For some reason this wasn’t transferred over, and a good # of first-time visitors come here looking for this, so here you go: (I’m still organizing and will pare down the categories in the sidebar, and still tweaking the navigation, so please bear with me, this might appear on another page/post sometime.)

(Half) Whole Wheat Pandesal

1 packet active dry yeast
2 1/4 cups lukewarm water
5 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
4 tablespoons melted butter or canola oil
4 cups whole wheat flour
5 teaspoons salt
5-7 cups all-purpose flour
cooking spray
dried bread crumbs for coating rolls

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1/4 teaspoon of sugar in 1/2 cup water. Proof for 10 minutes or until bubbly. Combine whole wheat flour and salt in another bowl. Add the rest of the water, the milk, the sugar and the oil to the yeast mixture. Stir well. Add the salt-flour mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon at first, then your hands as the mixture becomes stiff. Start adding the all-purpose flour, adding just enough to clean the sides of the bowl. Dough will be sticky and moist. Knead on a lightly-oiled or lightly-floured surface for 15-20 minutes or until well-incorporated and gluten strands form. Spray bowl with cooking spray and return dough into bowl, forming it into a ball and turning to coat lightly with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap (not too tightly) or a clean dishcloth and set in a warm place where it can rise undisturbed. Inside your oven with the pilot light turned on is a good place. Alternatively you can refrigerate the dough overnight for a slow rise. Remove from the refrigerator a couple of hours before forming the dough so it can return to room temperature. When the dough has doubled (poke it with your fingers, the indentation should remain), pull off little balls of dough and form into rolls. You could also divide the dough into quarters and roll each quarter into a log, then slice the log into 1-inch pieces. (How you form the rolls is important. A cut roll will be flatter than one that has been formed by hand). Coat the formed rolls with bread crumbs, and arrange on a lightly greased baking sheet (or use a non-stick sheet) about 1 inch apart. Let rise a second time until doubled (depending on the temperature of your kitchen, this can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. The important thing here is the volume of the risen dough, not the time). Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot.

Cook’s Notes:

– A standing mixer makes kneading easier. If you have one, by all means, use it, following the same order for adding ingredients.
– Make sure the bowl you use for the dough is large enough to accommodate double the volume of dough. A plastic bin with straight sides works wonderfully.
– Note that the proportion of whole wheat to regular flour can be altered. The more wheat flour you use, the heavier the dough, hence the longer time it takes to rise. You can also use only all-purpose flour, which will result in a lighter pandesal.
– My 14-year-old helped me form these, and she likes making them big, making about 36 pandesal. I usually like the smaller pandesal, and if you opt to make those you will have approximately 72 pieces.