100% Whole Wheat Fresh Milled Sub Rolls Recipe

The first couple of times that I made sub rolls, they smelled and looked amazing! But when it came time to cut them open and serve them to my family… they totally crumbled and fell apart. We ended up eating deconstructed sandwiches, the fillings and bread falling into piles on our plates. What a fail!

After adjusting the recipe, I finally was able to come up with these soft rolls! They hold together beautifully without crumbling and falling apart. Hopefully this recipe saves you from the fails I had made when first attempting fresh milled subs or hoagies.

This recipe comes together with a few simple ingredients…

500g hard white wheat (4C freshly milled)

370g warm milk or water (milk is preferred here!) (1 1/2C)

1 egg or flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flax, 3 Tbsp water)

25g sugar/honey (1 Tbsp honey or 2 Tbsp cane sugar)

25g extra virgin olive oil/butter (I use oil for this recipe) (2Tbsp)

10g salt (1 1/2 tsp)

9g active dry yeast (1 Tbsp)

Autolyse

When getting started with this recipe, something I almost always recommend for fresh milled recipes is doing an autolyse. Autolyse basically means mixing the flour and liquid first and letting the dough rest. This is important for fresh milled flour because it needs longer than all purpose flour to absorb the liquid. This resting period also gives the flour enough time for the bran to soften, which aids in gluten development thus hopefully speeding up the kneading process. For this recipe, that means mixing the freshly milled flour with warm milk, and allowing it to rest, covered, for 20-30 minutes.

TIP: I use milk instead of water because I find that milk helps the rolls hold together better. The milk proteins and fat help with this! The sub recipes I used that crumbled and failed in the end were recipes that used water instead of milk.

Kneading Stage

After the 30 minute autolyse, I add in the rest of the ingredients and knead. Something to note here if you’re new to fresh milled flour is that kneading time almost always takes longer than with refined or store-bought wheat. This is in part due to the sharp bran still being fully intact. When kneading, bran can actually cut through the developing gluten network… yet another reason why autolyse is so important. Giving the flour time to fully hydrate softens the bran before kneading.

For this recipe, kneading in my stand mixer typically takes about 8-10 minutes, sometimes even longer.

Once you learn how to “read” your dough, you’ll be able to understand when it’s time to stop kneading. You’ll be able to see the dough get stretchier, more elastic, and smooth. If you watch my Sub Roll YouTube video, you’ll get a better visual of what it should look like after kneading.

The Rise/Proof

I always like to remind people that rise time depends largely on the temperature of your kitchen. My kitchen runs warm, so for me, I check the dough around 30-45 minutes, and that usually is enough. Dough should rise until it’s about doubled in size.

Divide and Shape

Take your dough and cut it into about 6 equal pieces. If you want to get them to be exactly the same size, you can weigh the total weight of your dough, and divide that number by 6. Then as you cut your dough, make sure each piece matches that weight.

I rarely ever weigh my dough to divide it perfectly even because I have a couple of little kids, and my children prefer a smaller roll while my husband and I eat the bigger ones. I’m totally fine with some being larger than others!

You’re going to want to create some surface tension as you shape each piece into a roll. Again, you’ll get a better idea of how to do this if you watch the video that goes along with this recipe. I’ll link to where you can find that below. Surface tension helps the rolls spring upwards instead of outwards (tall instead of wide!) It helps the rolls hold their shape as they rise and bake.

I typically create surface tension in rolls and breads by dragging the roll toward me on the counter with my hand. It’s difficult to explain with words, but if you’ve ever seen someone create surface tension with a sourdough boule by rotating it and dragging it on the counter, it’s the same idea.

The top surface should be smooth and tight looking after you shape and create surface tension.

The second rise and bake

After placing your rolls on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover either with plastic wrap or an inverted baking sheet. I don’t recommend just covering them with a dry kitchen towel because you don’t want air to dry out the surfaces of the rolls.

I let the rolls rise another 45-60 minutes until puffy and nearly doubled. Just keep an eye on them because they double quickly! Toward the end of this rise, I preheat my oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bake the sub rolls for 18-20 minutes at 375 degrees until they are golden brown on top. Wait until they cool to slice them open.

Deliciously soft, warm, fresh sub rolls that hold together without crumbling!

With rolls, I always find they are the freshest and least-crumbly when eaten on the same day. However, if you need to make them ahead to freeze, you can allow them to fully cool. Then slice them in half, and freeze them on a cooling rack in the freezer. Once they are frozen, you can wrap them individually and place them in a freezer bag, or stick all of them together in a freezer bag.

Allow the rolls to thaw at room temperature before serving.

**YouTube video coming soon! You can subscribe to my channel to never miss an upload! https://www.youtube.com/@Traditionally-Rooted

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