marilynpeight
These soft dinner rolls with whole wheat flour, oatmeal and honey are from a honey oatmeal bread recipe passed on from my Amish grandmother. And they certainly do not disappoint as dinner rolls! These rolls also freeze well and can be made ahead of time and then thawed and risen on the day you wish to serve them, giving you extra time to focus on other things while still having warm and soft dinner rolls on the table! You may also like to try out some more of my favorite Amish/Mennonite bread recipes: Mom’s Amish Honey Bread, Homemade Whole Wheat Bread, and Amish Soft Pretzels.
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Amish Honey Oatmeal Rolls
Equipment
- Saucepan (linked below)
- Stand mixer (linked below)
- Whisk (linked below)
- Tea towels (linked below)
- 9 by 13 inch baking dish (linked below)
Ingredients
Yeast Mixture:
- 1 tablespoon Yeast Active dry
- 1/2 cup warm water *see temperature below
- 1 teaspoon salt
Oatmeal mixture:
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup quick cook oatmeal
- 1/2 cup honey *see note.
Remaining bread dough ingredients:
- 1/3 cup oil vegetable or canola
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 5-6 cups Bread (occident) flour
Instructions
- Place the yeast, warm water and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer (or any large mixing bowl if mixing by hand). Whisk the yeast mixture together, then allow the yeast to rest for 10 minutes to activate.
- While the yeast is activating, bring 1 1/4 cups water to a boil in a medium sized skillet. Stir the quick oats into the boiling water, then remove from the heat and stir in honey. Allow to cool slightly.
- Add oil, beaten eggs and the warm oatmeal mixture to the yeast mixture. Whisk well to combine and transfer the bowl to a stand mixer (if using). Add the whole wheat flour and mix on low-medium speed for several minutes until well combined. Add the bread flour-1 cup at a time- and continue mixing for several minutes between each addition.
- Once the dough is soft and pliable and no longer adhering to the bowl of the stand mixer (or the counter top when kneading), place into a large bowl and cover with a tea towel (If you wish to freeze all or some of these dinner rolls, see below the recipe for freezing instructions before continuing with the next step). Once the dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl and roll the dough into 24 walnut sized balls, then place into two, greased 9 by 13 inch baking dishes and cover again. Allow the dough to rest for another hour.
- While the dinner rolls are having their last proving session you can preheat the oven to 350. Bake the dinner rolls for 30-40 minutes, or until golden on the tops and bottoms. Brush the tops of the Amish dinner rolls with warm butter (optional) and enjoy!
Notes
Equipment needed for these Amish Honey Oatmeal Rolls.
- Saucepan I personally prefer to use a 1-2 quart stainless steel saucepan for cooking the oats for these honey oatmeal rolls.
- Stand mixer Using a stand mixer vs. hand kneading these rolls or any type of bread makes things so much easier and produces a nice and fluffy bread texture when the bread is well mixed.
- Whisk I prefer to use a whisk with wire handle as I have had trouble with my other whisks leaking dirty water after being washed. (Yuck!) I have found the wire handles to dry much better and am not left with a nasty surprise leaking into my fresh batter days after the whisk was washed.
- Tea towels I like to be a little old fashioned and use a tea towel for covering my breads while they prove, why not use a cute one while we’re at it?!
- 9 by 13 inch baking dish I prefer to use a glass baking dish or bread pan for baking breads and rolls. Being able to see the bottom of the bread and/or rolls makes getting a nice and even bake so much easier.
Freezing the dinner rolls:
If you wish to make the dinner rolls ahead of time (they can be made up to two weeks ahead of time and frozen) to save you time on a busy day when you are prepping for a holiday party or hosting event, you can freeze them before baking! Step by step photos below.
Step 1: Roll/shape the dinner rolls right after they have been mixed (you do not need to allow them to rise). Place them on a parchment covered baking sheet and freeze for 1 to 2 hours.
Step 2: Remove the dinner rolls from the cookie sheet, then place flat side down into a gallon sized plastic bag and freeze for up to two weeks. On the day of your event you will want to pull the rolls out of the freezer at least 5-6 hours ahead of time so that they can thaw and rise. Place into baking dishes and bake as directed. Step by step photos and notes on the Honey oatmeal dinner rolls below!
Step 1: Place the active dry yeast, warm (between 100-110 degrees) water and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl). Whisk all together and allow to activate for 10 minutes until bubbly.
Note*
Typically I only use active dry yeast so I am no expert on instant yeast, however the original recipe suggested either one can be used for these dinner rolls. (I assume you can skip the 10 minutes of activation if using instant mixture. Here are more detailed instructions if you wish to try it out.)
Step 2: Bring water to a boil and add quick oats. Remove from the heat and add honey, then whisk all together and allow to cool slightly.
Substitution:
You can substitute a half and half ratio of honey and light corn syrup in this recipe. I prefer to use all honey, but for a more budget friendly option you can do the half and half mixture.
Step 3: Add the remaining wet ingredients and the oatmeal mixture to the activated yeast. Transfer the bowl to the stand mixer (or continue mixing by hand). Add whole wheat flour and mix until well combined, then continue with bread (occident) flour-adding one cup at a time-and mix for several minutes between each addition. Stop adding flour as soon as the mixture is no longer sticky. Mix until nicely soft and pliable.
Note*
If you wish to knead the Amish dinner roll dough by hand (which is the way we made the majority of our breads while old order Amish) you will need to flour your counter tops before kneading the dough. I generally allow my dinner rolls to mix well in the stand mixer and then I still hand knead them for around ten minutes after the last of the flour was added.
Step 4: Place the dough into a bowl (if you wish to save dishes you can return it to the mixing bowl) and cover with a tea towel. Allow to rise for one hour until doubled. Shape the rolls and place into baking dishes, then cover again and allow to rise for another hour.
Note*
A little flour or oil can be added to the bottom of the mixing bowl for an easier removal of the risen bread dough.
Step 5: Preheat the oven to 350 at the last 10-15 minutes of the last rising session. Bake the rolls until golden, then slather with butter (optional) and enjoy!
Note*
These honey oatmeal dinner rolls bake the best in the center of the oven. If you need to bake other dishes while baking these Amish dinner rolls, be sure to bake the dinner rolls on the upper rack positioned in or near the center.
Feel free to pin for later and be sure to show off your creation on Instagram by tagging me on thismom.cooks.
🤤