Who doesn’t love a good dinner roll? Slightly sweet, flaky, and tender sourdough dinner rolls are the perfect complement to any meal. An addition of sourdough also gives wonderful digestive benefits and a true made from scratch experience.
These were the initial inspiration of my Sourdough Bread Master Recipe and remain one of my all-time favorite bakes. Amazing as a compliment to any meal, my favorite way to serve these is with BBQ Pulled Pork or a Crock-pot Roast Beef.
Give them a try with these other recipes – Italian Meatballs with Marinara, Creamy Mushroom Risotto, or Braised Beef with Mushroom Tortellini.
Check out these other recipes that use the Sourdough Bread Master Recipe:
Prepare dough using the Sourdough Bread Master Recipe. Check the Sourdough Bread Master Recipe for bulk fermentation instructions, Method 1 and 2 are effective for this recipe. Continue here after the bulk fermentation is complete.
After the first rise. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface.
Punch down the dough and gently knead for 2-3 turns. Roll the dough into a log, making sure it’s an even thickness across the length. Using a bench scraper or knife, cut the dough into 12 even pieces. This can be done by weighing the dough if you want accurately sized rolls or you just eyeball it.
Leaving yourself plenty of room to work, place the pieces on a floured section of your work surface and cover with a clean towel.
Working one piece at a time, gently press the dough ball out into a square-ish shape. Fold the dough in thirds bringing one side to the middle and layering the other side on top. With the seam side up, roll the dough from the end closest to you toward the other end. Turn the seam side up and pull the sides around to the seam to form a ball, pinching the dough together on the top.
When the dough is securely pinched together, turn the seam side down, make a cage shape with your fingers keeping the heal of your hand and fingers tips on the counter, roll the dough between your hand and the work surface creating tension in the surface of the dough. Repeat this with each portion of dough.
Prepare a 9×13 baking pan, preferably metal, by coating the pan with 1 tsp butter. Ensuring you get the butter into the corners.
Place the dough balls evenly into the prepared pan. If some of your dough balls are smaller than others, position them toward the center of the pan.
Loosely cover the pan with beeswax wrap, greased plastic wrap or parchment, to rise for 1 hour in a warm place.
If using the dry active yeast version to make sourdough dinner rolls – After placing shaped dough in the pan, cover and let the rolls rest for 1 hour in a warm place.
Preheat the oven to 350˚. Remove plastic wrap. Brush the top of the rolls with milk before baking.
Bake for 25 Minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush the top with 1 Tbl melted butter. Allow to cool for 10-20 minutes before serving.
Store leftover rolls in an airtight container at room temperature. These rolls freeze well, put into an airtight container or freezer bag. Reheat in the oven at 350 for 5-8 minutes or thaw and microwave for 15 – 30 seconds.
Fluffy, lightly sweet, satisfying sourdough dinner rolls. Enjoy!
Sourdough Dinner Rolls
Equipment
- Bench Scraper
- 9 x 13 Baking Pan
- Plastic wrap or beeswax wrap, or parchment paper
- Pastry brush
- Small bowl To melt butter
Ingredients
- Prepare dough using the Sourdough Bread Master Recipe
- 3 tsp Butter divided
- 2 tsp Milk
Instructions
Prepare the dough following the Sourdough Bread Master Recipe – Link in blog post. Proceed with Dinner Roll Recipe after the bulk fermentation.
Shape the Rolls
- Prepare the baking pan by coating the inside with 1 tsp butter, getting into all the corners. Using the butter wrapper or a small piece of parchment paper works well to spread the butter.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 2-3 turns.
- Form the dough into a log and then divide into 12 even pieces. Place dough off to the side on a floured surface and cover with a towel.
- Working 1 piece at a time, gently press the dough into a square shape.
- Fold the dough into thirds bringing one side to the middle, then folding the other side on top.
- Roll the dough from one end to the other. Pinch together at the seam.
- With the seam side up pull the sides of the dough up toward the seam and pinch together. Do this around the dough ball a few times to pinch together all the corners and form an even ball.
- Turn the ball seam side down on the countertop. Form a cage around the dough ball with your hand, fingertips on the countertop. Roll the dough under your palm while tucking your fingers under the dough keeping the seam side down. This creates surface tension on the dough and smooths the top. (See blog post photos)
- Repeat the process until all dough pieces are shaped placing each piece into the baking pan as you finish.
- Space the dough balls in the pan evenly, there will be some space around them.
- Cover the pan with greased plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise for 1 hour.
Bake the Rolls
- Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.
- Remove the plastic wrap from the pan. Brush the top of the rolls with milk.
- Bake for 25 minutes on the center rack, rotating the pan halfway through cooking. The rolls should be golden brown and have an internal temperature of 190˚F.
- Remove the rolls from the oven.
- Melt 2 tsp of butter and brush over the top. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Sourdough Bread Master Recipe
Equipment
- Standing mixer with Dough Hook Attachment Optional
- Measuring Cups Liquid and dry
- Measuring Spoons
- Large Mixing Bowl if not using standing mixer
- Bench Scraper
- Plastic wrap, beeswax wrap, or parchment paper
- Dough Whisk Optional
Ingredients
- 3 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 Cup Sugar or Honey
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt or Sea Salt
- 1 Large Egg room temperature
- 1 Cup Active Sourdough Starter
- 3/4 Cup Milk warmed to 90˚ F on stovetop or microwave
- 6 Tbls Butter Softened
Instructions
- Be sure your sourdough starter is fed and at peak activity. If you keep your starter in the fridge you may need to feed it twice to get peak activation. (See the recipe notes for a quicker version of this recipe using sourdough discard and the addition of dry yeast.)
If Using Standing Mixer:
- Measure the flour, sugar, and salt and add it to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook.
- Combine the sourdough starter, egg, and milk in a 4 cup glass measuring cup or medium bowl. Mix well to incorporated the starter.
- With the standing mixer running at a low speed, slowly pour in the wet ingredients and add the softened butter. Mix until fully combined and no flour is remaining in the bottom of the bowl.
- Set the mixer at medium speed to knead the dough for 6 minutes. The dough is done when it completely pulls away from the sides and balls up around the dough hook. The dough should look smooth and when pressing your finger into the dough it will leave an imprint, the dough will feel tacky but no dough will stick to your finger.
If Mixing by Hand:
- Combine the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Using a dough whisk helps with this task.
- Pour in the dry ingredients and the butter and combine fully.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly flour surface and knead for 8-12 minutes, use a bench scraper to help turn and knead the dough if it feel loose and sticky at first. Knead until the dough is tacky but doesn't stick your hands. Pressing a finger into the side of the dough leaves an indentation. The dough should be smooth and hold it's shape.
Proceed After Kneading by Mixer or by Hand:
Bulk ferment the dough – 2 Methods*
- The temperature of the room will affect the timing. Be sure it's in a warm place, 75 – 80 degrees is ideal. Be sure your starter is at peak activity.
- After the bulk fermentation is complete proceed with any of the linked recipes in this post.
Method 1: Preferred for all linked recipes
- Cover the dough and place it in a warm area of the kitchen and allow to rise for 4 – 5 hours. You may not get a lot of rise out of the dough in this first rise. Transfer the dough to the fridge and leave overnight. Remove from the fridge and let rise again in a warm place until it has doubled from it's original size, about 5-8 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen. Then proceed with one of the linked recipes. Keep in mind there may be an additional 1 hour rise time for most of the recipes.
Method 2: Best for Dinner Rolls and Sandwich Breads
- This method uses a longer initial rise time and is refrigerated after shaping the dough. When used for cinnamon rolls and monkey bread the filling can weep. This method is not ideal for those recipes.
- Cover and place the dough in a warm area of the kitchen for 8-12 hours until the dough has doubled in size. Once the dough has doubled, shape it according to the recipe directions you've chosen. Cover and refrigerate overnight 8-12 hours. Set the shaped dough out at room temperature for 1-2 hours so the dough comes to room temperature and rises a bit more. Proceed with baking according the recipe instructions.
