Honey Wheat Rolls

October 23, 2025
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Did you know that you can make a big batch of little dinner rolls, hoagies or big ol’ burger buns with the same dough? You absolutely can and these soft and chewy honey wheat rolls are perfect for so many occasions.

Whether you smother them with butter to go with a great steak dinner, add a juicy cheese covered burger patty or build a bacon , egg and cheese breakfast sandwich with them, you are going to love their delicious subtle sweetness and hearty wheat texture.

Let’s get started…

Begin by whisking 7 grams of active dry yeast and about a teaspoon of honey into 250 grams of warm whole milk and set aside for about 5 minutes or until the yeast has bloomed and gets all foamy. The foam tells us that the yeast is awake and ready to go to work.

The honey in this dough does more than just bring a wonderful sweetness into the overall flavor profile. It also works as the food for our yeast, allowing it to wake up successfully and continue working hard to proof our dough and it retains moisture in the dough, creating a tender crumb that will stay softer longer than bread doughs without it.

Long story short, honey rocks.

When the dough is foamy, add 113 grams of softened salted butter, 2 large eggs and the remaining honey (it should be 115 grams of honey total in the dough). Don’t worry about getting the butter fully worked into the mixture. We are just breaking it up into small enough pieces that it can easily be incorporated into the dough.

Now add 500 grams of whole wheat flour and 6 grams of salt and mix until you no longer see any dry ingredients left behind. Knead the dough just a bit in the bowl to bring everything together a bit. You’ll see in the photo above that this dough is not going to feel like your typical smooth, springy bread dough… especially at this point, but as soon as everything seems to be fully combined, cover the bowl and let it rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes.

Once your dough has rested for 30 minutes, it should feel a little more “together”. So, dampen your hands with some water and pull the dough from around the outer sides of the bowl and pull them into the center. Do this a few times around the bowl until all of the outer dough has been pulled into the middle, cover the bowl again and let it rest for another 30 minutes.

Repeat this stretch and fold process twice more over 90 minutes and by the end of your final rest, your dough should look all big and puffy like this.

Flip your dough out onto a floured surface and divide it into as many portions as you want. I am doing 8 full sized burger buns today, but these make awesome dinner rolls too. For dinner rolls, I would divide the dough into 16 portions.

Once the dough has been portioned out, shape each portion into a round ball. I like doing this by flipping a portion over and tucking all of the edges into the middle. Pinch them together to secure them and when you flip the portion over, you should have a nice smooth, round ball of dough.

Transfer the shaped dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with a kitchen towel and let the rolls rest in a warm spot for about an hour.

See how much the rolls have puffed up during that last rest? They are now ready to bake.

Note: If you want the tops of your buns to be shiny (or if you want to add sesame seeds, nuts or oats), gently brush the tops of the buns with an egg wash (1 egg whisked with a teaspoon of water). If you want a thin, more matte finish crust, you can brush them with heavy cream or you can bake them without brushing anything on them at all!

Bake the rolls in a 375 degree oven for 22-24 minutes or until they are lightly golden brown. Transfer them onto a cooling rack and let them cool before slicing.

If you went with dinner sized rolls, its ok to leave them in the baking dish, brush them with a little melted butter and honey and serve them warm, but if you baked your rolls to use as burger buns then I would suggest letting them cool before slicing.

These rolls have a soft, tender crumb, but they also have a hearty, chewiness that makes them quite satisfying and perfect for adding lots of filling into or a big schmear of butter onto.

The butter and honey in this dough makes these rolls have a fabulous flavor and I love when rolls will stay soft for longer than a day when you make them at home. I haven’t had them last longer than 3 days before they disappear from my kitchen, but they were great each day!

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