Applesauce Wholewheat Dinner rolls

         So I am on my time off from running right now.... this means that I have wayyyyy too much free time.  Since I cannot run, I must resort to my second favorite activity... baking! This recipe was a result of pure experimentation. The following though process occurred as I was trying to focus on statistics: "what exciting novel ingredient could I throw into dinner rolls to make worthy of posting on my blog? hmmmm, how about applesauce? okay, why not!?".  And so I whipped out my bread machine and gave it a go.
        On the topic of bread machines.... they are amazing! I have never had a lot of success with the whole let yeast bubble, knead, let rise, let rise some more thing (I think I manage to kill the yeast every time), but bread machines are dummy-proof enough that you can literally just dump the ingredients in and press the dough cycle.  I have found however, that actually having the bread machine cook the dough yields a dense brick that is about half the size of the loaf pan.... not exactly what I am looking for, unless I want to feel like I am a peasant accepting my daily bread rations.  But, when I put the dough the bread machine produced into the oven,  a product with a irresistible crunchy outside with a soft and doughy middle is created. So yes, even Gertrude, my oven that can manage to burn cookies left in just one second too long, is better than my bread machine at actually making bread... that is not saying much though.
         Sometimes when I bake using completely whole wheat flour, my product tastes like a dry brick....a healthy brick, nonetheless, but still a brick.  So just imagine when I baked whole wheat bread in my bread machine that created a brick regardless of what type of flour was used... eeeeek. So, I have since made two changes to my whole wheat bread item standard operating procedure  first, as I mentioned above, I bake my risen dough in Gertrude, opposed to having the bread machine do it.   Next, I have started adding vital wheat gluten to the dough, which adds some elasticity to it and helps the dough rise to make a soft, fluffy product. I thought these rolls could have been a tad bit sweeter, but otherwise I was very happy with my impromptu recipe, especially the texture.  Did the applesauce make a difference? Who can say??!


100% Bread Machine Whole-Wheat Dinner (or anytime) rolls

1 cup water

1 tbs butter (softened) 

1 egg

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

3.25 cups whole wheat flour

1 tbs+1 tsp vital wheat gluten

2 tbs brown sugar

1 tsp salt

3 tsp rapid rise yeast

1.  put the above ingredients into the bread machine, IN ORDER.  Not doing this is literally the only way you can mess up bread machine dough.
2. press dough cycle (on my machine this take about 90 minutes).

3.  divide dough into 12 pieces.  Roll each piece into a 6 inch long log, and roll like a cinnamon roll (we can pretend these are cinnamon rolls, right?)

4.  Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes
5. preheat oven to 350 degrees F
6.  After rolls have risen, brush with egg whites to create a crunchy exterior

7.  bake for 15 minutes, or until tops turn golden brown
8.  enjoy with a nice slab of butter (or peanut butter, or nutella, or any combination of the above)