The Best and Softest Sourdough Dinner Rolls
These super soft and buttery dinner rolls are so delicious! You have to be careful not to eat too many or you might spoil your dinner! Yes, they’re that yummy!
The Perfect Addition to any Meal
For Valentine’s Day this year, I knew I wanted to make my family a delicious steakhouse dinner at home. One of our favorite items at the steakhouse are always the soft and buttery dinner rolls. I knew I wanted to find and make the perfect recipe. These were a clear winner!
My husband and boys ate the entire pan during our Valentine’s Dinner and were almost too full to eat their delicious steak, broccoli and potatoes. Keep this in mind if you make them for your family! They were perfect with homemade whipped cinnamon honey butter (recipe here).
How to Make These Delicious Sourdough Dinner Rolls
To have these dinner rolls ready for dinner, you’ll want to start early the morning of your dinner or the night before and ferment them longer.
First, you’ll want to make sure your sourdough starter is bubbly and active. Then you’ll combine all of your ingredients into a mixing bowl and knead with a dough hook for about 20 minutes. You can also do this by hand, but it will take a while! Once the dough is smooth and super stretchy, you’ll place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover to ferment.
After fermenting 12-24 hours, separate the dough into 8 equal parts. Place in a greased, circle cake pan to rise again. You’ll want to cover the rolls and let them rise for about two hours. Preheat your oven, brush with egg wash and bake! Let your rolls cool slightly before serving. I like to spread about a tablespoon of butter over the tops of my rolls as soon as they come out of the oven. This gives them a beautiful shiny sheen. And who doesn’t love more butter?! Enjoy!
Why Sourdough?
Sourdough is a fermented dough that is achieved through wild lactobacillaceae and yeast. In order to make sourdough bread, you use a natural leavening agent known as a “sourdough starter” instead of traditional yeast. Sourdough starter is created by mixing water and flour and allowing this mixture to ferment on your counter to create carbon dioxide bubbles. These bubbles allow the bread to rise naturally. The carbon dioxide is activated by the friendly bacteria and wild yeast in the flour and your environment. Sourdough is easier for your body to digest since it is naturally fermented. This makes sourdough bread more nutrient dense, easier to digest and lower in gluten.
The Best and Softest Sourdough Dinner Rolls
These soft and buttery dinner rolls are a huge hit!
Ingredients
- ½ cup of active sourdough starter
- ¼ cup of granulated sugar
- ¾ cup of warm filtered water
- ¼ cup of melted butter plus a tablespoon for later
- ¾ teaspoon of salt
- 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose unbleached flour
- optional 1 egg plus 1 teaspoon of water for egg wash
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients to a mixer and knead with a dough hook on medium speed for 15-20 minutes. The dough should be really smooth and easily stretch without breaking.
- Lightly grease a bowl, place the dough into the bowl and cover with a towel or plastic wrap.
- Let it ferment and rise for 12-24 hours.
- Next, divide the dough into 8 equal parts. I usually use a food scale to get perfectly equal rolls, but you can totally eye it.
- Add the dough to a greased circle cake pan and let it rise until doubled. This usually takes about two hours.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- If using egg wash, brush the top of the rolls with a beaten egg. (This gives the rolls a beautiful golden color)
- Put the rolls in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until they are beginning to turn golden brown on top.
- Top with a tablespoon of melted butter, cool slightly and enjoy!
Notes
You may need to add additional flour if your dough is too sticky. I've found that 2 1/2 cups is usually the perfect amount.
