These healthy honey bread rolls come out soft and fluffy. They are just 4 ingredients and easy to make. They don’t contain any yeast, white flour, eggs, refined sugar, butter or oil. The rolls are a quick and easy dish for an upcoming brunch or dinner.
I’ve shared a lot of bread recipes in the past but I wanted to create a healthier honey bread roll recipe. These bread rolls are made with whole wheat flour and only sweetened with honey. They also don’t contain any yeast, so they are a quick bread recipe that doesn’t require any kneading or proofing.
Ingredients
- Whole wheat flour
- Baking powder
- Whole milk Greek yogurt
- Honey
Whole wheat flour: The bread is made with whole wheat flour. If you prefer using white flour, I do have a recipe using white flour.
Baking powder: This recipe uses aluminum-free baking powder. Since the rolls are made with whole wheat flour, more baking powder is needed than usual to allow the bread to rise. When you use a baking powder with aluminum, it can leave a metallic aftertaste, which is why aluminum-free baking powder is used. There are several brands of aluminum-free baking powder on the market. Just look at the ingredient list and make sure aluminum isn’t listed.
Whole milk Greek yogurt: Whole milk Greek yogurt gives these rolls more richness. You can substitute with nonfat or low fat Greek yogurt but I liked the texture of the whole milk version the best. I also used plain Greek yogurt so that I could sweeten the rolls naturally with honey.
Honey: The rolls are naturally lightly sweetened with honey.
How to Make Healthy Honey Wheat Rolls
The flour and baking powder are first whisked together. The yogurt and honey are then added in until a dough forms.
The dough is then divided into 9 pieces and rolled into smooth balls.
The bread rolls are then ready to be baked.
Bread Texture and Sweetness
These bread rolls will come out soft and have a regular bread texture. The texture won’t have quite the same bounce as bread made with yeast but they will taste like bread. The rolls are also lightly sweetened to keep them healthier. You can add more honey on top or serve them with honey if you want more sweetness.
More Bread Roll Recipes
4 Ingredient Healthy Honey Bread Rolls
Ingredients
- 2 cups (236 g) whole wheat flour
- 2 tbsp (26.6 g) aluminum-free baking powder
- 1 1/4 cups (282 g) whole milk plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup (59 ml) honey plus additional for brushing on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Add flour and baking powder to a large mixing bowl. If adding optional salt, add it now. Whisk until evenly combined. In a separate medium mixing bowl, add yogurt and honey. Whisk until evenly combined.
- Add yogurt mixture to the flour mixture. Use a spatula to mix until the flour is fully incorporated. You may want to use your hand to do the mixing towards the end. I usually use a spatula until most of the flour is incorporated and then use my hand to incorporate the last bit of flour. If your dough is too dry, you can also add another 1 tbsp of yogurt.
- Divide dough into 9 pieces. Roll one piece between your palms to form a smooth ball (a few cracks on it are okay, but you do want it to be a round dough ball). Place onto prepared baking mat. Repeat with remaining dough pieces, spacing bread rolls 2 inches apart.
- Bake bread for about 22-25 minutes or until bread rolls look cooked and tops are lightly golden brown. If you aren't sure if they are completely cooked, you can cut one open to check. Allow bread rolls to cool for a few minutes. Brush rolls with more honey right before serving (Add 1 tbsp of honey to a small bowl and heat in the microwave for a few seconds until it is no longer thick. Then brush over rolls.)
Notes
- Optional salt: You can add 1/8 tsp salt to the dough. Salt is not required for these bread rolls to be made however if you prefer salt flavor in your bread or you are using a very low sodium yogurt, you may want to add a little salt. If you plan serving the bread with butter or other spreads, then you probably don't need the optional salt. If you want to eat them plain then may want the optional salt.
- There are several brands of aluminum-free baking powder. They are not always labeled as such so the best way to know is to check the ingredient label. These rolls were made with Argo baking powder.
- I do recommend brushing the rolls with a little more honey before serving because the honey flavor in the rolls is very light. Adding too much honey in the rolls will cause the bread to spread too much.
- If you are using a scale to measure ingredients, I recommend you use a scale that measures to 0.1 accuracy so that you have an accurate baking powder measurement.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Can these rolls be made with vegan yogurt? We have milk allergies in the family.
Can I use spelt flour onstead of whole wheat?
Thank you.
Sorry we have not tested with those substitutions
any idea if these can be made with part of the honey replaced by splenda or stevia or something like that?
That should be fine but you may need to adjust the ingredient amounts and without testing, I’m not sure what those adjustments are