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–+ servings
sourdough bread rolls

Soft Sourdough Dinner Rolls

Elien Lewis
A recipe for soft and fluffy sourdough dinner rolls. They're so easy to make without a mixer!
4.90 from 59 votes
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Additional Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 55 minutes
Course Sourdough
Cuisine American, New Zealand
Servings 16
Calories 174 kcal

Ingredients
  

Starter*

  • 15 g starter
  • 60 g all-purpose flour
  • 60 g water

Dough

  • 440 g all-purpose flour or bread flour
  • 25 g sugar
  • 9 g salt
  • 160 g water
  • 120 g whole milk
  • 120 g active starter
  • 57 g unsalted butter softened to room temperature

For Brushing

  • 1 egg
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • 2 Tbsp melted butter for brushing

Instructions
 

The evening before

  • In a bowl, mix all the starter ingredients until well combined. Scoop the mixture into a clean jar covered with a loose lid and leave it to double overnight.

The following day

  • Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add to this the water, milk, and sourdough starter and mix into a shaggy dough.
  • Tip this dough onto a workbench and use a slap and fold kneading method to bring the dough together. It will be sticky but kneading it will give it strength. Knead it for 5 minutes. Slap the dough down, and fold it over. Repeat this movement quickly.
  • Add in the cubed butter, a few cubes at a time, and knead them in. The butter is going to make it extra sticky but the dough will have some strength already from the previous kneading.
  • Continue slap and folding for a further 6-8 minutes. The dough won't be smooth yet but should feel much stronger.
  • Add the dough to a bowl and let it bulk ferment in a warm spot (ideally around 25°C/77°F) for 3-4 hours. Perform 3-4 sets of stretch and folds during this fermenting time, one every hour. You can create a warm and humid spot by placing the dough into a turned-off oven alongside a large cup of boiled water. Replace the water as needed when it cools down.
  • The dough should feel lighter and puffier. In a warm spot 3 hours may be enough, but extend the ferment if it's cooler.
  • Optional Overnight cold ferment - At this point, the dough can also be refrigerated overnight, then shaped and risen in the morning.

Shaping sourdough rolls

  • Pull the dough from the bowl onto a floured workbench and cut it into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a log and cut each log into 4 pieces so there are 16 in total.
  • If you're after really even dinner rolls, weigh the dough first to work out how big each piece should be.
  • Shape each piece into a tight ball by bringing all the edges of each dough piece into the middle, then flip it upside down so it's seam-side facing down. Use the palms of your hands to cup the ball and spin it round and round on the bench, creating some surface tension.
  • Place each ball into a lined 9x9"' baking dish.
  • Leave the dough balls to bulk out for 3-4 hours in a warm spot (ideally around 25°C/77°F) until doubled in size. You can create a warm and humid spot by placing the dish into a turned-off oven alongside a large cup of boiled water. Replace the water if it cools down.

Baking

  • Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F.
  • Whisk together the egg with the water. Brush the tops of the rolls with egg wash.
  • Bake the rolls for around 25 minutes until puffed and deep brown. After baking, brush the warm dinner roll tops with melted butter.

Notes

*In a cooler kitchen the starter can be fed overnight at 1:3:3 (20g starter, 60g flour, 60g water).

Nutrition

Serving: 1gramsCalories: 174kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 5gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 24mgSodium: 242mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2g
Keyword Dinner Rolls, Sourdough
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