The Softest Fresh-Milled Hard Red Wheat Dinner Rolls (Bread Machine)

I love baking with fresh-milled flour, but I’ll be the first to admit that getting soft, fluffy rolls with 100% whole wheat can take a little experimenting.

These fresh-milled hard red wheat dinner rolls have become one of my favorites. They’re soft, slightly sweet from the honey, and made with simple ingredients—and this version lets the bread machine do most of the work for you.

I use my bread machine for the mixing, resting, kneading, and first rise, then shape the dough into rolls and bake them in the oven. It makes homemade rolls so much easier, especially on days when I don’t want to babysit a bowl of dough.

Don’t have a bread machine? [Click Here to get the Fresh Milled Flour Roll Recipe – No Bread Machine]

Why I Use an Autolyse

One little step that makes a big difference with fresh-milled flour is giving the flour time to absorb the liquid before the full kneading cycle.

For this recipe, I mix the flour with the water, honey, oil, egg, lecithin, and vital wheat gluten for just a few minutes, then let everything rest for 30–60 minutes before adding the salt and yeast.

It’s an extra pause in the process, but the bread machine is doing the work anyway, so I find it really easy to incorporate.

Ingredients

• 450 g freshly milled hard red wheat flour
• 1⅓ cups warm water
• ¼ cup honey
• 3 tablespoons avocado oil or melted butter
• 1 egg (optional, but recommended for softer rolls)
• 1 tablespoon sunflower lecithin
• 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast

How to Make Fresh-Milled Rolls in a Bread Machine

1. Add the initial ingredients.
Add the warm water, honey, oil, egg, sunflower lecithin, vital wheat gluten, and freshly milled flour to your bread-machine pan. Don’t add the salt or yeast yet.

2. Mix briefly.
Start the dough cycle and let the machine mix for about 3–5 minutes, just until everything is combined. Then stop the machine.

3. Let the dough rest.
Leave the dough in the machine for 30–60 minutes. This gives the freshly milled flour time to fully hydrate.

4. Add the salt and yeast.
After the rest, add the salt and instant yeast, then restart the full dough cycle. Let the bread machine handle the kneading and first rise.

5. Shape the rolls.
When the dough cycle finishes, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide it into 12–16 pieces and shape each piece into a smooth ball.

6. Let them rise again.
Place the rolls into a greased baking dish or sheet pan, cover them, and let them rise for about 30–45 minutes, or until they’re puffy and nearly doubled.

7. Bake.
Bake at 375°F for 15–18 minutes, until beautifully golden brown.

8. Finish with butter.
Brush the warm rolls with melted butter right after they come out of the oven. This gives them that soft, buttery finish.

A Few Tips Before You Bake

Fresh-milled dough can feel a little different from dough made with store-bought white flour, so don’t panic if it doesn’t look exactly like the bread dough you’re used to.

I also recommend using the egg if your goal is a really soft dinner roll. And don’t skip that resting period—the whole point of this version is to give that freshly milled flour plenty of time to hydrate before the machine does the real kneading.

These are especially good warm from the oven with a little butter, but they’re also the kind of simple homemade roll I love having around for dinner.

Freezing & Reheating

These rolls also freeze really well, which is one of my favorite things about making a batch. Once they’re completely cool, place them in a freezer-safe bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months for the best quality.

Then whenever you want fresh bread with dinner, just pull out one—or three 😂—and reheat them. No need to thaw them first.

To reheat from frozen in the air fryer:
Preheat your air fryer to 300°F, then heat the frozen rolls for about 4–6 minutes, checking around the 4-minute mark. If you’d like, brush the top with a little butter before or after heating.

If you’ve already thawed the rolls, 2–3 minutes at 300°F should be plenty.

Little tip: If the rolls are getting browned before the centers are warm, lower the air fryer to about 275°F and give them another minute or two. Air fryers vary quite a bit, so the first roll is your test subject. 😂