Sourdough Soft Wheat Rolls

Sourdough Soft Wheat Rolls: "

Remember how I spent some time trying to get a good soft crumb with sweet sourdough? Well I applied that same science to getting a nice soft wheat roll. The secret is adding some sour cream. Yes, you can add potatoes and that works too but the outcome is a bit heavier than the sour cream which helps produce a soft light crumb. Everyone wants a soft roll with dinner at times, yes the crusty hard rolls are terrific too, but sometimes you just want a soft dinner roll…

So here you go:

Sourdough Soft Wheat Rolls

Make sure your Whole Wheat starter (You really have to use a whole wheat starter for this recipe) is fed very well the night before and make sure you have at least 1 lb of it for the next day. Feed it @ 100% hydration (leave it out at room temperature overnight after feeding it in the evening.

Then the next day (around 10:00am or time it yourself to arrive hot for the dinner table):

Mix together in a large mixing bowl or dough folding container:

1. Whole Wheat Starter @ 100% – 16 oz/453g


2. Water – 4 oz/113g


3. Sour cream (nice thick regular fat kind)- 3 oz/85g


4. Malt Syrup (or Honey) – 1 oz/28g


5. Soft Butter- 2 oz/56g


6. Sea salt- .4 oz/11g

You do not need to autolyse the dough because of the large amount of starter used, which was basically autolysed all night long. Mix all of the ingredients together and then add:

1. All purpose flour- 15 oz/425g

Mix together into a soft dough but do not knead. This makes a very soft dough. Cover the dough and let it ferment 3.5 – 4 hours, folding the dough once each hour. Then weigh your dough and divide the amount into 12 pieces or however many you need. My rolls were 3.4 oz each and I made 12 rolls.

I placed the rolls into an oiled round casserole dish and made sure each roll was coated in the oil. I then covered the rolls and placed them into a dedicated refrigerator which is set at 46F. If you use your colder refrigerator, take the rolls out sooner and give them longer to warm up and proof before baking.

I left the rolls in the refrigerator for two hours and then warmed them up and proofed them for 1 hour. I set the dish of rolls into a pan containing hot water to speed up the proofing. Once the rolls are done proofing, slash the tops, then make sure the tops are oiled or spray with oil and bake at 425 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes.

I spread butter over the tops once the rolls were done baking. Serve hot with lots of butter!

This will make around 2 lbs 9 oz/1173g of dough at 64% hydration. It will make a dozen rolls approximately 3.4 oz/96g each.

Have fun baking everyone!

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