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.
Whole Wheat Torta Rolls
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.
E.C.
Can u make these with ALL whole wheat flour (except of course the pastry flour)? White flour sends my Blood Glucose thru the roof! I m always on the hunt for bread that wont kill me since I m a breadaholic. Thanks
Barbara Schieving
I haven’t tried it with all whole wheat flour but you could certainly give it a try and see if you like the results. You’ll need to add additional water because whole wheat flour absorbs more water.
EC
Thx!
Anonymous
I made these today, and they turned out great. I’ve been looking for a way to make these at home for a while, thank you so much for the recipe!
Barbara Schieving
Great – thanks!
Lydia
I have made these tasty roll but it turned out crispy not chewy. Do you know why ?Â
Thanks !
Barbara Schieving
Hi Lydia – perhaps you rolled them out thinner and cooked them longer?
Lydia Ling
I followed your recipe except i used all purpose flour instead of wheat flour and also not using pizza stone. Does it matter?
Thanks!
Barbara Schieving
The pizza stone shouldn’t matter as much as rise time and cook time. I’d try increasing the rise time and decreasing the cook time. http://redstaryeast.com/yeast-baking-lessons/baking-steps-guide/proofing-ripe-test-second-rise/
Rachel
Have you tried making these only using all purpose flour? My family is still really into white bread and always loves the Costco Torta Rolls. If you haven’t tried it then I may just have a go and see how it turns out.
Barbara Schieving
Hi Rachel – substituting all purpose flour isn’t a problem. You’ll probably need a little less water.
Judy Bond
My Costco has stopped selling torta rolls. My local grocery store sells in a package of 4 for $3.99 and call them telera rolls.
I love making bread and I am thrilled to have found your recipe. Thank you so much.
Barbara Schieving
Hi Judy – a dollar a roll, that is a lot. Hope you love the recipe.
Judy Bond
Just made my second batch which is better than the first. This time I didn’t rush any of the time elements. I also added 1/8 cup of sugar. Costco’s version has sugar. I think you should try it. Thank you again for this wonderful recipe.
Happy holidays.
Barbara Schieving
Thanks for the update! I’ll have to try adding a little sugar.
Susan
My husband & I love the Costco Torta Rolls (we call them ciabatta), and I’ve often commented to him that I wish Costco offered a whole wheat version. Well, how happy was I to discover your recipe today! Now that I’ve retired, I have time to bake bread and your recipe will be the first to inaugurate my new Kitchen Aide mixer. Just mixed the sponge and can’t wait to see how these will turn out.
One thing I’m wondering though about is the difference in size between the Costco Torta Rolls and the ones from your recipe. You mentioned that you wanted to make them a bit smaller than the Costco ones. Do you know how much smaller they are? Thank you so much for the recipe and excellent instructions!
Barbara
Don’t have whole wheat pastry flour available to me, although I have white whole wheat and regular whole wheat on hand. Would it make a difference?
Barbara Schieving
Hi Barbara – since it’s blended with all purpose flour, either will be fine to substitute.
Kay
Made these this morning for a 4th of July gathering later on. Love them! I sprayed the second batch with olive oil (made them a little browner when they came out of the oven.) I think next time I’ll add cornmeal to the bottoms of the rolls. Great recipe! My first time using pastry flour in a bread recipe instead of regular. I love the difference it makes.
Barbara Schieving
Hi Kay – so glad you loved the rolls. I’m sure they’ll be a hit at your gathering too. Agreed! The whole wheat pastry flour does add a great texture without weighing down the rolls.
Sandra
Is it necessary to use all purpose flour? Could you just use the pastry flour? I like to grind my own wheat and would use soft white wheat but wondering if I would need to add something else.
Barbara Schieving
Hi Sandra – I haven’t tried it, and the rolls won’t be as light, but I think it would work well. I would add some vital wheat gluten to help the rolls rise better. Let me know how it goes.
Michelle
I have been looking for a recipe like this! I get mine at Sam’s Club. You are amazing:) Thanks for another great recipe.
Barbara Schieving
Awwww thanks Michelle for the awesome comment. Enjoy!
Carol
These look so good-I don’t know how I missed them before-I sure didn’t this time around. I’m making sure to get these pinned. I can’t wait to try them in that breakfast sandwich and so many other sandwiches.
cheryl
we love to make bread! these look fabulous!
Shae
Do you think they would still cook well without a baking stone? I also don’t have any non-sided pans. What would you suggest for the baking? Thanks
Barbara Schieving
Hi Shae – yes, the rolls will be delicious just baked on a baking sheet in the oven. The crust just won’t be quite as crisp. Using a non-side baking sheet makes sliding the parchment on to the pizza stone easy, but if you’re not using a pizza stone, there’s no need to worry about not having non-sided pans. Also, if you were using a pizza stone, you can turn your rimmed baking sheet upside down and use it as a non-rimmed baking sheet. Enjoy!
Kitchen Belleicious
you are the bread queen! These look amazing!
Madonna/aka/Ms. Lemon
Do you ever weigh your flour? If so can you give me the weight of the flour?
I pinned this recipe so when we have a cooler day I want to make them. While I am not a vegetarian my favorite way to eat these is to grill vegetables, then with a little balsamic and add a good melting cheese. It is like they were created for this sandwich.
Madonna
Barbara Schieving
Hi Madonna – I don’t weigh my flour very often just because most people don’t have scales yet. However, it really is the best way to make breads. One cup of all purpose flour weighs 120 grams. The whole wheat pastry flour is only a little bit heavier and weighs about 127 grams. So in the sponge you would use 180 grams all purpose flour and 95 grams of whole wheat pastry flour.
Grilled vegetables with balsamic and cheese would be perfect with these sandwich rolls!
Madonna/aka/Ms. Lemon
Thanks so much Barbara. Since I got my scale I can hardly bake without it.
Jess @ whatjessicabakednext
These torta rolls look amazing! Lovely recipe!
Angie (@angiesrecipess)
Bread made with starter tastes so much better! These wholewheat buns look perfect, Barbara.
Rosa
Beautiful rolls! They’d make great sandwiches.
Cheers,
Rosa
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
These are awesome looking rolls mum! They sell them here but I’ve never made them so thank you for your recipe! 😀 xxx
How to Philosophize with Cake
Those look perfect! Just like the storebought-kind…but I imagine they were so much better! Will have to try this soon! 🙂