These delicious and fluffy dinner rolls are perfect for any occasion. I make them every Thanksgiving and they are always a crowd pleaser. This recipe makes about 16 rolls so there are plenty for leftover turkey sandwiches the next day.
I am a huge fan of dinner rolls! In the tutorial video (linked below in the recipe box) you will see two different ways you can shape the rolls. These are an old family recipe that I converted to sourdough and I know you will love them.
Cook Book
Ingredients for Dinner Rolls
- Sourdough Starter: Active! This is important! Make sure you have really bubbly active starter to ensure you get a good rise on your rolls. If you don’t have a starter, you can purchase my sourdough starter.
- Water: Warm water helps to activate the yeasts in the starter.
- Butter: I prefer using unsalted butter so that I can control the amount of salt in the recipe.
- Sugar: A bit of sugar helps these rolls taste sweet and rise well.
- Egg: I always use our backyard chicken eggs, but any large egg will do.
- Flour: All purpose flour will work well for this recipe.
- Powdered Milk: This is the secret ingredient! The milk fats really help to make a super soft bread.
- Salt: I prefer sea salt or pink Himalayan.
Sourdough Starter
How to Make Sourdough Dinner Rolls
The good news is you can make these sourdough dinner rolls all in one day as long as you start in the morning! They will take about 10 hours from start to finish, so make sure to plan accordingly.
Make Dough and Ferment
2. In a separate medium sized bowl, add 2 C flour, powdered milk, and salt. Mix it until it is well combined. Then add the flour to the starter mixture and mix until the flour is incorporated. Then add additional flour 1/2 C at a time. You may not need to add all 3 additional cups of flour, just watch for the dough to become soft and sticky, but not unmanageable.
3. Knead the dough with a dough hook or your hands for 2-3 minutes until it has formed a nice soft ball. Remove your dough from the bowl, and oil your bowl. Put your dough back in the bowl and oil the top and bottom of the dough. Cover and let your dough rest on the counter for at least 8 hours.
Shape Dough and Bake
4. Remove the dough from the bowl and put it on a clean countertop. Divide the dough, and roll out to about 1/2 inch thick.
5. Cut out your dough using a circular cutter. Cut a thin slice of butter and place it on top of each cut out piece of dough. Do this for each roll. Then fold the dough in half and pinch the edges closed so that the butter is enclosed in dough. Lightly cover the dough with a damp tea towel and let them rise for about 2 hours until nice and fluffy.
6. Using the second half of the dough, roll it out on a clean countertop. Try to make an even circle and to about 1/4 inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough as if you were cutting a pizza, making 8 “slices”.
7. Spread softened butter on top of each triangle you cut. Grease your baking pan. Starting from the fat end (or crust end) of the dough, roll up the dough into a crescent shape. Do this for each piece of dough and place them on the baking sheet. Cover with a damp tea towel and let them rise for 1-2 hours until puffy.
8. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Bake your rolls for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown on the outside. You can brush them with butter when they come out of the oven if you would like.
Tips for Making Sourdough Rolls
- Shaping the Rolls: See my youtube video linked below for visual instructions and two different styles of shaping the dough.
- Powdered Milk Substitution: One day I decided to make rolls and realized I didn’t have any powdered milk on hand. I substituted the water in this recipe for milk, and left out the powdered milk. It worked great! You can add a bit more flour to make up for the lost dry ingredient.
Sourdough Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 C Active Starter
- 1 C Warm Water
- 6 Tbsp Butter Softened
- 1/3 C Sugar
- 1 Large Egg Beaten
- 5 C Flour
- 2/3 C Dried powdered Milk
- 2 tsp Sea Salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, add starter, water, butter, sugar, and egg. Mix until combined.
- In a separate medium sized bowl, add 2 C flour, powdered milk, and salt. Mix it until it is well combined. Then add the flour to the starter mixture and mix until the flour is incorporated. Then add additional flour 1/2 C at a time. You may not need to add all 3 additional cups of flour, just watch for the dough to become soft and sticky, but not unmanageable.
- Knead the dough with a dough hook or your hands for 2-3 minutes until it has formed a nice soft ball. Remove your dough from the bowl, and oil your bowl. Put your dough back in the bowl and oil the top and bottom of the dough. Cover and let your dough rest on the counter for at least 8 hours.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and put it on a clean countertop. Divide the dough, and roll out to about 1/2 inch thick.
- Cut out your dough using a circular cutter. Cut a thin slice of butter and place it on top of each cut out piece of dough. Do this for each roll. Then fold the dough in half and pinch the edges closed so that the butter is enclosed in dough. Lightly cover the dough with a damp tea towel and let them rise for about 2 hours until nice and fluffy.
- Using the second half of the dough, roll it out on a clean countertop. Try to make an even circle and to about 1/4 inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough as if you were cutting a pizza, making 8 "slices".
- Spread softened butter on top of each triangle you cut. Grease your baking pan. Starting from the fat end (or crust end) of the dough, roll up the dough into a crescent shape. Do this for each piece of dough and place them on the baking sheet. Cover with a damp tea towel and let them rise for 1-2 hours until puffy.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Bake your rolls for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown on the outside. You can brush them with butter when they come out of the oven if you would like.
Video
