Cloverleaf Honey Wheat Rolls

I cannot stand wasting food. I dislike it so much that I have created a spreadsheet of ALL the food items that I have in the house and keep it updated on a daily basis. I even color code it with what is expiring during the current month and aim to make as much as I can to use up that ingredient. It's a great tool to have when I menu plan and now nothing gets pushed to the back of the cupboards and forgotten about. Having my spreadsheet has also help cut our food bill significantly.

Seeing that my 100% whole wheat flour was expiring by month's end I decided it was best to put it to use. I searched my favorite recipe website, MyRecipes, and did a quick search for whole wheat flour. Cloverleaf Honey Wheat Rolls. I had all of the other ingredients on hand and it wasn't a hard decision to make these.

I had tried another recipe similar to these that were good but not great, Herb Cloverleaf Rolls. Their pull apart shape made me giddy. I was excited to get in the kitchen and give the Cloverleaf Honey Wheat Rolls a go. When isn't honey and wheat a winning combination? Cooking Light recipe also. Can't go wrong.

Working with dough no longer intimidates me like in my earlier blogging days. Is that weird to say considering the fact that I've only been at this for three months? I use to question every step of the bread making process and now I can breeze through a recipe such as this without any self doubt. I've come a long way.

After these rolls got out of the oven letting them cool down enough to handle was pure torture. The apartment smelled of fresh bread and the sweetness of the honey had me dying to get my hands on these. I popped them out of the muffin pan and the time it took to photograph them was enough to let them cool.

I pulled one of the "cloverleafs" off and the steam rose. The smell was so sweet and tantalizing. They looked so airy and light. I raise the portion to my mouth and before I was able to take a bite itty bitty had also taken notice of the fresh out of the oven love and raced over to stake claim on a roll too. Both of us shared a first bite together. "Nom-me!" I couldn't agree more. Now if only Mr. Sideline Chef would have been home to see if these Cloverleaf Honey Wheat Rolls would be deemed "engagement" worthy. Guess I'll just have to make them again... oh darn! Haha!

Cloverleaf Honey Wheat Rolls

MyRecipes.com and Cooking Light, September 2002

Makes 1 dozen (Serving size = 1 roll)

*To Freeze: Wrap the baked rolls in foil and reheat at 350º for 10 minutes or until warm.

Stars of the Show:

• 1 package dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
• 1 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
• 2 cups bread flour, divided
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 tbsp honey
• 2 1/2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tsp salt
• cooking spray
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 egg

And Action:

Dissolve the yeast in 1 cup warm water in a large bowl and let stand for 5 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups bread flour, whole wheat flour, honey, butter, and salt to the yeast mixture stirring well until blended. Add 1/4 cup bread flour and stir to form a soft dough.

Turn the dough onto a well floured surface. Knead until smooth, about 8 minutes. Add enough of the remaining bread flour, 1 tbsp at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands.

Place the dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray and turning the top to coat. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Punch dough down. Cover and let rest for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425°.

Coat a muffin pan with the cooking spray. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time, separate each portion into 3 balls. Place the 3 balls into one muffin cup. Cover and let rise 25 minutes or until doubled in size.

Uncover the dough. Combine 1 tbsp water with the egg and brush over the tops of the dough. Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 152 (18% from fat)
Fat: 3g (sat 1.6g,mono 0.9g,poly 0.2g)
Protein: 5.1g
Carbohydrate: 27.3g
Fiber: 2g
Cholesterol: 24mg
Iron: 1.5mg
Sodium: 206mg
Calcium: 4mg

I'm linking this recipe to:

Honey Yeast Rolls

I doubt myself every time I bake. I prefer stove top cooking. I can keep an eye on the goods whereas our oven doesn't have a convenient little window to let me check on the baked goods to ensure they aren't burning. Not only does the actual baking process worry me it's the questioning of, "Is this how my dough is supposed to look?"

Mr. Sideline Chef loves rolls with dinner. They don't appear on our dinner table enough for his liking. I normally resort to packaged rolls (leaving it to the professionals) since my first attempt at rolls didn't quite turn out songs of praise. I loved the Herb Cloverleaf Rolls and their shape made me giddy. Wanting to continue on the search for a good roll I searched my favorite recipe site, MyRecipes, and found this recipe for Honey Yeast Rolls.

I had a handful of moments that had me sweating. Not having enough honey and forgetting to bring the eggs to room temperature before starting. (Luckily, Google knew what to do.) I also have never used my stand mixer to make the dough. I was used to turning dough out on a floured surface and kneading. The mixer did all of it and in the process somehow the dough made it's way to the top of the mixer and the cleanup was a mess. The amount of dough was so much that dividing it into 28 equal portions was a nightmare. I decided to take my experience from the Herb Cloverleaf Rolls and use my muffin pan to bake these rolls in. I just pulled a handful of the dough apart and threw it into each muffin cup. I ended up with 24 rolls and not 28. Close enough.

When they came out of the oven after 12 minutes they were beautiful and smelled delicious. Since I didn't have enough honey I ended up just brushing the baked tops with melted butter. I can only imagine how much better these would have been with the honey butter topping. These are sweet rolls but not too sweet and have a light and airy texture. These are hands down the best rolls I have ever made. So what if this was only my second attempt. A winner is a winner.

Itty bitty and I loved these rolls. Mr. Sideline Chef thought they were "good", this is a compliment, food doesn't make this man giddy except for a handful of things, and said that he's wanting something more like what they serve at "Red Lobster, you know, those Cheddar Bay Biscuits." There's no competing with those biscuits. My only retort was, "Those are biscuits and these are rolls." I don't even know the difference myself but it sounded logical.

Honey Yeast Rolls

MyRecipes.com and Southern Living, May 2007

Makes 28 Rolls



Stars of the Show:

• 1/4 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
• 1 (1/4 oz) envelope active dry yeast
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2 large eggs, room temperature - I forgot to set the eggs out an hour before starting this recipe so I ended up placing the eggs in a bowl with warm tap water to cover them and let them sit for 5 minutes.
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 tsp salt
• 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup honey

And Action:

Combine first three ingredients in a small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes or until mixture bubbles.

Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes or until 100° to 110°.

Stir together warm milk, eggs, and next three ingredients in the bowl of a heavy-duty electric stand mixer, blending well. Add yeast mixture, stirring to combine. Gradually add 5 cups of flour, beating at medium speed. Beat 3 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 1 hour.

Uncover dough and add remaining 1 1/2 cups of the flour beating at medium speed for 5 minutes. The dough will be sticky. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (85°) and free from drafts for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

Punch the dough down. Turn dough out onto a well floured surface and roll into 28 balls. About 1/4 cup dough per ball. Place balls in 4 lightly greased 9 inch pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°) and free from drafts for 1 more hour or until doubled in bulk.

Stir together 1/2 cup softened butter and 1/4 cup honey.

Bake the rolls at 400° for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Brush the tops with the honey butter. Serve with more honey butter if desired.

Note: To freeze, place baked rolls in a Ziploc freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Let the rolls thaw at room temperature and reheat if desired.