideas on making it lower in fat (using less oil)? Maybe applesauce?
I haven’t tried the applesauce but I’m sure it will work! Good luck 🙂
If you mix sugar with yeast it makes the yeast soluble. I don’t think this will work with truvia though. So in this recipe the sugar is not (primarily) used to make it sweeter but for it’s chemical properties and can not be substituted. It may work without it though but not as nicely.
Truvia’s baking blend is a mixture of sugar and truvia so it will activate the yeast.
I can’t believe how wonderfully these turned out! They’re perfectly fluffy and wonderful!
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Hi Jessica! Looks great! How long do these stay fluffy after baking, and how do you recommend storing leftovers? Thanks!
These are best the day they are made. They will harden the longer they sit. I wrapped mine on a plate with plastic wrap and left them on the counter at room temp. If you can’t finish them the day you make them, you can probably try sticking them in the microwave for a few seconds the next day to make them soft again 🙂
-Jess
Are you sure it’s 3 # of sugar it’s seems like a lot of sugar for three cups of flour and three lbs of olive oil? Please let me know before I try these
I used 3 tbs of sweetener but you can use less if you like, maybe 1-2 tbs. My family didn’t think these rolls were sweet at all even with 3 🙂
-Jess
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The dough was so dry for me that the rolls barely rose! I had to check my yeast to make sure it wasn’t expired because they came out so dense and gluey. Thankfully I’m a fan of the taste
of wheat flour because the texture on these was a big miss. Any way it could have been because of the starch? That seems extra drying.
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