Sourdough Discard Dinner Rolls

Extraordinarily light and fluffy, these are old-school sourdough discard dinner rolls, like your grandmother's but with extra flavour and tenderness. You won't believe just how soft these rolls are. Please note that these need about 4 hours of rising time.

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Ingredients You'll Need and Why

The ingredients needed are simply ones, what you probably already have in the house. It's important that the egg and butter are both at room temperature. These are our notes from recipe testing and you can find the full recipe card below with complete measurements and instructions.

• Flour: use all-purpose white flour. We haven't tested with bread flour, but the rolls are meant to be more tender than chewy, so we recommend sticking with plain white flour. You can use up to 40% whole wheat flour but note that the buns won't be as soft.
• Sourdough discard: this should be relatively fresh discard to avoid an unpleasantly sour taste. You can use active starter too but be sure to weigh in that case.
• Milk: use whole milk, 2% in a pinch, or soy milk if you need a dairy-free option. The milk is warmed before adding so it can be right out of the fridge.
• Butter: use salted butter, at room temperature. Margarine is a good substitution.
• Egg: adding an egg to the dough improves the structure by adding protein and makes the rolls a little richer.
• Sugar: if you reduce the sugar, the rolls will taste flat and won't brown when baked. It's a small amount but makes a big difference.
• Yeast: yes, it's a small amount, and that's because this is a slow-rise recipe. This should be active dry yeast or traditional, not instant. Fresh yeast works well if you have it (5 grams).
• Salt: don't change the salt amount, and stick to fine-grain salt. It has an important role in gluten development and shouldn't be adjusted in bread recipes. Reducing salt will also make for pale, anemic-looking rolls.

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.

How to Make Discard Dinner Rolls

These are easiest to make with some kind of machine to knead, like a standing mixer or a hand mixer with the dough attachment. If you knead by hand have a dough scraper on hand for the first few minutes, as the dough is soft and sticky at first. Don't add extra flour if kneading by hand!

Step 1: bloom the yeast in warm water with a little sugar. This serves two purposes, both to activate the yeast, but also for you to know whether your yeast is still good or not before continuing with the recipe. If it doesn't bubble up, you need new yeast.

Step 2: whisk in the milk, discard, egg, sugar, and butter. The butter will probably be in small pieces, that's normal.

Step 3: stir in the flour and salt. It will form a shaggy dough that might seem too wet if you've never made dinner rolls before. It'll come together when kneaded - that's what makes the buns so light and airy.

Related: Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread

Step 4: knead until the dough passes the windowpane test, then lightly oil the dough and set aside to rise, covered. The dough must rise in a warm place. If it's very cold in your home, place it in a slightly warmed oven (with the light on) or else it'll take far too long to rise.

Step 5: rise for about 2 hours at room temperature. The visual will be more important than the time here, and what you're looking for is dough that's doubled in size. If your home is cold, it'll take longer. If it's very warm, it probably won't need the full 2 hours. Never set dough in a hot place, like on a radiator, to rise.

Step 6: divide the dough into small balls and place in a greased baking sheet. You can use a 9x13 casserole dish and it'll work, but the bun shape will be slightly different and your baking times will change.

Step 7: let the buns rise until the sheet is crowded and they've increased in size by about 2.5 times. You can do a poke test here to check proving but if you don't let them rise for long enough (about 2 hours again) they won't be as light as the buns pictured.

Step 8: bake until golden, just 10 minutes. The buns are small and the oven temperature is fairly hot, so they don't need long to bake. Brush with more butter as soon as they come out of the oven.

Expert Tips for the Best Buns

• Give yourself enough time: there's no point in trying to rush this recipe, and the dough does need more time to rise than other dinner roll recipes. That's how the original recipe was written and it has a big impact on the rolls, making them much more flavourful and tender than quicker versions.
• Weigh the ingredients: while we do offer recipes with cup measurements, it's really best to weigh your ingredients to ensure good results. This is especially important if you're not yet experienced enough to bake bread by feel.
• Don't stress about the size before rising: the rolls will seem very small before rising. The recipe card from my grandmother-in-law says to 'set wide apart as they rise a great deal' and they do!
• Quickly bring ingredients up to room temperature: if your eggs are cold, place the egg needed into a bowl of warm (not hot) water for 10 minutes before starting. The butter can be heated in the microwave in short bursts until softened.
• Grease the dough: since the dough needs a long time to rise, it helps to lightly oil the surface to prevent it drying out as it rests.
• Brush with butter: to make the buns even softer and give them another flavour boost, brush the tops with butter as soon as they come out of the oven. That's what gives them their glossy look and they taste so much better.

More Sourdough Discard Recipes

If you make this Sourdough Discard Rolls recipe or any other sourdough recipes on the Baked Collective, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more baking, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.