Homemade Wholegrain Breakfast Bread Rolls

February 06, 2022

reading time: 3 min

I really love to bake bread. Or anything dough-y really ☺️

As a German, I was of course raised on bread – and bread, especially homemade bread, is still one of my favourite things to eat, next to pasta and rice pudding!

These are not your typical bread rolls, though. They are made with wholegrain spelt flour and regular spelt flour, fresh yeast, lots of love, and loads of great seeds and other toppings. In other words: They are pretty healthy and filling, and they also taste great!

When I think of these bread rolls, I think of my Dad.

It's also my Dad's birthday today, so happy birthday, Dad!

When I was still living with my parents as a child, my Dad used to make these rolls on the weekends (they are called "Brötchensonne" aka "bun sun" or "bread sun" in Germany), and he still does it to this day! However, I altered his recipe slightly to get fluffier, softer rolls.

You can have these rolls for breakfast, lunch or dinner, although I would personally recommend them for a cosy Sunday brunch.

TIP: The dough can also be made a day in advance and can be kept in the refrigerator before proceeding with the assembly. This is very handy if you want to serve the rolls fresh and warm for breakfast or a brunch.

Below you can see the evolution of these breakfast bread rolls:
From a lovely smooth dough – to distributed rolls – to risen rolls – to sprinkled rolls – to baked rolls – to ready-to-be-devoured rolls!

WHOLEGRAIN BREAKFAST BREAD ROLLS

Preparation time: 2 h
Main ingredients: spelt flour, yeast, water
difficulty level: easy
serves: 10
suitable for: vegan, lactose-free, wheat-free, sugar-free, low-fat

Ingredients

200 g whole grain spelt flour
400 g spelt flour (type 1050) *
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cube of fresh yeast (42 g)
350 ml water, lukewarm
3 tbsp vegetable oil, vegan butter or margarine (I use extra virgin olive oil)
(optional) 1 tsp agave syrup or honey

for sprinkling:
sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, rolled oats, flaxseeds, chia seeds, poppy seeds, cumin seeds, black seeds, coarse salt ...

* If you are confused about that flour type, check out this website which explains the difference between German flour types and US-American flour types.

Instructions

To a large mixing bowl, add the two flours, and salt. Stir to combine.

In a separate smaller bowl, mix fresh yeast and lukewarm water. Gently stir to dissolve. Let stand for about 5 minutes for the yeast to do her magic.

Slowly pour the yeast/water mixture into the mixing bowl, and stir to combine. Lastly, add olive oil to the mix.

Knead vigorously for a couple of minutes – by hand or with an electric mixer with a dough hook – to make a soft and elastic dough, resembling the soft fleshy part between your thumb and your index finger. If the dough seems too dry at first, keep kneading for a minute or so, then it should be just right.

Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and place in a warm spot to rise for 30 minutes.

If you are preparing the dough a day in advance, store the dough overnight in the fridge instead, then continue with the recipe in the morning, giving the dough a chance to come to room temperature.

Once the time is up, the volume of the dough should have increased considerably.

Lightly dust a clean counter top with flour, and transfer the dough to the floured surface. Knead briefly.

With floured hands, divide the dough in 10 rolls. Place the balls on a parchment paper lined baking sheet or in a lightly greased round pan in a circle pattern, about 1/2 inch to 1 inch apart. The balls will grow into each other while rising and baking, and form something like a cluster that you can later pull apart. If you don't want that, set them further apart.

Let the rolls rise for another 30 minutes, until they are all "grown" together.

Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 400 °F / 200 °C.

Brush the rolls with water, and sprinkle with seeds, rolled oats, or even coarse salt. You can also leave them bare, if you want.

Place the rolls in the preheated oven, and place a heatproof bowl with water on the floor of the oven, or on a lower rack – this prevents the rolls from drying out.

Bake until golden brown on the top, about 30 minutes at 400 °F / 200 °C.

Remove rolls from oven, and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Serve while still warm, and enjoy with butter or any toppings of your liking.