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These super soft sourdough discard rolls couldn’t be easier to make – and you can have them ready in just a few hours!
This sourdough discard rolls recipe is a great way to use up excess sourdough discard (although you can use fed starter too!).
If you love my recipe for Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread, then you are going to love these sourdough discard rolls!
They are super simple, soft and tender with a slight sourdough tang.
Sourdough Pull Apart Rolls
I have chosen to shape these sourdough discard rolls into “pull apart rolls”. By placing them into a cast iron skillet and allowing them to rise “into each other” they form a deliciously soft pull apart rolls.
If you’d prefer individual rolls, you can place them further apart on a baking tray and allow them to rise.
The choice is entirely yours.
If you’re looking for other sourdough roll recipes you might also like to check out sourdough buttered knot rolls, Sourdough Hot Dog Rolls, Sourdough Sandwich Rolls, Sourdough Discard Hamburger Rolls, sourdough Tiger rolls or Soft & Sweet Sourdough Hawaiian Rolls. Or for the ultimate sourdough garlic buns, try this Sourdough Pampushky recipe.
Making Sourdough Discard Rolls
These rolls are super simple to make. Using commercial yeast along with sourdough discard allows you to have these on the table in record time.
The great thing is, you’ll still have some sourdough flavor by using your discard. They are a great way to use up some sourdough discard while you build your sourdough starter – but you can also use fed, active starter too!
The trick to getting the softest, squishiest rolls is allowing them to get super puffy on their second rise. If you don’t allow them to rise enough, they will be dense when you bake them.
How To Make Sourdough Discard Rolls
- Combine the sourdough discard, water, sugar and yeast into the bowl of your stand mixer or Thermomix and mix for 30 seconds until it’s foamy.
- Now, add the flour to the foamy mixture and combine until it forms a shaggy dough (around 30 seconds will do it). Leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes.
- Now add the salt and butter to the bowl and knead the dough for around 3 to 6 minutes.You want the dough to be elastic, silky and slapping the sides of the bowl. Just keep the mixer going until you achieve this. If you are using a stand mixer you’ll need to use your dough hook attachment for this step (see notes for other kneading options).
- Now you need to let your dough rise. You are using instant yeast as the leavening agent in this recipe, rather than sourdough/wild yeast, so it will rise very quickly, particularly if your home is warm.Leave it for around an hour (it will take longer if your house is cooler). You want it to double.
- Once the dough has doubled, tip it out onto the counter top. Divide the dough into equal pieces. You’ll need to use a set of scales to get them exactly weighted – or you do it by sight if you prefer. For this recipe I did 11 rolls at 86g each. If you want 12 rolls, you’d need to make them 78g.
- Shape each piece of dough into a ball and place the balls of dough into a cast iron skillet (see notes for options).
- Now you need to let the rolls rise again. It’s really important to make sure their soft and puffy before you bake them! This will take around an hour, depending on the temperature of your home.Make sure you cover them with a plastic food cover to stop them drying out.
- Once the rolls have risen, you’ll need to bake them.Turn your oven on and set the temperature to 180C/350F.Let it warm for around 10 minutes. Spray the top of your rolls with some water mist and place into the oven.
- Bake your rolls at 180C/350F for around 30 minutes or until they are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and while they’re still in the skillet, use a pastry brush to slather them in melted butter.
- Once the butter has soaked in, remove them from the skillet and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Can You Knead These By Hand?
Yes you absolutely can make this recipe by hand. I do prefer to use a stand mixer because I find it much easier to get a silky, elastic dough. It’s also easier to add the butter when the machine does it for you.
But if you don’t have a stand mixer – or you just don’t want to use one – you absolutely can mix by hand.Just follow the recipe as it is.
The only thing I would say you might want to change is to add the butter in small dots when you are hand kneading. If you add it all at once it can sometimes be hard to knead in thoroughly.
Flavor Additions for Sourdough Discard Rolls
While these rolls are truly delicious just as they are, there are always a few things you can do to jazz them up! Here are a few ideas:
- Brush the baked rolls with garlic butter and sprinkle with parsley
- Add 20g of honey and 50g of oats to the mixture. Top the risen rolls with rolled oats before baking.
- Add 40g of chopped jalapeños and 100g of grated cheddar to the dough or alternatively serve the rolls with spicy sweet jalapeño butter.
- Add 100g of chocolate chips to the dough and brush with golden syrup or whipped honey butter once baked.
- You might also like to use this dough to make sourdough discard monkey bread.
Freezing Instructions
These sourdough discard rolls freeze really well!
I have frozen these rolls with great success. I have frozen them as a whole “pull apart” without breaking them into individual rolls. I’ve also frozen a few leftover rolls on their own.
They have both frozen successfully wrapped in foil and placed into the freezer.
Allow them to come to room temperature before using. You can zap them in the microwave to make them soft again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes you can make this recipe dairy free by using vegan butter or your choice of oil. You can use the exact same weight as listed for butter in the recipe.
Yes you can omit the commercial yeast, but you will need to use active, fed sourdough starter instead of discard. You’ll also need to allow them to rise for a lot longer to ensure they are soft and squishy when you bake them.
I would not substitute more than 250g of bread flour for whole wheat flour. Using whole wheat flour will make the rolls more dense and less fluffy than if you used all bread flour.
Yes you can substitute the bread flour for all purpose flour in this recipe.
Sourdough Discard Rolls Recipe
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Digital Scales
- Cast Iron Skillet or Baking Tray
Ingredients
- 100 g Sourdough Discard , unfed sourdough starter
- 500 g Bread Flour, or All Purpose Flour
- 250 g Water
- 10 g Salt
- 20 g Sugar
- 60 g Butter, room temperature
- 7 g Instant Yeast
- 50 g Melted Butter, for brushing
Instructions
- Combine the sourdough discard, water, sugar and yeast into the bowl of your stand mixer or Thermomix and mix for 30 seconds until it's foamy.
- Now, add the flour to the foamy mixture and combine until it forms a shaggy dough (around 30 seconds will do it). Leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes.
- Now add the salt and butter to the bowl and knead the dough for around 3 to 6 minutes. You want the dough to be elastic, silky and slapping the sides of the bowl. Just keep the mixer going until you achieve this. If you are using a stand mixer you'll need to use your dough hook attachment for this step (see notes for other kneading options).
- Now you need to let your dough rise. You are using instant yeast as the leavening agent in this recipe, rather than sourdough/wild yeast, so it will rise very quickly, particularly if your home is warm. Leave it for around an hour (it will take longer if your house is cooler). You want it to double.
- Once the dough has doubled, tip it out onto the counter top. Divide the dough into equal pieces. You'll need to use a set of scales to get them exactly weighted – or you do it by sight if you prefer. For this recipe I did 11 rolls at 86g each. If you want 12 rolls, you'd need to make them 78g.
- Shape each piece of dough into a ball and place the balls of dough into a cast iron skillet (see notes for options).
- Now you need to let the rolls rise again. It's really important to make sure their soft and puffy before you bake them!This will take around an hour, depending on the temperature of your home.Make sure you cover them with a plastic food cover to stop them drying out.
- Once the rolls have risen, you'll need to bake them.Turn your oven on and set the temperature to 180C/350F. Let it warm for around 10 minutes. Spray the top of your rolls with some water mist and place into the oven.
- Bake your rolls at 180C/350F for around 30 minutes or until they are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and while they're still in the skillet, use a pastry brush to slather them in melted butter.
- Once the butter has soaked in, remove them from the skillet and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Rate and comment below!
The best rolls I have ever made. I recently decided to concer the fact that I couldn’t make good rolls. So this recipe is so great and easy, it is explained very well. They are just so darn good.
Hi! Can you tell me what size cast iron skillet you used? Hope to try these this weekend for Father’s Day!
Thank you
All the recipes I’ve tried have been spot on. Very impressed. Just love trying something out with a confidence that it will be terrific. Thank you so much.
If I use active starter can I omit the yeast?
These were so quick and easy to make. They are delicious and a favorite recipe! (I used a cast iron pan)
Thanks for the bread machine idea! Worked great, and saved time!
Easy instructions. My family loved them!
This is a great recipe. I just dumped all the ingredinets in my bread machine on the dough setting (no frothing etc) and at the end of the dough cycle (1.5 hrs) I shaped let rise 1 hr and baked. They rose a Lot, my starter might have still been a little Alive, but it just made it better if anything.
Great recipe thank you!
What a great idea to use the bread machine. I am pressed for time today. This will help me so much.😊
Thank you for the recipe! I don’t have a stand mixer. So thank you to Jen in the comments, I will try it in my Bread machine. 😀
How big is the pan?
fantastic rolls. easy to make for dinner with few hours notice. My husband thought they were the best rolls I ever made.
Fabulous rolls, easy and very tasty, thank you for all the great recipes and tips. 🙏
Can the sour dough starter be omitted?
Perfect recipe! I used your adaption for honey oat on your discard sandwich bread recipe and they were beautiful looking rolls.
What diameter cast iron skillet did you use? And I’m assuming I would use the same size skillet if I’m making 12 rolls instead of 10.
First time making these I followed the recipe exactly and they are perfect. I thought the dough was too dry but it wasn’t. It was just that I am not familiar and I have never worked with such dry dough.
Love this recipe! Will definitely be making them often!
Fantastic recipe. I needed a bit longer rise on mine as my house was a bit cool. And I foolishly decided to bake 5 minutes longer to get some browning and over baked them, still wonderful. Won’t do that tomorrow when I bake them again. The FB Sourdough discard groups is baking up a storm of these rolls the past few weeks, we love them.
Best rolls I’ve made in awhile. Recipe is a keeper!!
Have you ever doubled this recipe? Or is it best to keep it single? I want to make a large batch of them if I can.
Thank you,
Daisy
These rolls taste fantastic so thank you. Can these be prepped and refrigerated then baked the next day. If yes, should I shape and refrigerate or shape them the day I plan to bake them. Thanks
I am wondering the same
Wondering the same!! I need to know before thanksgiving 😅
I made some the day of baking and shaped and stored in cooked in fridge. Came out perfectly both ways. I let the rise occur day of baking which took approximately 80 minutes
I made these rolls today for Thanksgiving. They came out delicious! I put my rolls in a 9×13 baking dish because my cast iron was being used for something else…I also started the dough the day before because I have to work very early.. took them out of the fridge let them get to room temperature and it worked out beautifully! Thank you for sharing!
Can you make the rolls after the first rise, then freeze individually, and store in a ziplock in the freezer? I’d love to keep a batch in the freezer,pull out small amounts, and do a final rise as needed. Do you think that will work?
Can I use bleached all purpose flour or does it have to be unbleached?
What is the best way to travel with these? I leave Tuesday for thanksgiving. Should I freeze?thanks
What size cast iron skillet do you use
Do you have to use a cast iron pan?
Can this be made without sugar
Or is it necessary since using discard?
Yes you can omit the sugar if you wish 🙂 TPM x
Hi! I want to make your Christmas tree pull apart bread using discard and someone mentioned this roll recipe. Do you think using this dough with the garlic cheese filling will work? Love all your recipes!
I accidentally used active dry yeast in stead of instant.
Do you think it’ll still turn out if I follow the instructions elsewise?
No problems, it’s still yeast and will do the same thing. TPM x
What should I do differently if I want to omit the yeast?
My rolls didn’t double in size. I used gluten free flour. Is this why?
These rolls are not designed to use gluten free flour 🙂 They have only been tested with wheat based flour 🙂
I made these before and LOVED them!! I need to bake them tonight, but I need them to serve tommorow, how would you reccommend I store them for the freshest reslults?
I’d probably pop them in the fridge after shaping and then allow them to proof right before I bake them, that way they are fresh. But if you want to bake them tonight, you’d need to wrap them in a plastic bag once cool to keep them soft.
Perfect, I add a little milk powder for myself and doubled the recipe.at 70g per roll, I made 27. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi! I want to make your Christmas tree pull apart bread using discard and someone mentioned this roll recipe. Do you think using this dough with the garlic cheese filling will work? Love all your recipes!
Yes you can definitely fill these rolls with the cheese and garlic filling 🙂 or if you just want to follow the Christmas Tree Pull Apart, just use the discard in that recipe with 7g of yeast (and shorten rising times to account for the yeast) – TPM xx
I’m excited to make these tomorrow. To double the recipe, do I double everything, including the starter? Thank you!
Grrrrrrrreat recipe! These rolls are pure perfection.
I saw someone’s comment about using their bread machine so of course I did – couldn’t not have been easier, what a beautiful dough to work with. Also used your cast iron suggestion for baking. I made and shaped the rolls, refrigerated till the next day, let them rise and then baked off.
– I am just starting the sourdough “adventure” and nice to have so many recipes for the discard. Trying your pizza dough next!
Thanks for a perfect recipe –
I am so confused. I followed to a “t” and used my skillet to cook them. They look like they have completely baked together and will not brown. They are hard on top and still whitish in color. What did I do wrong?
Very delicious abd super easy to make but I’m wondering if these can go through a cold rise in the refrigerator over night instead of same day?
Love this recipe! I wish I could post a picture of how good the rolls turned out
Can i shape these and let sit in fridge overnight before baking next day?
I noticed this recipe is the same, ingredients wise, as the discard sandwich bread. If I started out making the sandwich bread and following that recipe, meaning I mixed the ingredients in the order of that recipe instead of this one, could I switch and finish the recipe using the instructions for the rolls?
What is the best way to store these? I need to make 200 for my sister’s wedding. Her wedding is on a Saturday and I want to bake these on Thursday. Thanks so much!!
They would need to be frozen to stay fresh, they will go stale unless in the freezer 🙂