Easy, Soft Sourdough Dinner Rolls (no hand-kneading!)

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Delicious sourdough dinner rolls with an overnight rise.

These homemade sourdough dinner rolls are a dream! They’re soft and squidgy, light as a feather, and even better tasting than the classic. Between the flavor and the texture, you’ll reach for a second before you’re done with the first.

I’ve been working on this sourdough roll recipe for weeks to achieve the best result with the most straightforward technique, and I think we’re there! It’s a great recipe for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter dinners, when dinner rolls are one of the best parts of the meal.

Making Sourdough Dinner Rolls with a Stand Mixer

Much of my testing was centered around how the rolls turned out using a stand mixer compared to just using hands to mix the dough.

The stand mixer dinner rolls were much airier and feathery, with a texture that shreds apart beautifully. This is from the air that is incorporated into the dough from the strength of the mixer, which is extremely difficult to achieve by hand.

The hand mixed rolls took lots more effort to make because all of the kneading happens with your own elbow grease. They turned out good, but chewier than I wanted. I just couldn’t get the same airiness out of them. They didn’t seem to puff in the oven as much, either.

What do these Sourdough Dinner Rolls taste like?

And finally, I landed on these, with an easy overnight rise that allows the buttery brioche dough to lighten, and bake into pillowy buttery dinner rolls. Layers of flavor emerge from the dough itself, with the addition of rosemary and garlic (optional,but delicious). It’s always fun to take your taste buds on a tour of new flavors, even with classic foods. So that’s what we’re doing here.

And the texture….. is something I’ve dreamt about.
It’s an experience comparable to eating cotton candy, but in savory form.

Although these rolls are made with active sourdough starter, my goal was to keep the “tang” minimal: just enough to add to their uniqueness, without being abrupt. (If you’re looking for a recipe with more of that classic sourdough flavor, I’d suggest my Rye Sourdough Bread.)

Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

1. Active sourdough starter
2. Bread flour
3. All-purpose flour
4. Milk
5. Egg
6. Butter

Baker’s Schedule with Overnight Bulk Fermentation:

• 3:00pm – Feed starter and set butter out to soften
• 8:30pm – Step 1 of mixing dough
• 9:00pm – Step 2 of adding butter to dough, and salt, garlic, rosemary
• 9:15pm – Cover dough with damp cloth, and let rise overnight on the counter
• Next morning – Shape dough into balls and let rise another 2 hours
• Bake!

These will be the most talked about dinner rolls in your house. Share and tear, and enjoy so much flavor in one bite! They’ll be on my Thanksgiving menu every year from now on.

Daytime Bulk Fermentation, Evening Cold Proof Baking Schedule

You can also time these so that the dough goes through its bulk fermentation during the day, then the rolls are shaped and refrigerated overnight, baked the next day. Here’s that schedule. All times are approximate.

• 1pm: Mix dough.
• Sometime between 7 and 9pm, your dough should have finished its bulk fermentation. Bulk fermentation is finished when the dough has risen about 80%, a bit short of doubling, is smooth on top, and is a bit domed. 
• Shape the rolls and place into your greased pan. Cover with shower cap or plastic bag. Let sit on your counter for 30 minutes. Then place in refrigerator. 
• The next day, take your rolls out about 3 hours before you want to eat them. They’ll need to come to room temperature which takes at least an hour, and then rise a bit so that they are puffy and soft when you touch them. Reference the photos in the post. When they look ready, preheat your oven. 
• Brush with milk or egg wash and bake. 

How to Reheat Sourdough Rolls:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Wrap the rolls in foil and place in oven for 5-7 minutes (or for as long as it takes to heat them). Serve warm!

Other Sourdough Recipes:

• How to Make Sourdough Focaccia: a Step-by-Step Tutorial
• Honey Walnut Sourdough Bread
• Everyday Sourdough Bread
• Jalapeño & Cheese Sourdough Bread

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Soft & Buttery Sourdough Dinner Rolls

Buttery and fluffy homemade sourdough dinner rolls made with active sourdough starter. No stretching and folding, and an overnight rise makes this recipe a breeze!

4.91 from 70 votes

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Prep Time :10 minutes minutes

Cook Time :25 minutes minutes

Additional Time :14 hours hours

Total Time :14 hours hours 35 minutes minutes

Yield: 8 rolls

Author: Amanda Paa

Ingredients

• 195 grams organic bread flour
• 65 grams organic all-purpose flour
• 100 grams active sourdough starter, at peak
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 115 grams lukewarm milk
• 10 grams honey
• 6 grams fine sea salt
• 45 grams softened unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 1 teaspoon (3 grams) Watkins Organic Garlic Powder (optional)
• 1 teaspoons (3 grams) Watkins Organic Rosemary (optional)
• extra butter for brushing

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Instructions 

• Around 8:30pm, add the flours to the bowl of a stand mixer. 
• Add the milk, starter, honey, and egg to a large bowl. Whisk until combined. 
• With hook attachment, set mixer on low speed (speed 2 of my Kitchenaid) and pour in the liquid in 3 additions, waiting about 20 seconds before each addition. Increase speed to medium (speed 4 of my Kitchenaid), for 30 seconds. Dough will be somewhat lumpy, but that’s okay.
• Bring together into a ball using your hands, and let dough rest, covered for 30 minutes. 
• Adding salt and butter: Turn on mixer to low (speed 2 of my Kitchenaid) and add salt. Then add one piece of butter at a time, waiting until butter is dissolved into dough to add the next. Don’t be worried if your dough still looks a little bumpy and lumpy. It will come together! When all butter is added, turn mixer to medium (speed 4) and mix for 7 minutes. This will strengthen the dough and it will pull away from the sides of the mixer. *If you are adding the dried herbs, do so in the last one minute of mixing.
• Cover the dough with a very damp tea towel and plastic grocery bag if you have, and let rise overnight on the counter in a cool spot, around 65-68 degrees F.
• In the morning around 7am, your dough should look doubled or just short of doubling, and smooth on the top. If not doubled, wait for it to do so. You will now shape the dough, into 8 equal pieces. Lightly flour a clean surface and turn the proofed dough out onto it. Separate the dough into 8 pieces, using a scale to weigh them so that they are nearly equal. Generously grease an 8 or 9 inch round baking pan, with butter.
• Shaping: Take each piece of dough and gently pull each side outwards, then bring together in the middle, and start to roll the dough onto itself, making a ball. Rotate, repeating the motion, until a ball has formed. Pull the dough across the surface to create some tension, and cup the ball with your hands. Using floured hands, use the outer edge of both little fingers to rotate the ball counterclockwise. This will help the roll to form a skin on the outer layer so that it keeps a nice shape when rising and baking. Repeat this until all of the rolls are shaped, placing each roll into the baking dish as you go.
• Cover the rolls with a damp tea towel and set them aside to rise at room temperature for 2ish hours, or until risen another 50%, puffy and light to the poke. The dough balls should be touching other. 
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush rolls with milk or egg wash, and when oven is preheated add pan to oven. Bake for 23 to 26 minutes, until rolls are golden brown. Brush generously with about 2 tablespoons of melted butter when rolls are done, and serve warm. 
• Best eaten day of making. If you have leftovers, store in a plastic bag on counter. You must warm up the roll in microwave before eating, for 10-12 seconds to soften it.

Notes

You can also time these so that the dough goes through its bulk fermentation during the day, then the rolls are shaped and refrigerated overnight, baked the next day. Here’s that schedule:

All times are approximate.

• 1pm: Mix dough.
• Sometime between 7 and 9pm, your dough should have finished its bulk fermentation. Bulk fermentation is finished when the dough has risen about 80%, a bit short of doubling, is smooth on top, and is a bit domed. 
• Shape the rolls and place into your greased pan. Cover with shower cap or plastic bag. Let sit on your counter for 30 minutes. Then place in refrigerator. 
• The next day, take your rolls out about 3 hours before you want to eat them. They’ll need to come to room temperature which takes at least an hour, and then rise a bit so that they are puffy and soft when you touch them. Reference the photos in the post. When they look ready, preheat your oven. 
• Brush with milk or egg wash and bake. 

*To reheat rolls: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Wrap the rolls in foil and place in oven for 5-7 minutes (or for as long as it takes to heat them). Serve warm!