These Crusty Sourdough Dinner Rolls go with nearly everything. They have such a nice, crisp crust (reminiscent of an artisan loaf) on the outside, with a soft, chewy, slightly dense interior.
There's no shortage of soft sourdough rolls on the site between these ultra-soft sourdough dinner rolls, these pillowy sourdough crescent rolls, and these festive sweet potato sourdough dinner rolls, but sometimes you want a roll that's more robust and heartier, and these crusty sourdough dinner rolls deliver!
Quick Look: Crusty Sourdough Dinner Rolls
- Recipe Name: Crusty Sourdough Dinner Rolls
- Ready In: 15 hours
- Serves: 12 - this makes 12 rustic rolls that are on the larger side.
- Calories: 171 calories per roll.
- Main Ingredients: All purpose flour, active sourdough starter, whole milk, sugar, salt.
- Why You'll Love It: Rustic sourdough dinner rolls that are so easy to make. These are basically like tiny artisan loaves, with a thin crust and a chewy interior. No special ingredients or tools required, and the dough is so lovely to work with!
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They basically are tiny artisan loaves, and they are so easy to make! A simple list of ingredients, they require no kneading, and the dough is lovely to work with.
Unlike soft, yeasty dinner rolls that are best served warm, these are great still slightly warm from the oven, or at room temperature, which makes them so easy to make ahead!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple ingredients - you probably already have everything you need to make these!
- No special tools - Really, they’re SO simple! Mix by hand, no kneading required.
- A really nice dough to work with - This dough is just wet enough to make stretch and folds easy, but not so wet that it's difficult to shape. You'll only need minimal additional flour when you're ready to shape.
- Serve warm or at room temperature - These rolls are good fresh from the oven AND once they’ve cooled down. They’re great to have on hand for whenever you need them.
- A very versatile roll - These are great served alongside heavy dinners and light salads, they’re a perfect roll to enjoy with a bowl of soup, and they make great sandwich rolls. This is a go-to recipe for me when I have starter to use up, because I know that even if I don’t have a plan for these rolls, we will find a good use for them!
Key Ingredients
Active sourdough starter - These are leavened using just sourdough starter, so make sure yours is well fed and ready to go!
Whole milk - Milk adds fat, flavor, and color when used in breads, and helps to make the texture soft. There’s water here too, but don’t skip the milk! If you want to speed up rise times, you can heat the milk to warm (it should feel no warmer than bath water to prevent killing the yeasts in your starter). If you are okay with a longer rise time, use it straight from the fridge.
Sugar - Just a smidge of sugar here to add soft texture, a very (very!) slightly sweet flavor, and improve shelf life.
Easy Substitutions + Variations
- Make them smaller - As written, this recipe makes 12 rolls. They will be about the size of an orange. If you'd like more petite rolls, I recommend dividing the dough into 16 pieces rather than 12.
- The flour - You can definitely use bread flour here if you want! I typically use whatever I have on hand, and both work great. All purpose flour is what I normally use and have tested the most here, but I've used bread flour many times with great success!
How To Make Crusty Sourdough Dinner Rolls
Expert Tips
- Don’t under proof - Really try to avoid under proofing these as they tend to blow out at the bottoms, even if they're scored very well.
- Make sure the dough is fully mixed - Since there’s no kneading and minimal stretch and folds here, you’ll need to be sure the dough is fully cohesive before letting it rest.
- Score deeply - A sharp lame or a snip with kitchen scissors will work!
Storage, Freezing, and Make-Ahead Tips
- Storage - Fully cooled rolls can be stored in a ziplock bag or airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing - Wrap these well and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature and re-crisp in the oven at 375 for 5-7 minutes if needed.
- Making ahead - Want to extend the rise time? You can shape these, cover well, and refrigerate overnight. They may need to finish rising at room temperature for an hour or so depending on how much they rise in the fridge. If they’re nicely puffed up, you can bake them straight from the fridge.
More Rustic Sourdough Recipes You’ll Love
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Crusty Sourdough Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 240 grams water
- 80 grams milk
- 100 grams starter
- 24 grams sugar
- 500 grams flour
- 9 grams salt
Directions
- Combine the water, milk, starter, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the flour and salt and mix until no dry flour remains. Mix with a clean hand to make sure the dough is fully combined. It will be a shaggy dough at this point - that’s okay, you just want to make sure it's cohesive. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes-1 hour.
- Do a round of stretch and folds to form the dough into a nice ball. Cover and let rise until doubled in size - about 8-10 hours.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Turn dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 12 pieces (each will be about 78 grams). Shape each piece into a roll and place seam side-down on the prepared baking sheet.
- Cover and let rise 3-4 hours more, until noticeably puffed up.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Score each roll deeply down the middle. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until baked through and browned to your liking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. These can be served warm from the oven or at room temperature.
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