Easy Crusty Sourdough Rolls
I have made these rolls every week of my life for fifteen years. We use them for everything. They are not authentic, artisan style sourdough. But they are delicious, beautiful and foolproof. Yes, when I make these, I use a pinch of instant yeast. You can leave it out and just extend the rising times.
There is a time and a place for recipes involving many tools with French names. This is not it. This recipe is for when you just want some really good rolls. They have a crisp crust, soft interior, and good flavor. There is a slight sourdough tang, but it is totally undetectable by my kids. More of just a depth of flavor. They’re the perfect sandwich roll! It only took me a million different tries to get this recipe right. I really hope you like them.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need
I’ve made these every which way…with the yeast, without it, with all-purpose flour, etc. I recommend that you make them exactly as written, but I’ve included notes about what substitutions you can make.
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Main Ingredients:
- 7 ounces active sourdough starter (1 ¼ cups / 200 grams) should be bubbly and pancake batter consistency
- 13 ounces bread flour (2 ½ to 3 cups / 370 grams) bread flour is important to get the a crusty, chewy texture. If you are using all purpose flour, the texture won’t be quite the same, and you’ll need to use a little more flour.
- 6.5 oz water (¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon / 185 grams)
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon yeast – yes, even though it’s sourdough! This helps with consistent rise and texture
For Assembly:
- Cornmeal for dusting
- Extra flour for dusting tops of rolls
As written, this recipe makes 8 large sandwich rolls or 12 smaller dinner rolls.
It doubles quite well, but you’ll likely need to bake in batches because you need one rack for the steam and one for the rolls.
If you’d like to double (or triple!) the amounts, use the 2x or 3x button on the recipe card at the very bottom of this post.
Instructions
Let’s do this! It’s easy!
Mixing the dough
Weigh out your ingredients with a digital scale and add everything except the yeast and salt to a bowl.
Stir with a spoon to form a rough, slightly dry looking dough. If you are used to baking artisan sourdough, the dough will probably seem very dry to you. Since we are forming it into rolls, it needs to keep its shape. So the texture is more like a traditional bread dough.
Allow it to rest, covered, at room temperature, for 20-40 minutes, then come back and knead in the salt and yeast.
Kneading Options
Knead the dough by hand, bread machine, or stand mixer with dough hook until smooth and slightly sticky. The dough is done kneading when it passes the windowpane test. All you need to do is take a golf ball-sized piece of dough and stretch it out. Look for translucent “windows” in the dough. If the dough tears instead of stretching thin, it’s not ready yet.
By hand: fold the dough in half, then punch it down. Stretch it out again, fold, and punch. Repeat this process for at least five minutes, until the dough is stretchy and smooth. You should be able to pull it flat without tearing it.
With a mixer: Place the dough in your mixer bowl with the dough hook and let it run on low for five to ten minutes.
Bread machine: Simply add everything to the bucket and select the dough cycle. When the machine beeps, you’ll have a risen dough that’s ready to shape. I use this method the most.
After a few minutes of kneading, the dough may be a little sticky, but it should not be wet or impossible to handle. Add more flour, a tablespoon or two at a time, until it forms a workable dough.
The first rise
Place the dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl and cover. Allow to rise for 1 hour in a warm place, such as a slightly warmed but turned-off oven, until doubled in size.
Shaping and rising again
Then divide and shape into 8 rolls, placing them on a parchment- lined baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal.
Cover with greased plastic wrap and allow to rise for 45- 60 minutes at room temperature. Halfway through the rising time, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Put an empty, rimmed baking sheet on a lower rack.
When the rising time is up, the rolls should be puffy.
Baking With Steam
Pour 1 cup of water on the empty baking sheet to create steam.
Bake for 17-21 minutes until browned. The baking time varies widely with this recipe because of the steam. The steam lowers the oven temperature and depending on how quickly your oven gets back up to temperature, some ovens will bake much faster than other.
Cool on a wire rack.
Storage Instructions
These freeze very well. After cooled to room temperature, pack them up in a freezer bag and they will keep fine for at least a month.
To reheat rolls without drying them out, defrost for a minute or so in the microwave at the defrost setting. Then wrap them in foil and place them in a warm (not hot!) oven for 5-10 minutes.
Customizing this recipe
This is a reader favorite and you all have made it many different ways!
Garlic-herb version: add a full tablespoon of dried herbs (any blend equaling one tablespoon), then half a teaspoon of garlic powder to the dough and knead it all together.
Seeded sourdough rolls: add seeds the dough and press some on top.
Italian sourdough rolls: slightly less water for even more chew and sesame seeds on top!
Questions and Troubleshooting
Yes! Cover the dough or the shaped, unbaked rolls very tightly with greased plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge. Then pick up the process when you’e ready.
Yes, divide the dough into 6 portions for big sandwiches or 12 for smaller dinner rolls. Adjust the baking time ups or down a few minutes.
It’s okay :). Just use the cup measurements, but start with less flour and add more if the dough feels too wet. The dough should clear the bowl sides but still feel slightly tacky.
They should sound hollow when you tap the bottom and be golden brown all over. If they’re pale, give them another few minutes.
You probably used all-purpose flour or measured it differently. Add some more flour. You’ll be okay.
Printable Recipe
Crusty Sourdough Rolls
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups active sourdough starter 7 ounces
- 2½-3 cups bread flour 13 ounces
- ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon water 6½ ounces
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon yeast
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Instructions
- Mix all ingredients except salt and yeast. Combine the starter, flour, water, and sugar in a large bowl. Stir well, using your hands if needed to incorporate all ingredients. The mixture may look dry but will feel slightly sticky to the touch. Cover and allow to rest at room temperature for thirty minutes.
- Knead in the salt and yeast. Add the salt and yeast on top of the dough, and knead until smooth, stretchy, and elastic. (If using a bread machine, set it on the dough cycle. For a stand mixer, set it on low about 5 minutes. If kneading by hand, knead for about 10 minutes.) Check the consistency of the dough after a few minutes of kneading. It may seem sticky, but should clear the sides of the bowl and should not be too difficult to work with. If it seems very wet, add more flour a few tablespoons at a time.
- The first rise. When the dough is kneaded, cover it and put in in a warm place to rise between 60-90 minutes, until nearly doubled in size.
- Shape the rolls. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter or a cutting board. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or oil and flour. Dust the top of the parchment with cornmeal. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, either by dividing into half, then quarters, then eighths, or by. using a kitchen scale. Shape the pieces into rolls by pinching the bottoms. Place on the cornmeal dusted parchment. Rub the tops with flour. Slash, if desired, using a lame or sharp knife.
- The second rise. Cover the rolls with heavily greased plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 45-60 minutes, until puffy. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Place one rack in the center, and one in the lower middle area. Place an empty baking sheet on the lower rack to get hot while the oven preheats.
- Bake with steam. When the oven has heated and the rolls have risen, pour one cup of water on the hot baking sheet to create steam. (It may buckle, this is ok.). Place the rolls inside and bake for 17-21 minutes, until browned outside. Cool rolls on wire rack for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Love,
I should have followed the printed instructions instead of the tutorial section, as the tutorial did not mention flouring the tops or scoring the rolls before the final rise. Wish I had seen that.
That said, these are awesome; great rise and great flavor. I have tried other sourdough roll recipes and this is my keeper.
Also, a big thank you for providing nutrition information on this recipe 🙂
hi wendy! i’m so glad you liked the rolls! i will add what you mentioned to the main post 🙂
I am going to try this for Thanksgiving!
One question, what is the difference between discard and starter?
I will feed my starter the evening before so it’s full. I usually take out a 1/2 cup to put back in the fridge, then I use what is left to bake.
hi kimbelery you’ll want to use the bubbly, room temperature starter for this one 🙂
I have used this recipe again and again. I bake the rolls about 2/3 of the time, cool them, and then freeze them. When I want to use the frozen rolls, I thaw them, and then finish the baking. They taste completely fresh, and my house smells amazing. Thank you for the recipe!
Fed starter before I went to bed. Mixed in bread machine next morning and had warm bread rolls for lunch. Too easy. Will be having these for Christmas lunch. Thanks so much for your efforts.
So great! My first attempt at rolls and they were exactly what I wanted for my butternut squash soup! So easy and fun – the dough handles beautifully for shaping. Keep it coming!
I am wondering if you have ever doubled even tripled this recipe?
I have doubled it and kneaded it in my bread machine with no trouble, but haven’t tried tripling it
Do you have to use yeast? Just add extra starter instead?
hi Megan, no need to increase the starter. just increase the rising times to at least 4 hours each. 🙂
My rolls are second rising now, and look beautiful. I was confused about the measurements given in ounces and cups. Can you give the metric measurements? I find them more consistent and accurate. TIA!
Hi Irene! Sure I will try to get those converted for you.
I made these with half whole wheat flour, half bread flour – and loved them! Can I make them into two baguettes, do you think, instead of rolls? I am looking for an easy baguette recipe but each one I find requires so much time and an over night! Thank you for the recipe.
yes that should work! in fact I. have a baguette recipe that’s pretty similar if you search my site. ready in one day 🙂
My family really enjoyed these rolls. Great flavor and texture. Dough was a little stiff, but rose nicely and baked with just a ramekin of water for steam in small oven as my big one was in use for two loaves of sourdough bread! Thanks for a great recipe for my left-over leaven. Will definitely be using again.
Teri I’m so glad you all liked them! and how nice to know you can use a small amount of water!
This is by far the best & easiest sourdough roll recipe. Tonight was my 4th repeat of the recipe. The only change up I did this time was add ice rather than water to the bottom sheet pan. I’d read about doing this with other rustic breads. WOW! It totally increased the crust factor on the roll!
thank you so much Demetria! I love that tip about the ice 🙂
I made these for the second time yesterday. Not disappointed with the flavor either time!
I use ice cubes as well. I heat up a Dutch oven, place my parchment paper and rolls in the Dutch oven then drop four ice cubes under the paper and cover. I baked them for ten minutes then removed the dinner and finished baking them. I also brushed the rolls with butter at the end of baking. They do take longer to bake this way but I believe it’s worth it.
I love this recipe. The bread flavor is amazing!
Lynn thanks for much the review! I love the idea of brushing with butter for a dinner roll. 🙂
Love this recipe!!! Used my starter and this made 4 fantastic mini sub sized buns. Excellent crust and chewy crumb. Thanks for expanding my sourdough repetoire.
I’m so glad! I must make sub buns, great idea!
Katie…I made these yesterday! Ooh lah lah! They turned out magnificent! Such an easy to follow recipe that produced a high rise bun! Gosh…these are probably the best and most successful buns I have ever baked from scratch. Wish I could share a pic with you but no option to attach, but if there was I am sure it would fill your inbox with a ton of happy baker’s results! Thank you for sharing this recipe and awesome step by step instructions and tutorial!
hooray! I am so happy you enjoyed the rolls!
I started my sourdough adventure back in April and these rolls are my go to recipe! My familiy is thoroughly addicted to them and everyone I’ve shared them with raves about them. They are easy to make and freeze really well. Thank you!
thank you Anne! I think the fact that they freeze so well is one of the best things about them! glad you’re enjoying them 🙂
I wanted to make these for Thanksgiving with my sourdough starter. Does the starter have to be active or will sourdough discard work as well? Thanks.
hi Amy, it needs to be active 🙂
I’m excited to try this recipe, but a question. Im looking to make crusty chewy larger rolls to make prime rib subs. Could I shape 4 elongated rolls rather than 8 smaller Ines? Would it change time or temp much?
Thank you for your help.
yes that will work! I. would think. they’d go a little longer, maybe 20 minutes? sounds. delicious 🙂
I made these at the start of my Covid sourdough adventure and I keep coming back to them! The taste is terrific and the crust is perfect! I went a bit crazy and made too much and froze a bunch and boy, they are just as good out of the freezer.
yes we love these rolls out of the freezer too! glad your sourdough adventure continues 🙂
Absolutely fantastic recipe! My rolls looked like we picked them up from the bakery and tasted even better. My husband loved them so much he asked me to bake these again instead of the weekly sandwich loaf. Thanks for sharing this recipe with us.
aw that makes me so happy to hear! glad you’re enjoying them!
Question, what kind of yeast do I use? Instant or active dry?
I use instant. active dry is fine but double it or give them a little more time!
Hey Katie:
Tried your rolls (and your website) for the first time. Taste was excellent, texture was what I was looking for, but I didn’t quite get the crispness that I wanted. I used a baking sheet with water per your directions, but I did notice that the water evaporated fairly early during baking. Would more water help? Any other possibilities? Thanks very much for a keeper recipe.
Hi Richard! Yes more steam will mean more crispness!
First time baking with starter and yeast – they turned out great! Thanks!
Good recipe but some of the details in the printable recipe do not tally with what is in the earlier tutorial especially the timings
thanks Giles I’ll fix it