Einkorn Dinner Rolls

Posted April 12, 2016 by Julie Koyle
These are easy and fluffy dinner rolls, perfect for any feast!

Servings

1 1/2 - 2 dozens

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup Honey Plus 1 tablespoon to proof yeast
  • 1/2 cup Butter
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Real Salt
  • 1/2 cup Very hot tap water
  • 1 tablespoon Yeast
  • 2 Eggs
  • 4 1/2- 5 1/2 cups Einkorn All Purpose Flour 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 if using whole grain einkorn flour

Directions

1. In a saucepan, heat honey, butter, milk, and salt until scalded. Remove from heat and let cool.

2. In a small bowl, mix water and 1 tablespoon of honey. Add yeast and leave to proof for a few minutes.

3, In mixing bowl combine eggs, 1 1/2 cups of flour, and milk mixture. Mix well.

4. Add yeast mixture. Mix well.

5. While mixing, add remaining flour 1 cup at a time until it reaches a smooth satiny consistency (3-4 cups for white flour, 4-5 for whole grain).

6. Knead on floured surface for 8 to 10 minutes.

7. Place in greased bowl and cover loosely with greased plastic wrap until doubles in size (about 45 minutes).

8. Shape into rolls about golf ball size and place in greased cake pan.

9. Cover loosely and leave in warm place to rise about 30-45 minutes.

10. Bake at 350º for about  25-30 minutes until golden brown (Rolls with whole grain einkorn flour will not darken very much so be aware of that).

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11. Once they’ve been removed from the oven, butter the tops and let cool a little before serving. Perfect for any side or sandwich.

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WIth Shredded Salmon Salad

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With Butter

 

 

 

 

 

Note: These also make great cinnamon rolls. At step 8, roll dough out into a thin rectangle. Cover with butter, cinnamon, and sugar of your choice (We used sucanat). Roll up into long cylinder and cut into rolls with a string or piece of floss. Then follow steps nine and ten.

82 thoughts on “Einkorn Dinner Rolls

  1. Lina Yacan

    Hi, I would like to try this recipe but this looks like sweet bread because you use 1/4cup honey. what if I would like to make plain one? can I substitute the honey? how should I adjust the recipe?
    can I use instant yeast? if yes what should be the qty?
    Thanks
    Lina

    Reply
    1. Admin

      Lina, the yeast we suggest is instant yeast, so you can just use that amount. As for the honey, this is not a sweet bread. Almost all roll recipes use sweetener of some kind because yeast needs it to work properly. It doesn’t actually add very much sweetness to the final product. You can remove the honey if you’d like, but the rolls won’t rise as well.

      Reply
    2. Judy

      This is the best bread I have ever made, with any flour. I followed notes from others who used this recipe. I left it very wet to work with, but I think that is what made the difference. I tried braiding it and forming it into a circle. It was a little too wet to keep the look of a braid but it stayed in the circle. I placed 3 colored boiled eggs (for Easter) in the braid before it raised for the last time.

      Reply
  2. Diana

    Hello! Okay, I’ve made plenty with einkorn over the last several years and this is the best recipe I’ve ever tried for rolls. Period. They rise was wonderful and the finished texture was light and tender. What accounts for this? I’m so used to einkorn not rising as much and ending up a bit dense in the finished product, but these rolls are divine and the cinnamon roll version is delicious, too!

    When kneading I kept my board well floured and didn’t knead for more than 5 minutes. The first rise was in 20 minutes and the second was about 25 minutes.

    This recipe has me at a loss as to how it achieves such a ‘modern wheat’ rise and lightness? Very un-einkorn like.

    Reply
    1. Admin

      Diana, I’m so glad the recipe is working so well for you. Having worked with einkorn, I’m sure you’ve learned some things about what works. I think the success of this recipe is due to a combination of things – the eggs, the ratios, the increased yeast, not over-kneading it, the all-purpose flour. Those are all things that help einkorn along.

      Reply
      1. Leslie

        I didn’t know you can’t knead it very long. I’m making now and although I didn’t set timer, I hope I didn’t knead too long?

        Reply
  3. Pam

    My first time trying and my rolls didn’t rise … the first rise was good (in the bowl) but once I had them on the baking sheet they hardly rose at all. In the oven there was little change … no rise and very dense. I’m sad! I followed the recipe exactly. Any thoughts?

    Reply
    1. Admin

      Pam, I’m sorry that happened. We have had people report success with this recipe and we have never had that happen, but we’ve had fails in other recipes, so I definitely understand. Einkorn can be tricky. It’s hard to say exactly what went wrong because there are so many factors and I wasn’t there for the process. I would make sure your yeast is good. I would also recommend putting it in the oven with the light on for the second rise. Another thing that may help is letting it rise a little less in the bowl and making sure you don’t knead it between risings. Just punch it down and shape the rolls. I hope that one of these things works for you.

      Reply
      1. Admin

        Hi Kimberly, you’ll need to use your best judgement on this one, but the water needs to be hot enough to melt the honey and it cools down really fast. Once you’ve mixed the honey, it’s cool enough to add the yeast. I’ve adjusted the instructions to make that more clear. If you think your tap water is too hot for that, you can adjust accordingly.

        Reply
    1. Admin

      Ricki, yes you can substitute coconut oil for butter but I would suggest adding another 1/2 teaspoon of salt if you do.

      Reply
  4. Irena Morgan

    Thank you for developing and posting this recipe for all of us to enjoy! I just made the Einkorn dinner rolls and they turned out really nice – golden, very fluffy and delicious. I am taking them to our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and I am sure they will be enjoyed a lot. I switched to Einkorn a year ago because of its lower glycemic index (our son is T1Diabetic) and I know more or less how to work with it. I kneaded only 5 minutes and I baked for 20 minutes because they turned golden. Making them was rather easy and fun! Congratulations on a great recipe!!!!

    Reply
    1. Admin

      Heidi, the milk needs to be scalded and then cooled. You are correct. If you pour it straight in it will kill the yeast. This is why we put it in step one so it can cool while you’re doing other things. I will add some specification to the recipe.

      Reply
  5. Walt Warren

    I once cook sour dough bread regularly, but stopped because I felt that bread was bad for us. There was so much convincing evidence out there that I believed it would be to my best interest to stop eating bread as much as possible. How sad. I have now found einkorn wheat and am ready to try bread again. These rolls sound and look delicious!

    Reply
    1. Leslie

      A real sourdough bread made with true sourdough starter should not be harmful to you or cause any kind of reaction.

      Reply
    1. Admin

      Hi Dawn, that should work. We’ve never tried it but we substituted almond milk and it worked fine so it doesn’t appear to be too particular. Let us know how it turns out!

      Reply
  6. Maya

    I just made this dough – followed the recipe explicitly – but even after 5.5 cups of flour it is still SO sticky! I tried adding .5 cup more but it didn’t make much of a difference. There’s no way I can knead it…… I have no idea what to do. Just letting it sit right now. Hoping maybe someone answers me soon 🙂 It’s my first time trying einkorn flour – trying it for my daughter who has celiac disease.

    Reply
    1. Admin

      Hi Maya, einkorn does tend towards stickiness. You can add a little more flour, but the biggest factor that contributes to einkorn’s stickiness is overkneading. It does not need to be kneaded as much as wheat breads and goes a little crazy if it is. Don’t need it in the mixer any longer than absolutely necessary to incorporate the flour. We use this recipe a lot and have had a lot of people have success with it, but there is a learning curve with einkorn and it takes a certain feel. In the beginning when we were experimenting, we had several experiences where we overkneaded our einkorn dough and ended up with something like concrete, so I definitely understand. I hope this helps a little bit.

      Reply
      1. Maya

        Thank you 🙂 The rolls came out awesome (I did end up adding a bit more flour which helped lessen the stickiness). I have since made pancakes as well and those were great too!!

        Reply
        1. Admin

          Maya, I’m so glad they worked out for you. Einkorn is really great once you get over the initial how-do-I-work-with-this phase.

          Reply
      2. Leslie

        Ohhhh I’m real nervous now because I had a similar experience while making mine. I was using my Kitchenaide stand mixer and the dough wa sticky. I kept thinking it needed more flour. I was using the the kneading paddle. I then put on my counter and kneaded some more! I seriously hope I don’t end up with concrete! All I can think of is how much that flour cost . . .

        Reply
  7. Mhenson

    My dough is really sticky also. I didn’t want to add more flour and I would have to kneed it more. Will they turn out ok?

    Reply
    1. Admin

      Hi Mhenson, sticky doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t turn out. Some of our best bread has been really sticky dough. If it holds its shape and you can work with it enough to shape it despite the stickiness, it will be probably be just fine.

      Reply
  8. Susannah

    I made these rolls today, but used a sourdough leaven instead of yeast, it was so good! I made my leaven and added the 1/2 cup water to it after it developed overnight. All other ingredients remained the same. Will totally make again. Perfect for pulled pork sandwiches.

    Reply
    1. Molly

      Susannah, what size or measurement did you use for the sourdough leaven? I’d be interested in trying this version as well as the yeast version. Thanks.

      Reply
      1. Susannah

        This is such a late reply, but I created a levain with 2 tablespoons (30g) of sourdough starter, 1/2 cup (130g) water & 1 cup (120g) all-purpose einkorn flour. I let that sit overnight until bubbly. I used this entire levain in place of yeast.

        Reply
    2. sidybus

      Susanna – or whoever used this recipe with sourdough – I’d like to know how much sourdough you used instead of the 1T dry yeast. Thanks!

      Reply
      1. Susannah

        This is such a late reply, but I created a levain with 2 tablespoons (30g) of sourdough starter, 1/2 cup (130g) water & 1 cup (120g) all-purpose einkorn flour. I let that sit overnight until bubbly. I used this entire levain in place of yeast.

        Reply
    3. Marlene

      How long to rise when using the leaven?
      I wish to use my sourdough leaven as well.

      Thank you for the suggestion.

      Reply
  9. Jennifer

    I am eager to try this recipe with my freshly ground einkorn wheat berries. I just am wondering, what is “real salt” exactly? Thank you, Jennifer

    Reply
    1. Admin

      Hi Jennifer, real salt is harvested from Salt Lake. It hasn’t been bleached or stripped of its minerals, so it’s much better for you. Their website is realsalt.com.

      Reply
    1. Admin

      Hi Kristine, you can use regular sugar and it should work fine. This is not a particularly sweet roll, so using sugar instead of honey wouldn’t really make it sweeter. You would need to add more. Since we haven’t done that, I can say exactly what that would do to consistency, but you could play around with that.

      Reply
  10. Judy

    I made these today, I used the Kitchenaid but didn’t put enough flour in before I put on the board and kneaded it a lot to get it to the stage I needed to be able to put it in a bowl. I thing I kneaded it too much. I have been using the flour for several years now and love it, but I used to bake bread all the time, After finding out about the modern hybridized wheat I switched to Einkorn. The dough rose well the first time, but not much the second time or in the oven but I have used different recipes to try to get the bread like it used to turn out when I used the other wheat. Your recipe turns out much softer than the other recipes I have used. I know I have to let the dough stay sticky or it will be dense. I believe this recipe is good, but really needs more salt. the ratio of 1 tsp to 1 cup of whole wheat flour always worked for me, but with the all purpose flour it doesn’t need that much, but I believe 2 teaspoons is better than 11/2 in this recipe. I have also found that putting oil or butter on my hands and the bread board is so much better than extra flour unless there isn’t enough flour in the dough when it is laid on the board. That way no extra flour is kneaded into the dough. Thanks so much!

    Reply
  11. Susan M

    Your recipe says use 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 if using whole grain einkorn flour. I will be grinding the einkorn berries, freshly ground, so is that the correct amount?

    Reply
    1. Admin

      Hi Susan, yes, that is correct. We almost always use freshly ground einkorn flour, and that is about the correct amount. As always, the most important thing is to watch consistency.

      Reply
  12. Helen

    This is hands down the BEST recipe for dinner rolls using whole grain einkorn! I grind my own whole grain einkorn right before each recipe I try out. I am vegan so I made a few adjustments to the recipe (i.e. soymilk instead of milk, arrowroot powder instead of eggs, and olive oil instead of butter) and they turned out perfect. They come out light, fluffy, even a little chewy (yum!). Absolutely love this recipe and am about to make a batch later today. Thank you so much for posting.

    Reply
  13. Miss Morning Mist

    Can I use this dough to make a sandwich loaf?
    If so, I would like to make add oatmeal to the loaf. Can you suggest the right measurements for adding oatmeal?
    Thanks

    Reply
    1. Admin

      Hello, If you are wanting a sandwich loaf recipe, I recommend this one. I don’t know the measurements for adding oatmeal to it. We have never tried that but would love to hear how it turns out!

      Reply
  14. Chris

    I made this dough a couple of weeks ago. I split it in half and baked rolls. I froze the remaining dough. A couple of days ago, I removed the dough from the freezer and thawed in the refrigerator, it was in there for about 48 hrs. When I took it out of the refrigerator and began working with it to form it into a loaf, I noticed it smells just like wine. It smells good and looks good, but doesn’t smell like bread. Has anyone had this happen? Is it safe to eat?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Admin

      Hi Chris, we have never heard of this happening before. If it just smells kind of yeasty it’s probably ok. If it smells spoiled, I wouldn’t advise eating it.

      Reply
  15. Heidi

    Thank you for this wonderful recipe. Mine turned out between a biscuit and a dinner roll. Overall very good and I will make them again. I did double the rising time both times. 🙂

    Reply
  16. cindi perron

    do these rolls actually have a nice yeast bread texture? i can only use einkorn (hoping maybe spelt too) for my husband, but a lot of the bread recipes i’ve tried end up being crumbly and having a cake-like texture. i sure would love to find some recipes that aren’t like that. thank you!!

    Reply
    1. Admin

      Hi Cindi, yes these rolls have a bread texture, especially with the all-purpose flour. You’ll just want to watch consistency and make sure not to overflour.

      Reply
  17. Donna Schnaath

    Can I use the sprouted grain enkorn instead of all purpose. I believe I ran out of all purpose, but do have sprouted. Thanks for the recipe post.

    Reply
  18. Mary Shipman

    Hello. I would like to try this recipe to take the rolls to a dinner tomorrow. Can you make these the day before? At what point do I refrigerate and finish them off just before my luncheon

    Reply
    1. Admin

      Hi Mary, If you do freeze them, we recommend freezing them unbaked and unrisen. This means you will have to take them out several hours in advance to allow them to thaw and rise before baking.

      Reply
  19. Lisa Baar

    These dinner rolls are brilliant as are using the leftover dough that didn’t fit in the cake pan into a Few cinnamon rolls 🤗

    Lisa

    Reply
  20. Patrice

    Question about the yeast.. the recipe just calls for “yeast”, but I noticed in a reply to another reader you said to use instant yeast. My experience with instant yeast is that it doesn’t need proofing; it’s just added to the dry ingredients. I’m wondering if most people are using active dry yeast since it’s not specified in the recipe and it calls for proofing the yeast which is specific to active dry?

    Reply
    1. Admin

      Hi Patrice, thank you for your comment. You are right. Either yeast should work. It’s safer to tell people to prove the yeast since you don’t know what kind of yeast they are using. I always use instant yeast and I generally still let it sit for a few minutes, but it will probably work without doing that if you’re using instant yeast.

      Reply
      1. Patrice Berry

        Since I left my last comment, I have made the rolls, adding instant yeast to the dry ingredients (no proofing) and they came out wonderful. We loved them! My concern with the instructions is that people like Pam in an older comment will use warm or hot water to prove instant yeast which will in effect cause it to over-rise initially and not rise at all in the oven. As long as people use active dry yeast, your recipe instructions will work beautifully. I’ve been working with einkorn flour for years and am very familiar with the sticky dough issues. I would suggest that people use a plastic dough scraper to lift and fold the dough instead of the traditional hand kneading method. I’ve long-since abandoned my kitchen aid mixer for kneading einkorn breads – it just makes the dough even stickier 🙂

        Reply
        1. Admin

          Hi Patrice, thank you for your feedback on the recipe and your great suggestions. We used instant yeast when creating the recipe because it’s all we had (we usually bake with sourdough). We did prove the yeast and didn’t have issues with it not rising, but I understand the concern and hopefully your comment will be helpful to others trying the recipe. I always prove my instant yeast for a few minutes even though they say it’s not necessary and I’ve never had rise issues. Perhaps timing is what’s important. We appreciate your comments!

          Reply
  21. Polly

    It would be helpful if you put QUICK RISE yeast in the list of ingredients. You just have yeast so any bread maker would automatically use regular rise.

    Reply
  22. maestro7729

    I made these rolls and I must say I had very good success with this recipe. These were the best einkorn rolls zI have ever been able to make. I did add about a 1/4 tsp.of powdered ginger. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. The dough is definitely sticky but I tried not to add too much additional flour and I was careful not to over knead. I did use my stand mixer with the dough hook. Next time, I think I’ll mix the dough by hand.

    Reply
  23. Grace

    Recipe was slightly confusing. It mentions 1 tablespoon of yeast added to the honey to proof but then it mentions a separate tablespoon of yeast in the list of ingredients. Are there actually 2 tablespoons of yeast or only one?

    Reply
    1. Admin

      Hi Grace, there is just one tablespoon of yeast. The instructions are just saying when to add the yeast. Let me know if you are still confused.

      Reply
  24. Troy

    just made my first batch. These are awesome. The directions where spot on only thing I did was sub statute the honey with raw sugar and the milk with buttermilk.

    Reply
  25. Elise

    For storage longer than a few days, what’s the best way to freeze these rolls; would the taste and texture suffer after being frozen 4-6 weeks?

    Reply
    1. Admin

      Hi Elise, I wouldn’t hesitate to freeze them, but it would be best in a container with a lid to avoid that freezer taste. I would freeze them before the second rise and make sure you take them out in plenty of time to let them thaw and then rise.

      Reply

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