So easy and fluffy with a slight sourdough tangy, these soft sourdough dinner rolls will be a welcome addition to your meal!
Looking for sourdough starter discard ideas
In my never-ending quest to find ways to use my weekly sourdough starter discard, I’m slowly building up quite a repertoire of recipes…pretzels, bagels, spice cake, focaccia, and more. So when I see recipes for unfed sourdough starter, I immediately stop to take a look.
Case in point, King Arthur Flour’s weekly Sunday roundup email had a recipe for Sourdough Dinner Rolls. Then Sally’s Baking Addiction’s Baking Challenge was announced as…wait for it…Soft Dinner Rolls.
I’ve participated in those monthly baking challenges with my versions of chocolate cake pops, cheesecake, and dark chocolate truffles, so I thought it a sign from the baking gods that I should make sourdough dinner rolls.
(Exactly how do you sacrifice a dinner roll, by the way?).
Going a third way…soft sourdough dinner rolls
Then I thought, “what if I could merge the two recipes into a tasty third?” I’d have another sourdough starter discard recipe to add to my bag of tools…er…recipes. Yes, let’s do it!
To begin, the two recipes were slightly different. King Arthur Flour’s version called for using (fed) sourdough starter (not discard) and added in potato flour with the all purpose flour. Sally’s recipe called for an egg but no potato flour (and no sourdough starter, of course). How’d my “franken-recipe” for soft sourdough rolls turn out? We’ll get to that…
Sourdough starter discard in the mix
I had to see if using unfed sourdough starter discard was going to make a difference (spoiler alert…it didn’t). Also, I added more all-purpose flour to my dough to compensate for the increased liquid from the egg, but not much (again, about an ounce).
The result was a soft, silky dough, easy to shape into balls. After shaping, I baked half the rolls in a 9-inch round pan and putting the other round pan in the freezer so I could have fresh-baked rolls another night.
(They’re always better freshly baked!)
Sourdough dinner rolls are a hit!
These soft sourdough rolls were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! A soft, butter-flavored roll with just a tang of sourdough notes at the end.
Using unfed sourdough starter discard didn’t measurably impact the flavor (although to be fair, I haven’t made these rolls using King Arthur Flour’s exact recipe with fed starter…would they have more sourdough flavor or just more rise? Inquiring minds want to know…).
All I know is that these would better be called “Sourdough maybe-they’ll-make-it-to Dinner Rolls”…they were that good. Oh, others can experiment by adding cheese or herbs or other whatnot. For me, just leave them plain and leave them with me…they might even make it to dinnertime.
Slainté! L’chaim! Cheers!
Tammy
More recipes for sourdough starter discard
- Sourdough Scottish Bannocks
- Sourdough Pretzels
- Sourdough Bagels
- Sourdough English Muffins
- Sourdough Rye Sandwich Bread
- Sourdough Gingerbread
- Sourdough Pumpkin Cake
- Sourdough Focaccia with Rosemary
Sourdough Dinner Rolls
Special Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk (8 oz, 227g), warmed to about 110°F (see Recipe Notes)
- 1-1/2 tsp instant yeast (5g)
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter (3 oz, 85g), at room temperature
- 1-1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter discard (unfed) (4 oz, 113g)
- 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour (11-1/2 oz, 325g)
- 1/4 cup potato flour (1-5/8oz, 46g)
Procedure
- Combine all ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then beat on medium speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. (If you do not own a mixer, you can mix this dough with a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula).
- Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 2 minutes or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for two minutes.
- Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise in a relatively warm environment for 1-2 hours or until double in size. An oven with the light on works wonderfully.
- Grease a metal 9×13 inch baking pan or two 9-inch square or round baking pans. You can also bake the rolls in a cast iron skillet or on a lined baking sheet.
- When the dough is ready, knead it gently to deflate it. Divide the dough into 14-16 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball. Arrange in prepared baking pan.
- Cover shaped rolls with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise until puffy, about 1 hour.
- Adjust oven rack to a lower position and preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). (It’s best to bake the rolls towards the bottom of the oven so the tops don’t burn.)
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top, rotating the pan halfway through. If you notice the tops browning too quickly, loosely tent the pan with aluminum foil
- Remove from the oven and allow rolls to cool for a few minutes before serving.
- Cover leftover rolls tightly and store at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Video
Recipe Notes
i’ve tweaked the KAF sourdough and the bread bakers apprentice recipes similarly. Two things I’ve done differently is add honey instead of sugar and substitute buttermilk for milk. I’ve done it with non fat milk too, the only real difference is the buttermilk is a little softer and has a bit more twang, my starter is pretty mild so it doesnt make things too sour. I like having it written down though, thanks for putting this together
I love the idea of using buttermilk instead of regular milk to up the tanginess of the roll. I’ll have to give that a try and see how it does with my starter discard. I’m glad you like to riff on recipes, too! Thanks for sharing. 😉
How long do you let it rise after shaping the rolls. The directions make it out like you shape it and then go right on to baking???
Good spot, Jessica! I’ve updated the recipe to include the 1 hour second rising time after you shape the dough. Happy Baking!
Your recipe states you mix everything together at the beginning in the mixer. Does this mean you do not need to feed the instant yeast prior to mixing everything else at the beginning?
Hi Tom, Good question! Some folks do sprinkle the yeast and the sugar on the warmed liquid for about 5 minutes to make sure that the yeast foams (called “proofing the yeast”), but I tend to not proof my yeast because I know it’s fresh and active. I haven’t seen a difference using either method, again as long as the yeast is fresh. If in doubt, go ahead and proof the yeast before adding the rest of the ingredients. Let me know which method you use, and happy baking!