Sourdough Dinner Rolls
Prep
40 min
Bake
22 min
Total time
1 hr 2 min
Hydration
68%
These fresh milled sourdough dinner rolls are an enriched 68% hydration dough with butter, milk, and honey. Mix in the evening, retard overnight, shape and bake the next afternoon — pillowy, golden, naturally leavened.
Key Takeaways
- Enrichment (butter, milk, honey) tenderizes whole wheat for a pillowy roll.
- Cold retard makes the schedule work around dinner — mix tonight, bake tomorrow.
- Weigh dough balls so every roll bakes evenly.
- Brush with melted butter the moment they come out — non-negotiable.
- Bake to 195°F internal, never higher, to keep rolls tender.
About this recipe
If you can bake a sourdough boule, you can bake sourdough dinner rolls — they just want a softer dough and a little enrichment. Butter, whole milk, and a touch of honey turn a workhorse sourdough into a holiday-table roll that pulls apart cleanly, smells like a bakery, and reheats beautifully. Fresh milled hard white wheat keeps the rolls feeling familiar to people who think they don't like whole wheat. The cold retard does double duty: it builds flavor that store-bought rolls cannot match, and it makes the timing flexible enough to work around dinner. A few habits make these rolls reliable: weigh the dough balls (the table will judge you if one is twice the size of another), brush with melted butter the moment they come out of the oven, and don't over-bake. Internal temperature of 195°F (90°C) is right — anything more and you lose the tenderness that makes them magical.
Ingredients
- Freshly milled hard white wheat flour500 g
- Whole milk (warm)260 g
- Active 100% hydration sourdough starter100 g
- Honey40 g
- Unsalted butter (softened)50 g
- Large egg1 (about 50 g)
- Fine sea salt9 g
- Extra butter, melted (for brushing)30 g
Instructions
- 1
Feed starter 6 hours before mixing.
- 2
Whisk milk, honey, egg, and starter together in a large bowl.
- 3
Add flour and salt. Mix until shaggy. Rest 20 minutes.
- 4
Add softened butter and knead by hand or stand mixer for 6–8 minutes until smooth, soft, and slightly tacky.
- 5
Cover and bulk ferment at 76°F for 4–5 hours, with one set of stretch-and-folds at the 60-minute mark. Dough should rise about 60%.
- 6
Cover and refrigerate 12–18 hours.
- 7
Turn cold dough onto a barely floured surface. Divide into 12 equal pieces (about 80 g each).
- 8
Shape each piece into a tight ball by cupping and rotating against the counter.
- 9
Arrange in a buttered 9x13 pan in a 3x4 grid, just touching.
- 10
Cover loosely and proof at room temperature 2.5–3.5 hours, until rolls have puffed and joined at the edges.
- 11
Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
- 12
Brush the tops with milk or beaten egg. Bake 20–24 minutes until deeply golden (internal 195°F / 90°C).
- 13
Pull from the oven and immediately brush with melted butter.
- 14
Cool 15 minutes before pulling apart and serving.
fresh flour baking guide for beginners — hydration, gluten development, and grain choice tips that make this recipe work.
Learn about this grain: Hard White Wheat guide — flavor, milling notes, baking tips, and four in-depth guides on hydration, storage, and common mistakes. Or browse more Hard White Wheat recipes.
Learn a technique
All guides →- How To Build Gluten With Fresh Milled FlourGluten development in fresh-milled flour is a different craft than in commercial white flour. White-flour doughs love aggressive kneading, slap-and-folds, and stand mixers on high — the smooth endosperm forms long uninterrupted gluten strands quickly. Fresh-milled flour cannot work that way because the bran physically interrupts every gluten strand it touches. The bakers who get gorgeous open crumb out of fresh flour all do the same thing: hydrate fully, rest patiently, fold gently, and choose the right grain. This guide walks through the science and the technique.
- Bulk Fermentation with Fresh-Milled FlourFresh-milled flour ferments faster than commercial flour. Watch the dough, not the clock, and end bulk fermentation when volume has grown 50–75%.
- Cold Retard & Bulk for Fresh-Milled SourdoughHow to time and temperature-manage bulk fermentation and cold retard for fresh-milled sourdough to develop flavor without overproofing.
- Build & Maintain a Fresh-Milled Sourdough StarterA step-by-step guide to creating a robust whole-grain sourdough starter from scratch and maintaining it for weekly baking.
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How To Build Gluten With Fresh Milled Flour
Gluten development in fresh-milled flour is a different craft than in commercial white flour. White-flour doughs love aggressive kneading, slap-and-folds, and stand mixers on high — the smooth endosperm forms long uninterrupted gluten strands quickly. Fresh-milled flour cannot work that way because the bran physically interrupts every gluten strand it touches. The bakers who get gorgeous open crumb out of fresh flour all do the same thing: hydrate fully, rest patiently, fold gently, and choose the right grain. This guide walks through the science and the technique.
Bulk Fermentation with Fresh-Milled Flour
Fresh-milled flour ferments faster than commercial flour. Watch the dough, not the clock, and end bulk fermentation when volume has grown 50–75%.
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