Carbs. Carbs. Carbs. Give me all the carbs. Make it rain whole grains. Take me to bagel land. Burry me in sweet potatoes and bananas. Shove a cake in my face. Any way you carb me up, I’ll probably be a happy camper.

The other morning was Easter morning. To celebrate I asked my sister and her husband if they’d enjoy going on a little outting with all our pups. Millie loves to visit her cousins and Auntie Jenn and Uncle Tyler, and as I rarely have Sundays off I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for a Sunday stroll.

Imagine my delight and aw when I arrived to the Jackson residence to the smell of fermenting yeast and baking carbs. That’s right – Tyler was making homemade bagels. Win.

I had brought fruit because we were planning to have a mini brunch of sorts, but I was not expecting homemade whole wheat bagels. What a treat! Better than a fancy overpriced Easter brunch that requires pants, in my humble opinion.

Besides the fact that deciding we NEEDED peanut butter for our bagels and my sister and I going on a 30 minute mission to get some which ended with us analyzing why Piggly Wiggly makes so uncomfortable, the Easter morning mini brunch thang was a simple, stress-free epic success. Which was followed by a lovely beach-front stroll with the pups. 🙂 Happy times.

Homemade bagels had me wanting more homemade carbs. After finishing off a 12-pack of Angelic Bakery dinner rolls by myself in 72 hours, I decided I wanted more rolls. Inspired by the rolls and Tyler’s bagels, I created these Whole Wheat Oatmeal Rolls, with whole wheat flour and oat flour.They are the perfect hearty yet fluffy, curnchy-outside-soft-inside roll to eat alongside soup or salad, with butter, nut butter and jelly, or to enjoy just as they are, as homemade bread has a way of being outstanding in its own simple right.

Easy to make and even easier to eat, these little rolls will brighten your day and make your house smell yum tastic. Just be careful you don’t end up like and eat 3/4ths of the pan in one sitting. D’OH!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Dinner Rolls

Prep Time: 90 minutes
Bake Time: 20-30 minutes
Level: easy

makes 12 rolls 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 package dry active yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or non-dairy butter
• 1 1/4 cup oat flour
• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons  ground flax
• 1/4 cup rolled oats for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Warm water to 110-115 °F. Add package of yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar and allow to sit for at least 10 minutes, until yeast is foamy and fragrant.

2. In a stand mixer, add water/yeast mixture, oat flour, flax, remaining sugar, salt, and oil. Mix with stand mixer until well combine. If you do not have a stand mixer, you can get a good arm workout by doing this in a bowl with a wooden spoon.

3. Add whole wheat flour 1/4 cup at a time, mixing as you go, until a ball of dough forms. The dough should not be sticky. If it is, add more flour a few tablespoons at a time.

4. Once ball of dough has formed, cover and allow to rise for about an hour.

5. Punch down dough and knead a few times. Cut dough into 12 even pieces. This can be done with a dough cuter or a large sharp knife. Grease a rough 9″ cake pan and arrange dough balls in a circle in pan. If desired, add rolled oats for garnish (you can also add them after baking by first brushing with a bit of melted non-dairy butter). Allow to rise for an addition 30-60 minutes.

6. Preheat oven to 400 °F. Once preheated, bake rolls for 20-30 minutes until browned, fragrant, and hollow-sounding upon tapping with finger. Remove from oven and EAT with butter substitute, coconut butter, almond butter, peanut butter, jelly, jam, to mop up soup, etc etc etc~! Enjoy!