Sourdough Dinner Rolls

If you maintain a starter, you might say goodbye to your usual homemade dinner roll recipe in favor of these sourdough dinner rolls: it’s an easy recipe, it’ll use up some of your always-on-hand discard and it’s made milk bread style which makes the rolls even more tender. 

Recipe Origins 

When I want to do a variation of a classic or known recipe, I usually look at a really reliable recipe (in this case, it was this one) and ask how can I tweak that to make it better? Or, suited to my needs? In this case it was both, I wanted to incorporate the tangzhong method of partially cooking the flour and liquid which helps gelatinize the starches so the bread stays softer longer and has a wonderfully flaky texture. I also wanted to use discard in the recipe, partially to use it because I always have it but because it really adds excellent flavor to the rolls. 

Recipe Ingredients 

Milk: whole milk, warmed just to touch. 

Flour: all purpose flour with a high protein content (around 11%). 

Yeast: active dry yeast. If you need to substitute with rapid rise, that’s fine. 

Discard: unfed starter. Should not be more than 5 days old. 

Salt: fine sea salt. If using table salt, halve the amount. 

Sugar: fine granulated sugar. 

Egg: one whole large egg. 

Butter: if using salted, halve the amount of salt added to the recipe. 

How to make Sourdough Dinner Rolls 

Make the dough

Start by making the tangzhong roux: in a small pot add the milk and a portion of the flour. Cook over low heat, while whisking, until the mix thickens into a paste – this won’t take more than a minute or two. Remove from the heat. 

Bloom the yeast: add the warm water to the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast over it. Over the yeast sprinkle a bit of the sugar. Stir then leave it aside for a few minutes to dissolve and foam. The foaming is an indication the yeast is alive and healthy. 

Add remaining ingredients and knead: Over the yeast mixture add the flour, then the rest of the dough ingredients. The butter should be partially melted/softened. If the roux is hot, add it to one side and the eggs to the other side of the bowl so it doesn’t start cooking the eggs. 

Knead the dough until it comes together in a ball and clears the bowl. Set it into an oiled bowl and toss the dough around to coat with oil. 

First Rise

Cover the bowl and leave at room temperature to rise until almost doubled, about 2 hours (depending on the temperature of your kitchen the dough will rise slower or faster. 

Punch down, divide the dough: flour a countertop and gently punch the dough to deflate it. Set it over the flour and smooth it into a ball. Then divide it into about 16 pieces (I use a bench scraper to divide it). If you want to be exact about each roll, weigh them on a kitchen scale. 

Roll into balls: pull the edges of the dough to round it then roll it between your palms until you have a taught ball. Place it into a greased, 9 inch baking pan. Repeat with all the dough. 

Second Rise

Gently lay a flour sack over the pan and leave on the counter. When the dough is puffy and can be pressed without bouncing back immediately, it’s ready to bake. This will take 30-45 minutes. 

Bake & top: Bake the rolls until golden all over, about 30 minutes. As soon as they come out of the oven, brush with melted butter. Optionally, sprinkle flaky sea salt on top. 

Making Sourdough Rolls Ahead of Time 

If you’d like to make the dough the night before or early in the morning to bake later, you can lengthen the second rising time by placing the tray in the fridge. The dough likely won’t rise too much in the fridge, so take it out about an hour before you plan to bake it. This will give it time to come to room temperature and then fully rise before baking. 

Sourdough Dinner Rolls Recipe 

Sourdough Dinner Rolls

Buttery milk bread dinner rolls made with sourdough discard. Using tangzhong gives the rolls a tender texture and keeps them soft for longer.

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 30 minutes mins

Rising Time: 4 hours hrs

Yields: 16 rolls

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

Roux (Tangzhong)

• 80g or ⅓ cup whole milk
• 30g or 3 tablespoons all purpose flour

Dough

• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 60g or ¼ cup warm water
• 90g sourdough discard, unfed starter (you can also use fed starter - if so, reduce the active dry yeast to 1 - 1.5 teaspoons)
• 290g or 2 cups plus ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 50g or ¼ cup fine granulated sugar
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 57g or ¼ cup butter partly melted partly softened
• Extra butter for brushing on afterwards
• Flaky sea salt optional

Method

• In a small pot, combine the milk and flour. Set over medium low heat and whisk, cooking until thickened. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the warm water and sprinkle the yeast over it. Add a pinch of the sugar and stir. Let the yeast bloom for about 5 minutes: the mixture will turn frothy and bubbly.
• Add the flour, the rest of the sugar, the egg, and salt, then the roux (thickened flour paste) and the discard. Affix the dough hook and knead until the dough starts coming together in a ball around the dough hook, about 5 minutes. Add the softened butter and knead until you have a smooth, elastic dough that clears the sides of the bowl, about another 5-7 minutes.
• Transfer to an oiled bowl and toss the dough around to coat in the oil. Cover to seal with plastic wrap and set aside until almost doubled, the dough should be puffed. Depending on how active the starter was and how warm your kitchen is, this can take 2-4 hours.
• Grease an 8 or 9 inch square or round pan. Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface and divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and arrange in the pan, leaving a bit of space between each dough ball. Cover with a tea towel and let rise until puffy and when gently pressed with a finger, the dough leaves an indentation (does not bounce back immediately). This can take 1-2 hours depending on how active the starter was and kitchen temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 375 F. Bake the rolls for about 30 minutes, until deeply golden on top. A thermometer inserted into the center of the middle roll will indicate doneness when it says 190 F. Straight out of the oven, brush the rolls with some melted butter and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
• Rolls are best the day of, store leftovers in an airtight container. To soften, reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Did you make this recipe?

Share & tag me on instagram @buttermilkbysam

5 comments