Sourdough Discard Dinner Rolls

Light and fluffy sourdough discard dinner rolls are so satisfying and easy to make. Bonus: they’ll make your house smell amazing!

Perfect Beginner Sourdough Recipe

Soft dinner rolls were one of the first recipes I attempted when I first started baking sourdough bread. I was still getting the hang of how to keep my starter going and ended up with a lot of extra discard so I was all about the discard recipes. That’s how I ended up with discard bagels and sourdough discard breadsticks.

Turns out making homemade rolls is pretty easy once you know a few simple techniques.  I honed this recipe for the better part of six months until it was perfect.  It’s still a great way to use up a lot of sourdough discard.

I also love discard recipes because they incorporate the fantastic flavor of sourdough but don’t take as long to prepare.  

These rolls can be made start to finish in just a few hours.  They rely on commercial yeast for their rising action which happens in an hour or two versus the wild yeast in an active sourdough starter that takes much longer to work its magic.

Helpful Tools for Making Homemade Discard Dinner Rolls

Kitchen scale – Aside from ensuring precise measurements when it comes to ingredients, I love using a kitchen scale because it means I’ll have less dishes to do. I just place my mixing bowl on the scale and dump ingredients right into the bowl keeping an eye on the numbers.  For example, measuring the flour, I place the mixing bowl on the scale, hit the “tare” button to zero out the scale and then start adding flour until the scale says 435 grams.  No need to clean measuring cups after!

Dough scraper – This isn’t required, but it’s one of my favorite bread tools. It’s silicone so it bends and makes it so much easier for scraping the dough ball out of the bowl after the first rise.

Stand mixer with the dough hook attachment – Again, another tool that isn’t required. But I do love to use a stand mixer when baking bread. I’m a lazy baker, so I leave all the kneading to my KitchenAid.

Instant read thermometer – Read any bread recipe on this website and you’ll know I’m obsessed with an instant read thermometer. I stick it into my breads and other baked goods at the end to make sure they’re fully cooked.  Rolls like this are done when the thermometer reads between 190F and 200F.

9 x 13 Baking pan – My favorite is this one from USA. I actually don’t grease it when I make these rolls and they come out clean every time. But if I use a different pan, I make sure to use non-stick spray so the rolls come out clean.

Type of Flour for Making Dinner Rolls

You’ll see in the recipe that I recommend using all purpose flour. This gives you a light and fluffy roll. But, I’ve also used bread flour which adds a bit more tender chewiness to the rolls. Both types of flour make delicious rolls. It’s just a matter of what you prefer and the kind of flour you already have on hand. 

Step by Step Instructions

• Step 1: Combine the active dry yeast and warm water and let it sit for five minutes until the yeast has gotten foamy on top of the water.
• Step 2: Add the granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, oil, sourdough discard, fine salt and all-purpose flour.  
• Step 3: Mix together the ingredients with the dough hook on a stand mixer or by hand. Once a dough ball has formed, proceed to knead for 8 minutes. You’ll know kneading is complete when the dough is smooth and elastic.

• Step 4: Keep the dough in the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Let the dough rise for 45 to 60 minutes until the dough has doubled in size.
• Step 5: Once the dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl using a silicone dough scraper or your hands and place it on a lightly floured surface.

• Step 6: Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (approximately 76g each).
• Step 7: Create a roll out of each dough ball by folding up the sides of the dough ball together, creating surface tension on the underside, then do the same with the opposite sides of the ball so you get a nice taught surface on the underside.
• Step 8: Then, place the dough ball seam side down on your work surface and roll in circular motion continuing to round out the dough ball and maintain nice tension on the top of the roll, pressing it against the countertop.

• Step 9: Place the dough ball in a 9 x 13 baking pan or dish lined with parchment paper or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and repeat rolling each remaining dough ball until you’ve fill the baking pan with 12 rolls.
• Step 10: Cover the rolls with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel for a second rise for 30 to 45 minutes until puffed up. You can test if they’re ready if when you gently press your finger dusted with a bit of flour into the top, the dough very slowly rises back.  If it bounces back fast, then they can proof for a bit longer. While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 375F.

• Step 11: Once your rolls are ready, bake them at 375F for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown top.  A way to verify that they’re done is that an instant read thermometer reads 190F when inserted into the center of a roll.

Optional Egg Wash

You can brush an egg wash on the tops of the rolls if you want them to be shiny like brioche bread. You can see the comparison below.

Just beat an egg and brush it on top of your rolls with a pastry brush right before baking.  

The egg wash will give you a roll with a crispier crust and deeper brown color.

​More Sourdough Discard Recipes

• Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Rolls
• Moist Sourdough Pumpkin Bread
• Sourdough Crackers

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