A recipe for soft and tender sourdough dinner rolls. Serve them as sourdough dinner rolls, or roll them a little bigger and use them as sourdough burger buns.
These soft sourdough dinner rolls can be made by hand or in a mixer. Read on for step by step instructions and video demonstrations.
It’s time for another addition to my sourdough archives! Sourdough buns have been on the to-do list for a while.
They’re tender and soft. Serve them as sourdough dinner rolls, or roll them a little bigger and use them as sourdough burger buns.
It’s a two day process, as most of my sourdough recipes are. However, the main kneading is done at the beginning so a lot of the time is very hands off.
SOURDOUGH STARTER
This recipe calls for 150g active sourdough starter, at 100% hydration. As with all my bread recipes that use starter, it needs to be a starter that is active and ready but is low in acid.
It is easy to keep the acid content low in a starter if you refresh your starter regularly and use a small amount of seed starter each time you feed it. I’ve got more information on acid in starters here.
My preferred feeding ratio is 1:2:2, which is 1 part seed starter, 2 parts flour and 2 parts water. At a room temperature between 21-23°C, this should double, if not triple easily within 6 hours. Ensure to use it before it collapses.
For this dough it could be 40g starter, 80g flour and 80g water. This will make approximately 200g starter. 150g can be used for the dough and the remaining starter can be fed again 1:2:2 and stored for the next time you need it.
THE PROCESS
In the morning the starter is fed, and once that has risen, it’s time to make the dough.
Flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt are mixed in a bowl. This bread uses both a strong gluten flour and a little cornstarch. The gluten is needed for structure in the bread but the cornstarch helps to soften the buns and give a tender crumb.
Then, the water, milk and sourdough starter are added and the mixture is combined into a shaggy dough.
Room temperature butter, chopped in cubes, is then added in. Squish it in before transferring it to a bench.
It needs a good 10 minutes of kneading now to develop the gluten. It will be very sticky but don’t worry, it will come together. Once the dough feels stronger, take a little break. Giving the dough a rest for a couple of minutes and coming back to it with clean damp hands will make it easier.
See the video below for a snippet of the kneading process.
Once kneaded, place the dough in a bowl and cover it with a upside down plate to stop it drying out.
Leave the dough to ferment at room temperature (one that’s between 21-23°C) for 2 hours before transferring to the fridge overnight.
At this point the dough can stay refrigerated between 8-20 hours, depending on when you want to bake the dinner rolls.
SHAPING THE DOUGH
Remove the dough from the refrigerator can take it from the bowl. Place it on a lightly floured bench and cut it into 8 even pieces.
Shape each piece into a tight ball and place them in a lined tin. I use a round 23cm cake tin.
Leave the dough balls to bulk out now for between 2-4 hours, until doubled in size. If your room temperature is cold, you can create a warm spot by lightly preheating and turning off the oven and placing them in there.
Brush the tops of the buns with milk, then bake them in the oven until they are browned.
Brush the baked bun tops with melted butter.
Let the buns cool a little bit before serving.
And that’s it! Freshly baked, tender sourdough dinner rolls.
Have you made these ? Tag me and let me know! @home_grown_happinessnz
Soft Sourdough Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 400 grams strong flour with a protein level of at least 10.5%
- 20 grams cornstarch
- 20 grams sugar
- 10 grams salt
- 200 ml water
- 50 ml milk
- 150 grams active starter at 100% hydration Doubled with a low acid content. See post for details
- 60 grams room temperature butter chopped into cubes
For Brushing
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 tbsp melted butter
Instructions
- In the morning feed your starter so you can use 150g of it once it has risen.
- For this dough it could be 40g starter, 80g flour and 80g water. This will make approximately 200g starter. 150g can be used for the dough and the remaining starter can be fed again 1:2:2 and stored for the next time you need it.
- Once the starter has doubled, mix the flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the water, milk and sourdough starter and combine into a shaggy dough.
- Add in the butter cubes and work them into the dough slightly.
- Transfer the dough to the bench and knead it for 10 minutes to both work in the butter and develop the gluten in the dough. It will be a very sticky dough, but don't worry it will come together if you keep kneading.
- Once the dough feels stronger, take a little break. Giving the dough a rest for a couple of minutes and coming back to it with clean damp hands will make it easier.
- Once kneaded, place the dough in a bowl and cover it with a upside down plate to stop it drying out.
- Leave the dough to ferment at room temperature (one that’s between 21-23°C / 69-74°F) for 2 hours before transferring to the fridge overnight.
- Keep the dough refrigerated for a minimum of 8 hours, or up to 20 hours, depending on when you want to bake the dinner rolls.
The Next Day
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator can take it from the bowl. Place it on a lightly floured bench and cut it into 8 even pieces. If you want small rolls, you can the dough into 12 instead.
- Shape each piece into a tight ball and place them in a lined tin. I use a round 23cm cake tin.
- Leave the dough balls to bulk out now for between 2-4 hours, until doubled in size. If your room temperature is cold, you can create a warm spot by lightly preheating and turning off the oven and placing them in there.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (392°F) fan-bake or 220°C (428°F) regular oven.
- Brush the tops of the buns with milk, then bake them for around 20 minutes until baked through and browned.
- Once baked, brush the tops with melted butter. Leave them to cool slightly before serving.