Kale Rolls

These are some of my favorite rolls!  They're healthy, delicious and you can have them with every meal.  And, with a cup of kale mixed inside, you can be happy to know that you children will get some vitamins, calcium and iron with every bite.

Ingredients

3 cups hot water

4 TB yeast

1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup green pureed kale (boiled and blended)

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup honey

3 tsp salt

3 eggs

6 cups of whole wheat flour

4-6 cups white bread flour

honey butter:  1/2 c honey and 1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven at 375 degrees.

 

Mix the yeast into a big bowl with the hot water.  Add the oil, sugar and 1/3 cup honey and let the mixture stand for 15 minutes.  

Next comes the eggs, salt and kale.  I like to make a big batch of cooked kale (from CSA) and keep it stored in the fridge and freezer so I can slip it into lots of different recipes.  

Side-note for kale puree:  The kale is pretty easy to prepare.  Just cut off the big stems and clean the kale leaves.  Put it into a pot to boil.  Once it is cooked and soft, you can pour the kale (with some of the nutrient-rich water) into a blender and puree it.  

*This makes a great healthy add-in for scrambled "green eggs and ham."

  Because of the kale, your mixture will look a little green but you really don't notice it very much in the finished product.

 

Next, start to add your flour.  I like to throw in all the whole wheat at one time.  Then slowly add the white flour in, one cup at a time until the dough gets thick and sticky.

((I should really add this recipe to a St Patrick's Day Link-up Party ;))

Sprinkle flour onto the counter top and roll the dough out in a big ball.  You might need to add more flour so that it is easy to kneed. 

 

Technically you probably don't have kneed the dough but I think it is fun and it really mixes in all the flour.  Kneed the dough and continue to add white flour until it is less sticky and easy to work with in your hands.  But don't put so much flour in that your dough gets too dry.  You should find a happy medium of white flour between 4-6 cups.

Roll the dough out with a rolling pin.

Keep going until your dough is about 1/4- 1/2 inch thick.

Now for the honey-butter.  

Put the honey and butter into a microwave-safe container and nuke it for 15-30 seconds so it is melted.

Stir up the honey-butter and poor it onto your flattened dough.  Spread the honey-butter out with your fingers or a wooden spoon.  You might not use all of the honey butter- you want just enough honey-butter to make a thin spread on top of the dough. 

However, I recommend that you DO NOT skip this step.  The roll dough has very little sugar which makes it healthy, but they are pretty bland without the honey-butter on top. 

 

The next part is really fun and it comes from a trick I learned from an Aunt.  

Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into long triangles, just like...

THIS!

The kids love that part.

Roll each triangle like a small sleeping bag, starting at the fat end and ending with the tip.

Place rolls on a greased pan.

Let them stand for 10 minutes and then bake them at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

 

 Mmmmmmm!  Warm rolls are the best!

Watch out.  They are addictive!

This is a recipe I've experimented with for years.  This is my favorite variation I created. 

 

There are all sorts of ways to switch up the recipe.  You can substitute coconut flour/almond flour/ground flax seed, etc for 1-2 cups of the regular flour.

These rolls have a pink tinge because I used pureed, cooked beets instead of kale!

 

I usually make 2-3 batches of these rolls at one time so I can freeze and defrost them at a later date.  They work great for a quick snack at the park or even fancy dinner dates.They are great with jam!

Chances are that if you are a friend and have come over to my house for snack or lunch time, I've probably served you these rolls.

Happy baking ;)

-CK