I’m a sucker for super soft rolls.
Before I knew how to bake, I’d buy a bunch of Rhodes Rolls to keep in my freezer and make those whenever I had a classic chicken dinner planned. They were soft, they were easy, and they went well with just about anything.
But now, I have a recipe that I love to make more than Rhodes Rolls. These super soft sourdough discard rolls are flavorful, simple, and fast. Top them with melted butter or jam, and you have the perfect side for a variety of meals.
Freeze These Rolls Ahead of Time
Quite a few people have asked about preparing these soft sourdough discard rolls ahead of time for big events like Thanksgiving or Christmas. And you absolutely can!
After you’ve finished shaping your rolls, place them on a large, parchment-lined cookie sheet. Put the entire sheet in the freezer for 3 to 4 hours until the balls have hardened. Then, remove the frozen rolls from the pan and place in a freezer friendly Ziploc bag. When frozen correctly, these rolls stay well for up to a month.
Once you’re ready to bake, treat these rolls in the same way you’d treat store-bought ready-made frozen rolls. Remove them from the freezer, place on a lightly greased pan and cover with lightly greased plastic to minimize sticking. Let the rolls thaw and rise until puffy, then bake as per usual.
Don’t Have Starter?
This recipe also works well if you don’t have any sourdough starter on hand or if you don’t like that telltale tang of sourdough. Simply replace the sourdough starter with equal amounts flour and water (so 113 grams of each), and you’re good to go.
If you want to make your own sourdough starter, I have a step-by-step guide for a wild yeast starter at my bread blog, BreadbytheHour.com.
Soft Sourdough Discard Rolls
Ingredients
- 600 Grams Warm Water (2 1/2 cups)
- 18.6 Grams Dry Active Yeast (2 Tablespoons)
- 226 Grams Sourdough Starter Discard (1 Cup)
- 1020 Grams All-Purpose Flour (8 1/2 Cups)
- 50.25 Grams White Granulated Sugar (1/4 Cup)
- 12 Grams Salt (2 Teaspoons)
- 54.5 Grams Vegetable Oil (1/4 Cup)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the warm water and the yeast. Stir and then let the yeast sit for 10 minutes to proof.
- Add the sourdough starter and stir until well incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.
- Add the flour mixture to the yeast mixture and the vegetable oil to the standing mixer bowl.
- On a low setting, use the dough hook of the standing mixer to knead everything together. Continue to mix until the dough pulls away from and cleans the sides of the bowl.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly greased surface and shape into a round.
- Place round in a lightly greased container with a lid. Let dough rest until double in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on kitchen temperature.
- Turn dough out onto lightly greased surface and punch down. Divide the dough into 24 pieces and shape into balls. Each ball should weigh about 80 grams.
- Place dough balls onto a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rest for 30 to 45 minutes until double.
- Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit (204° Celsius) and bake for 16 to 18 minutes.
- Brush with melted butter and serve warm.
Notes
Did You Try It?
I love these super soft bread rolls, and I love how easy they are to make for my family. But what did you think of the recipe? Did you like it? Did you adjust it to make it better?
Share your baking experience in the comment section below! I appreciate all your helpful feedback and suggestions. Thank you for all your kind words.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! Just did it yesterday and I appreciated how simple it was and the delicious taste + texture of the rolls — also how versatile they are. For example, last night we ate them as dinner rolls but today we’re using them as hamburger buns. Have you ever shaped them into other forms than rolls, like loaves?
I haven’t tried making them into loaves but that’s a fantastic idea! I’ll have to play around with it and see what happens. I have made them into buns and they were excellent 🙂 I’m so glad you tried them and liked them.
Love this recipe. I make my balls a little smaller so I get about 30. I have added rosemary and garlic powder sometimes because we love the flavor too.
Oh those are fun flavors to add in! I’ll definitely have to try those next time because that sounds delicious. Thank you for your helpful suggestions 🙂
Can you make these right up to the “ready for the over stage”and then put in fridge to slow them down? Id like to pause until ready to bake so I can serve them hot at a friend’s dinner.
I’m not entirely sure? You could give it a try, but I worry they might over proof in the fridge. I guess it depends on how long you keep them chilling before your friend’s dinner. Maybe keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t get too puffy.
Thank you for sharing your recipe. I’m just beginning my sourdough journey and decided I wanted to make dinner rolls for my family’s Christmas Dinner so in my search for recipes I found yours and I’m so glad I did, so is my family. These rolls were a hit, I know they’ll be requesting them all the time now. Absolutely Delicious! The recipe is simple enough for beginners yet taste like I’ve been baking bread for years. The only thing I changed was the size of the rolls, I made them a little smaller, other than that I made as the recipe stated. Oh & your note about the flour, thank you for that, my starter is also a 1:1 ratio so I needed a little extra flour as well. I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Thank you so much for your kind words Brenda. It really made my day. I wish you the best of luck in your sourdough journey.
Hi there! Can I use organic unbleached bread flour (I have King Arthur brand) instead of all purpose flour? Thanks!
Sure! Bread flour should work just fine. In fact, it might have even better texture than all purpose. Happy baking!
Just trying this today for the first time and though I’m not finished I have to say I have never had anything rise as well as this did. I’m using a gluten free flour so even more suprised by the quickness of doubling. Can’t wait to sink my teeth into one!
Oh wow! I never would have thought about gluten-free flour. I’m so glad that they’re rising well for you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do 🙂
I hope you see this!
I am trying my hand at gluten free baking, sourdough currently (I’ve got cookies and cakes about down to decent, lol) but I’m having the hardest time with breads, any tips, tricks etc for gluten free?
Hey Jennifer, I have a bread blog with gluten free rice flour bread recipe and an almond flour bread recipe. As far as sourdough breads go, what kind of problems are you facing? I’d love to help.
Could you turn these into sweet cinnamon rolls? Suggestions?
I bet I could! Oh my goodness – I will definitely have to try and share what happens. Thank you for the suggestion.
It is a great recipe. Thx
These were AMAZING. My fridge was completely bare (yet here I am making bread – says something about my life!) and so I especially appreciated how this recipe didn’t call for eggs or milk. 10/10 would make again in a heartbeat.
Yay! I’m so glad you loved them. Thank you for the positive feedback 🙂
Hello! I used about 1 cup less flour than the recipe called for. Is that normal? Also should I add more salt and sugar when this happens since it is premixed with the flour?
That is normal if you have a stiff starter! Since it’s only about a cup, you don’t need to add more salt or sugar unless you want to adjust the flavor and make the dough more savory or more sweet. Just keep in mind that salt slows the rise time and sugar can speed it in small amounts so you’ll want to keep an eye on your dough.
I have been making these weekly for the past year and they’re brilliant, occasionally have to add more flour if my start is extra hydrated, thanks for the recipe, it’s a favorite!
Woohoo! Thank you for sharing. You’ve made my day – I’m so happy these rolls have been a favorite for you!
So good- I only had a half hour to let them rise and they still turned out tasty and fluffy.
A keeper for sure!
woohoo! I’m so happy to hear that. Thank you 🙂
DELICIOUS! I made these last night to freeze for Thanksgiving. My husband and I ate 2 each so I’m working on another half batch to make sure there is enough. I’m sure we’ll have to test this batch too.
I’m so glad! I make these for thanksgiving every year, too. It’s become a family tradition. Thank you for your positive feedback. 🙂
I was also going to ask about making these for the holidays! The recipe looks delicious! I’m hoping to fully bake them and then freeze them. Is that a thing? Lol I wouldn’t be able to get family members to let me bring “something different” if it had to finish baking on the actual holiday. My best bet is to have them done and then re-warm in the oven.
Have you ever tried that? Do you have any temp or time suggestions?
I haven’t frozen these rolls after baking specifically – but I have frozen similar bread recipes! Here’s my approach. After baking, make sure they completely cool (you don’t want any extra moisture leftover from the steam). Wrap them tightly in aluminum foil, place in a freezer friendly bag, and then freeze. If you have time, let thaw at room temperature overnight. Then re-warm (in their loose foil packing but not in the freezer bag) for about 10 minutes in a 300°F oven. If you’re rushed for time, heat the oven to 300°F. Place the loosely-wrapped frozen rolls directly on an oven rack and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until everything is warm all the way through. When I follow this technique, though, bread tends to dry out pretty fast afterward so make sure to serve them warm.
If I wanted to make it ahead, could you tell me how/when to put the dough in the refrigerator?
That is an excellent question. This recipe has a lot of yeast, so the dough rises quickly. I have not made these in advance because it’s a fairly quick recipe. If I were to take a guess, however, I’d say put the rolls in the refrigerator overnight right after shaping. If they haven’t risen fully, let them sit on the counter for a bit until puffy. Otherwise, bake them as usual.
I love this recipe, it’s simple and a great way to use up sourdough discard. I was wondering if you have any tips on freezing the dough balls so I only have to make the recipe once, but then we can enjoy them throughout the month.
Hey Anna – thanks for the feedback. I have not tried freezing this recipe because we tend to eat our rolls pretty fast at my house. However, if I were to take a best guess about how to go about freezing them, I would try this: after shaping, put the rolls on a large, parchment lined cookie sheet and place in the freezer for 3-4 hours. Then, transfer the frozen rolls to a zip-top freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to one month. When ready to bake, place the frozen dough balls on a lightly greased pan and cover with plastic wrap sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Let thaw and rise until puffy, and then bake as per usual.
This is exactly what I do! I make some larger for buns and some the normal 80g for rolls and then I can just take out and let rise before baking and I always have fresh as needed. Works GREAT!
Oh wonderful! I’m so glad this works great for you 🙂 Thank you so much for your feedback.
I’m new in the baking sourdough world. I cut the recipe half and made smaller rolls. I like the ideas of making buns and rolls and maybe a couple of hoagies too. I’m sure to work at the lil kinks in the next batch. ???? Thank You.
I wish you all the luck in your baking journey! I hope you have a lot of fun experimenting with sourdough 🙂
These rolls are to die for! wow! so fluffy and soft. My old/other discard recipe makes hard biscuits like one would imagine cowboys on the trail choking down with beans and coffee. Jennibee’s recipe is life-changing to this old boy scout. bravo!
Thank you so much! Your feedback made my week 🙂 Happy baking and enjoy!
I started by making a half recipe of this one, because it is very abundant and I wanted to try it first. I loved it! I just made a full recipe and got over 3 dozen cloverleaf rolls with it.
That’s wonderful! I’m so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
I first made these on Thanksgiving and after I placed them in the oven I was cleaning up and realized I’d (blush) forgot to add the starter. To my delight they turned out great! Made them again at Christmas, remembered the starter, and they turned out even lighter and fluffier! I also had extra so I popped it in a bread pan and had the most beautiful loaf of bread. And the flavor is fantastic!! We have also used leftovers for hamburger buns and they are the best. After reading the comments I am excited to try making cinnamon rolls and try freezing dough for later. New favorite recipe. Thank you!!
Thank you so much for sharing. I’m so happy you enjoyed my recipe. Your kind comment really made my day!
I used this recipe to make sourdough rolls for the first time ever, tonight. We paired them with chicken salad, and it was a perfect combination! They were the best rolls we’ve ever eaten, thank you!
That’s fantastic! I’m so happy to hear that. Thank you so much for the feedback. Happy baking 🙂
I was wondering if you have tried to freeze them after punch down> then take as needed and let raise
I haven’t tried it! But I think it should definitely work. Maybe give it a try and let me know how it goes?
Unbelievably easy and they kept for days without drying out. I froze a bunch and they heat up just as soft and moist as they did when first made. Thanks for this recipe!
Wonderful to hear! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Delicious ????
Turned out great. And the texture is perfect. Great recipe.
Thank you so much for the feedback! I really appreciate it 🙂
I made these for the first time and WOW, will definitelybe in my rotation. This is a keeper of a recipe! They were delicious, and simple to make. I brought them over for a dinner party and everyone said that they were the best buns they ever had. Thanks so much for sharing.
YAY! I’m so happy to hear that. Thank you for the thoughtful feedback 🙂
Soo I’ve just made this and not sure what I did wrong. Followed recipe exactly. Dough was super sticky couldn’t make the ball pre rising. Then far too sticky with no shape to be able to cut into pieces. Then when shaped into balls they just flattened. About to cook then soo will see what happens.
Might as less water next time.
When you put on the baking tray should they be touching? What size baking tray did you use?
Oh dang! I’m sorry you struggled with the recipe. It could be that your sourdough starter is at a higher hydration than mine. If your dough is sticky, you can always add more flour, one tablespoon at a time, until you get the consistency you want to see. Lightly greasing your hands can also help during the shaping process. My baking pan is a 12 inch by 10 inch pan. They don’t touch when I initially put them on the pan, but they will touch when they’ve risen a bit.
These are incredible!! I made a batch and brought them to work, now I have folks asking me to make them for them for Thanksgiving!! Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe with us. 🙂
Yay! I’m so glad they had such an impact. They’re my family’s favorite rolls to make for thanksgiving too 🙂
Everyone in my family loved this recipe. The only thing I would change is to make smaller rolls as 80 g were more hamburger size and not dinner size. I made a dozen dinner size and froze them. Hopefully I can thaw them and do the second rise to have fresh ones on Thanksgiving.
Thank you for the suggestion and the feedback. I’m so glad you guys enjoyed them and I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving.
I am about to try these for Thanksgiving after reading the rave reviews! I’m wondering how long they stay fuffy after baking? I would like to bake them Tuesday. Should I wait until Wednesday?
They stay pretty fluffy, especially if you keep them tightly sealed in a plastic Ziploc bag. But for maximum fluff, you want them right out of the oven if possible. Since they don’t take too long to make, I suggest waiting until Wednesday in this case.
Hi! I don’t have a scale and am a bit confused on the measurement for the yeast. It says 18 something grams or 2 tablespoons. But my packets of yeast I have say they are 21 grams but I didn’t even get a full tablespoon from one full packet. Help lol!
Oh dang! I’m sorry for the confusion. I’m in the US, and I use google as a standard for all my measurement conversions. According to Google, 1 US Tablespoon of Dry Active Yeast weighs 9.3 grams, so 2 Tablespoons would weight 18 grams. I’ve never used yeast packets, but a quick search shows that the average yeast packet only has about 7 grams of yeast, not 21 grams. So maybe your yeast packet came as part of a three-packet that has a total of 21 grams?
They are probably using bulk yeast not packets
Great recipe, thank you!
I added cardamom, and mixed melted coconut oil and my oat/coconut coffee cream to brush on top with about 5 minutes left of baking.
I’ll be making these ahead to freeze and bake for our christmas work dinner 🙂 thanks again!
Oh cardamom is a fantastic addition to this recipe! Thank you for the tip.
Thank you for this delicious recipe! Such good rolls, perfect for hamburgers too.
That’s so wonderful to hear. Thank you for the kind words 🙂
I don’t have a mixer – is it a ton of work to mix this dough without, by hand? It’s great to find a vegan recipe for discard sourdough starter, thank you!
Sue, you can definitely mix these rolls by hand! In fact, this is one of the first recipes I made before I even owned a mixer and I loved making them by hand. It just takes a little longer to knead the dough to the right consistency, but it shouldn’t wear you out.
Will this take a large baking sheet to fit them all? Or can I use a 9×13 or 2 of them. Do they need space apart?
Hey Rachel, I currently use a 12 x 10 x 1 inch stainless steel baking sheet to fit them all. They do need a little bit of space between them so they can puff up together, but they don’t need an excessive amount. I think a 9 by 13 inch should fit them pretty well, but you’re welcome to space them out and use two if that’s your preference. These rolls are not fussy.
My only complaint is that I made these for Thanksgiving and now I have to make them for every family function for the rest of forever! Great texture. Great taste. Thanks for this recipe! I’m going to experiment with making this recipe into loaves next!
That’s awesome! Thank you so much. I hope you continue to have fun with the recipe 🙂
Needed a good sourdough discard recipe and this one did NOT disappoint! Will make this at least once a week! I portioned them out smaller (around 50g per roll) which made around 36 rolls. Experimented and filled some with cheese and one with sausage and cheese and it came out amazing!
Oh cheese and sausage would be perfect with these! Thank you so much for sharing.
These were easy and they turned out FANTASTIC!! I would experiment into making a shape like a hotdog, but keeping grams (80) consistent made for a consistently perfect bun!! I would make these again and again. Next time i eat them I’ll try some sandwhich filling, i just couldn’t get enough of the bun goodness! This is by far the best “discard” recipe.
Thank you so much for your positive feedback! I think hotdog buns would be lots of fun with this recipe. Let me know how that turns out if you try it. 🙂
These were fun and easy to make. Very light. But they have don’t have much flavor. I didn’t forget sugar or salt but it seems they need more of one or both. What do you suggest? Could I try adding more of both?
Hey Mary, these rolls are supposed to have a light sourdough flavor to match their light fluffy texture. I’m sorry the flavor wasn’t to your liking but I’m not entirely sure what you’re hoping for. If you want a stronger sourdough presence, you may need to let your starter mature for a bit longer. If you prefer a sweeter roll, more sugar. A savory one would need more salt. However, adding more sugar or more salt would affect the dough rise times (with sugar speeding things up and salt slowing things down).
Thank you for your response. I’m going to try a bit more salt to start.
Good luck Mary! I hope your next batch turns out beautifully.
I haven’t made these yet but have saved the recipe and plan to! My starter is 25% Rye and 75% All Purpose! So with the water and starter it is a 1-1-1. I would use All Purpose to make the buns! Just wondering if I would need to use less water since there is less protein in the flour?
That is a very good question. I haven’t tried this recipe with rye, so I can’t be absolutely certain. However, the amount of rye in your starter is small enough that I think the difference in water would be negligible. Generally speaking, rye flour bread typically need more water, not less, as it contains high amounts of water-absorbing pentosans.
Love love love this recipe! I use it for hamburger buns, sub buns, dinner rolls and more! So easy, always turns out and freezes very well.
Thank you so much Brenda! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed my recipe. I appreciate your comment.
I have made these a few times and we like very, but is it really supposed to be 2 tablespoons of yeast. That seems like a lot.
Hey Carol, that is a valid question, and yes, the yeast is correct. Generally speaking, many bakers recommend 1 package of yeast (2.25 teaspoons) for every 4 cups of flour. This recipe has 8.5 cups of flour, so it would need at least 4.75 teaspoons (1.5 tablespoons). Furthermore, sugar affects fermentation, and so this recipe includes a bit more yeast to compensate.
These look fabulous and I’m going to make today! Wondering if possible to replace vegetable oil with melted butter, and honey for sugar? Thank you! This is just what I was looking for!
Hey Gina! You can definitely replace vegetable oil with melted butter – they taste fantastic with this substitution. I have not replaced the sugar with honey, however. The honey introduces extra liquid, so you may have to add a bit more flour to compensate. Let me know how it goes?
My favourite recipe!! The fluffiest bread rolls ever!
I normally just use white flour like the recipe calls for but today I used 850 grams white and the rest whole wheat and they were still so beautiful!
I also sub out the sugar for honey.
I love using a mix of wheat and white flour in baking! And thank you so much for letting me know that honey works as a substitute for sugar – I’ve been curious about whether it charged the consistency of the dough. Your feedback has been super helpful.
Absolutely amazing! ???? Our family recently moved to Uganda and it’s very difficult to find good (soft, fluffy) bread here. Most of the expats I know make their own. But I’m gluten-free so that adds a level of complexity. I finally decided to try to make my own sourdough starter using a gluten-free 1-to-1 flour I get from Kenya. It worked REALLY well! So I tried this recipe… WOW! You never would have known they were gluten-free, and my husband said they are the softest, most American-like bread product he’s had since we arrived in Uganda. ???? We will absolutely be making these again! Thank you so much for such an easy and delicious recipe!
Oh wow! Thank you for such high praise. I’ve never tried this recipe with gluten free products so I’m glad that it worked well for you and your family.
Finally, finally, FINALLY! Gone are the days of sourdough dinner roll recipes that either come out like hard tack, or the dough is so wet and sticky and lacking shape that they never even rise during proofing and just slump over dead and can’t be baked! These rolls were FAN-F****ING-TASTIC!! Thank you so much! I can’t wait to experiment with these- olive and rosemary, cheddar and jalapeño, cinnamon rolls, using leftovers to make overnight sourdough French toast casserole…. The possibilities are *literally* endless! Thank you!!
Oh my goodness thank you! Your compliments made my day 🙂
These are amazing. They are perfectly fluffy! The only change I made was an accident… I closed the window on the phone and the history cleared, so I found a recipe which I thought was yours (it wasn’t) and it said to brush the tops with an egg wash, which I did. They are perfect! I will be saving this recipe so I don’t lose it, again!
Egg wash adds a a lot of fun color and texture to rolls so I’m glad that it worked out for you! Thanks so much for your comment 🙂
This is the only recipe I use for my discard. It’s so versatile. I’ve made caramel rolls, cinnamon bread, pepperoni bread, pizza crust, regular bread…. I am not good at using yeast. The key is to make the water warm as a hot tub. I always used to make mine too cold, but once I warmed the water up it worked. Also, make sure your yeast is fresh.
Wow that’s high praise and excellent advice! Thank you so much.