Homemade Sub Rolls

I’ve been experimenting with my Healthy Bread In Five Minutes a Day cookbook and I recently tried the Soft Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread Dough.

I was able to make two loaves of cinnamon bread, six bread sticks and six sub rolls. I love the theory behind this cookbook because it’s all about MAKING AHEAD. You make the dough in a lidded shoebox and stick it in your fridge. Then when you are ready to bake you shape it into whatever item you are making, loaf bread, rolls, etc. and allow it to come to room temperature (which takes about 40 minutes for loaves and 30 for rolls). I’ve decided the longer it sets, the better. It rises better when there are no cold spots.

This is what the dough looks like while it’s resting.
I made sub rolls for our meatballs and they turned out great. A smaller version brushed with garlic butter serves as a wonderful garlic stick for spaghetti or hot dogs. I am more inclined to make homemade rolls for dinner when I just have to heat up the meatballs in marinara. My freezer meatballs are so easy and come in handy for lots of different meals.

This recipe can be mixed in a stand mixer or right inside a clean shoebox.
Soft Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

• 5 cups whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur white whole wheat)
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast, or 2 packets
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten (purchase this near the yeast-Hodgson Mill brand)
• 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
• 2/3 cup canola oil

1. Whisk the flours, yeast, salt and vital wheat gluten together (use an actual whisk to incorporate dry ingredients) in the shoebox
2. Combine the liquid ingredients and mix them with the dry ingredients using a sturdy wooden spoon. You might need to use wet hands to get the last bit incorporated if you don’t have enough liquid.
3. Cover with lid and allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 2 hours.
4. Stick it in the fridge until you are ready to shape.
5. On baking day, lightly dust the dough with flour and pinch off the amount you need. I used dough balls about the size of a golf ball for garlic sticks, a little less than a baseball size for sub rolls, and a grapefruit size for loaf bread. Keep dusting with flour or drop dough balls into flour canister and lightly coat if it is extra sticky.
6. Quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface and turn as you go. Elongate the dough if you are going to shape into bread sticks or sub rolls.
7. Allow it to rest for about 40 minutes or more.
8. Bake 350 for 20 minutes for sub rolls and 45 minutes for loaf bread.
Would you be inclined to make homemade bread if you just had to measure and mix it in five minutes? Get the cookbook