Vegan Garlic Dill Rolls with Whole Spelt Flour
You might not know this about me, but I love having people over for a special dinner.
If you haven't made it to one of my dinner parties yet, here's what you're missing: good food, lots of laughs, and a very happy table.
For starters, everything is 100% vegan.
There's also plenty of whole grains, colorful vegetables, legumes, and all kinds of delicious ingredients.
Plus, I'm hosting, and I'm pretty funny. Especially after a few glasses of wine.
And I love setting a beautiful table with a generous spread.
To kick things off, I like to serve a variety of wholesome, whole-grain breads that I bake myself.
My showstopper? These incredibly soft vegan garlic dill rolls, baked in a terra-cotta flowerpot.
They smell wonderful—all that garlic and dill—and they're made for pulling apart with your hands. Slather them with vegan cheese, or enjoy them just as they are.
You can absolutely bake these rolls without the flowerpot, and I recommend that option, too. You'll get lovely individual rolls to pack for school or work.
A Few Tips for Vegan Garlic Dill Rolls
Let's start with the clay pot: use an unpainted terra-cotta pot specifically rated for food use and oven baking. Paint or other coatings may release harmful substances at high temperatures, and an ordinary garden pot isn't necessarily oven-safe. Keep the oven at or below 180°C (350°F). The appeal of baking in clay is its even heat distribution—people have been baking this way for thousands of years.
Of course, you can skip the pot altogether. Simply space the rolls apart on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes.
I used whole spelt flour. You can substitute all-purpose flour, but don't swap in another whole-grain flour, such as rye, which behaves very differently.
For extra flavor and moisture, I added garlic dill soy cream cheese from Tnuva (a major Israeli dairy and soy brand) to the dough.
If you can't find it, use any vegan cream cheese you have.
Nutrition Facts
Per roll, when the batch is divided into 20:
- 126 calories
- 4 g protein
- 21 g carbohydrates
- 3 g fat (including 0.75 g saturated fat)
Have some spelt flour left over? How about an apple galette?
Whole Spelt Garlic Dill Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 pot made of food-safe, oven-safe terra-cotta 15 cm (6 inches) in diameter
- 500 g (17.6 oz) whole spelt flour
- 180 ml light soy milk (3/4 cup)
- 250 g (8.8 oz) Tnuva garlic dill soy cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon fresh yeast 10 g (0.35 oz)
- 2 teaspoons coconut sugar 20 g (0.7 oz)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil 30 ml (1 fl oz)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 handful chopped dill
- 1 teaspoon salt 10 g (0.35 oz)
For the Topping
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon silan (date syrup)
- A sprinkle of sesame seeds
Instructions
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In a deep mixing bowl, combine all the dough ingredients except the salt, adding them in the order listed.
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Knead for about 3 minutes, then add the salt.
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Knead for another 10 minutes or so. The dough should be sticky and moist.
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Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and set aside to rise for 1 hour.
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After about an hour, line your food-safe, oven-safe terra-cotta pot with parchment paper.
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Generously flour your work surface and turn the dough out onto it.
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Dust the dough generously with flour, too. Don't knead it again at this point.
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Divide the dough into 20 equal pieces.
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Shape the pieces into balls with your hands and place them in the pot, one after another.
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If you're baking without a pot, arrange the rolls on a baking sheet instead.
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Let rise a second time for about 1 hour. Don't skip this step—it makes a difference!
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Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
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Brush the rolls with the olive oil and silan, then sprinkle with sesame seeds.
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Bake the rolls in the pot for about 40 minutes. If you're using a baking sheet, about 15 minutes should be enough.
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Remove from the oven and serve warm.
Recipe Video
