Whole Wheat Torta Rolls

A flavorful, chewy, ciabatta style roll made with whole wheat flour. A copycat whole wheat version of the popular Torta Sandwich rolls sold at Costco.

Have you tried the La Brea Bakery Torta rolls from Costco? I’ve been buying them every week for probably the last year. We keep them stocked in the freezer. They make great sandwiches and paninis, and some times I even serve them as a roll with dinner.

If I call them torta rolls, my family doesn’t know what I’m talking about. My family calls them chewy rolls, because of the great chewy texture of the rolls.

They are terrific sandwich rolls, but I’ve often found myself wishing that they were whole wheat, and wishing that they were a little smaller. So I decided for the June  recipe I was creating for Red Star Yeast I would create a smaller, whole wheat torta roll.

This recipe takes a little time, but most of it is resting time, not hands on time. You rest the sponge overnight so it builds great flavor and lots of airy bubbles in the dough.

I used Red Star Active Dry Yeast. You can add Active Dry Yeast directly to dry ingredients, just use liquid temperatures of 120°F-130°F. You can learn more great tips about using Active Dry Yeast on the Red Star Website.

These rolls were the perfect size and still had the wonderful chewy texture that we love, even with the addition of whole wheat. I used whole wheat pastry flour so the rolls weren’t dense and heavy like some wheat rolls. If you like the Torta rolls at Costco, you’ll love these rolls.

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4.50 from 6 votes

Whole Wheat Torta Rolls

Cook Time12 mins

Total Time12 mins

Course: Breads

Keyword: baking, recipe, yeast bread

Servings: 12 rolls

Author: Barbara Schieving

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going to sleep

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• ¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 ½ cups warm water
• ½ teaspoon Red Star Active Dry Yeast
• Sponge above
• ¾ cup warm water
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon Red Star Active Dry Yeast
• 2 – 3 cups all purpose flour

Instructions

• Sponge
• In a large mixing bowl, mix together 1 ½ cups flour, ¾ whole wheat pastry flour, 1 ½ cups warm water and ½ teaspoon yeast until well blended. Cover the bowl and let rest overnight on the counter.
• Dough
• In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, combine sponge that has rested overnight, ¾ cup warm water, 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon yeast. Mix on low speed for two minutes. Switch to the dough hook and mix in 2 cups all purpose flour a little at a time, add more flour as needed to make a soft, sticky dough. Knead the dough for 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place until double, about 1 hour.
• Punch down dough. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.
• On a floured surface, roll the dough into a 9″ x 12″ rectangle. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough in three rows, each 3″ x 12″. Cut each row in to four 3″ squares.
• Place rolls on two non-rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrapped sprayed with non-stick spray. Let rise until the rolls have risen and indentation remains if you lightly touch a roll, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 450°. Put a pizza stone in the oven to heat while rolls are rising.
• Slide parchment paper with 6 rolls on to preheated pizza stone and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until rolls are golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before eating. Repeat with remaining 6 rolls.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Red Star Yeast, but all opinions expressed are always my own.  You can also find Red Star Yeast on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.