These easy Whole Wheat Hoagie Rolls are perfect for your favorite sandwiches. They’re soft, but sturdy enough for any of your hearty sandwich fillings.
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After I developed my vegan beef seitan recipe, I knew it would be perfect for some classic sandwiches. The challenge, though, was finding whole grain sandwich rolls without oil.
I decided to experiment with my bread machine multigrain bread recipe and see if I could adapt it to make some sandwich rolls.
It worked out even better than I thought it would!
When I shared a photo of these hoagie rolls on social media, I was overwhelmed by the reaction. So many of you have asked for the recipe, so I got to work writing it up!
You’re going to love how easy this hoagie roll recipe is! With some whole wheat flour and just a few other simple ingredients, you’ll have delicious hoagie rolls in no time.
And what’s better than the aroma a taste of homemade bread? If you’ve never made your own bread, you really should give it a try.
Ingredients for whole wheat hoagie rolls
- Warm water – not too hot and not too cold. It needs to be warm for activating the yeast, but if it’s hot it will kill the yeast.
- Maple syrup – organic sugar, coconut sugar, or date syrup could be used in place of the maple syrup.
- Applesauce – this is used as an oil substitute.
- Salt – helps with the texture of the crust as well as with the flavor.
- Whole wheat flour
- Vital wheat gluten – to help develop elasticity in the bread dough.
- Active dry yeast
How to Make hoagie rolls
I use my bread machine for breads and bread dough. Some people love the process of making breads by hand, but with a busy lifestyle a bread machine is a must!
The machine I use is a Hamilton Beach Artisan Bread Machine. It makes nice large loaves of bread, has a dough setting, and you can even use it to make jam! (I haven’t tried that yet.)
Making the dough in a bread machine
Add all the ingredients to the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer
Select the dough setting and press start.
It couldn’t be any easier!
Making the dough by hand
In a small mixing bowl, whisk the maple syrup into the water.
Sprinkle in the yeast and let it sit for 5 minutes or until it is frothy/foamy. The stir in the applesauce.
Combine the whole wheat flour, salt, and vital wheat gluten in a large bowl.
Using a stand mixer or by hand, mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
Knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. This kneading can be done in a stand mixer with a dough hook for about 5 to 6 minutes.
Cover the dough lightly with flour to keep it from sticking. Place it in a bowl, cover it with a towel, and let it rise in a warm spot for about 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
Forming and Baking the Hoagie Rolls
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into six equal balls.
Take a ball of dough and flatten it into a rectangle. Fold up the bottom long edge of the dough and then fold down the top edge. Pinch the edges of the dough together. Repeat with each ball of dough.
Place each of them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, seam side down.
Cover the pan of dough, place it in a warm spot, and allow the rolls to rise until doubled in size. If your house is too cold, you can heat your oven to 100℉, turn it off, and place the pan of dough in the oven.
Once the rolls have risen, cut a slit along the top of each roll.
If desired, you can brush the top of each roll with a little water and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Place a cast iron pan or another oven safe pan on the bottom rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375℉.
Place the pan of rolls in the oven and pour a cup and a half of hot water into the cast iron pan on the lower rack. This will create steam while the rolls are baking.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the rolls are golden brown.
Allow them to cool completely before slicing.
Serving Suggestions
There are endless possibilities for these whole wheat hoagie rolls. Maybe a vegan french dip or a Philly cheesesteak sandwich. They would make perfect sub sandwiches with your favorite fillings. Or how about meatball subs?
I also like to have half of one of these rolls along with a bowl of hot soup. They’re perfect for sopping up soup broth.
Whole Wheat Hoagie Rolls FAQ
These whole wheat hoagie rolls are best when eaten the day they are made, but will keep for a few days in a plastic bag. For longer storage freeze them in a ziploc bag for up to 3 months.
I haven’t tested this hoagie roll recipe with gluten-free flour, so I can’t guarantee how they would turn out.
You might also be interested in these whole grain recipes:
- Multigrain Bread
- Whole Wheat Tortillas
- Vegan Corn Muffins
- Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
- Vegan Granola Bars
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Whole Wheat Hoagie Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups warm water
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup vital wheat gluten
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
Instructions
Making the dough in a bread machine
- Add ingredients to the bread machine pan in the order recommended by your bread machine manufacturer.
- Prepare the dough using the dough setting on your bread machine.
Making the dough by hand
- In a small bowl, whisk together the water and maple syrup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let it sit for about 5 minutes, until it is frothy/foamy.
- Stir in the applesauce.
- In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, vital wheat gluten, and salt.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together by hand.
- Knead the dough for about 10 minutes on a floured surface until it is smooth and elastic.
- Lightly coat the dough in flour, place it in a bowl and cover with a towel. Place the bowl in a warm location and let it rise for 45 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
Forming and baking the rolls
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface.
- Divide the dough into 6 equal sized portions. Form each portion into a ball.
- With each ball of dough, flatten it into a rectangle. With the long side facing you, fold up the bottom third and then fold down the top third forming a log. Pinch together the edges and place seam side down on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Cover the rolls and let them rise in a warm spot for about an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375℉. Place a cast iron skillet or other oven safe pan on the lower rack of the oven.
- When the oven is hot, cut a ¼ inch deep slit down the center of the top of each roll. Place the pan in the oven, and pour 1 ½ cups of hot water in the pan on the lower rack to create steam.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the bread is as brown as you would like it.
- Cool on a rack before slicing open.
