Sourdough discard dinner rolls are super easy to make even for sourdough novices! We give you a basic recipe for sourdough dinner rolls, and then show you three simple ways to customize them with different inclusions like herbs or pumpkin, as well as different ways to top the rolls like egg wash or honey butter. You can use active starter for this recipe, but it isn’t necessary at all. So, grab your starter and a mixing bowl; we’re off to learn a simple recipe for sourdough discard dinner rolls! 
More Simple Sourdough Recipes for Later:
Pita Bread – great for sandwiches on the go.
Pumpkin Biscuits – great for discard (not a long ferment recipe)
What is Sourdough Discard?
Discard means “to throw away”; sourdough discard is part of the starter you could potentially throw away. Instead of throwing the starter out, it’s much more economical to find ways to use it in recipes. Hence, you will see a lot of sourdough discard recipes online!
Here’s a little bit more from our article Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread wherein we explain quite a bit about discard.
Sourdough bread usually refers to a loaf of bread made with active, bubbly sourdough starter. In some recipes, there will also be commercial yeast, but none of my sourdough recipes include it.
Discard bread usually refers to a loaf of sourdough bread made with “discard”. Sourdough discard is simply sourdough starter that hasn’t been fed yet. This is also known as unfed starter. …
Discard means to throw away, but you don’t need to toss unfed starter because you can use it in any sourdough recipe. If I don’t feel like baking and I happen to have extra starter, I give it to my chickens and ducks to supplement their feed. They love it!”
For more information, please see the article.
- The bottom line on starter is that you should never have a reason to throw out sourdough starter!
Sourdough Discard Dinner Rolls (3 Ways)
Here’s a basic recipe for simple sourdough discard dinner rolls that you can make for holidays, special days, or any day of the week! We give you several variations and inclusions to make these rolls unique. Your family won’t even know that they’re being served the same recipe because you’ve added your own twist!
Sourdough Discard Dinner Rolls (3 Ways!)
Ingredients
Sourdough Discard Dinner Roll
- 3 Cups Organic White Flour
- 1 tsp. Sea Salt
- 2 - 4 Tbsp. Fresh Herbs, Diced
- 1/2 Cup Mashed Potato or Mayonnaise or Sour Cream
- 1 Cup Water or Whole Milk or Whey
- 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil or Melted Butter or Coconut Oil
- 1/2 Cup Sourdough Discard
Optional Egg Wash
- 1 Fresh Egg, Beaten
Optional Honey Butter Spread
- 2 Tbsp. Melted Butter
- 2 Tbsp. Honey
Optional Add-Ins
- 4 Tbsp. Fresh* Rosemary Leaves, Chopped or any Fresh Herb
- 1/2 Cup Chunky Cranberry Sauce
- 1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree, Drained or any Winter Squash Puree
Instructions
Initial Mix
- In a medium sized bowl, mix 3 cups of organic white flour and 1 tsp. of sea salt. Mix in diced, fresh herbs (2-4 Tbsp.), if using.
- In another bowl, mash a previous baked or boiled potato until completely pulverized, if using.
- In another bowl, mix 1 cup of water or milk, 2 Tbsp. olive oil, and 1/2 cup of mashed potato (or mayonnaise or full fat sour cream). Add 1/2 cup of starter and mix everything together until mostly smooth.
- Add the wet ingredients (including potato, if using) to the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Knead for 8-10 minutes; cover and set aside for 6 hours. If performing stretch and folds, omit kneading, cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
- If performing stretch and folds, do so every half hour over the next hour and a half. See the post to learn more about stretching and folding your dough in place of kneading.
Shape, Rise, & Bake
- Remove the dough from the bowl and perform one final stretch and fold. Roll the dough into a log and cut the dough into 9-12 equal portions. Roll them a bit in our hand to create a uniform shape. Place the rolls onto a parchment lined baking sheet at least an inch apart.
- Cover with parchment paper and a towel and allow to rise for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size. If your starter was less active or your house is cold, this might take longer than 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350F/176C and use a pastry brush to cover the rolls with the egg wash, if using.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. An inserted thermometer should read 190F/88C when the rolls are done. Remove from the oven and place on a bakers rack to cool or serve immediately.
Honey Butter Spread
- Mix equal parts room temperature butter to honey until completely incorporated. May also use a hand mixer to whip the honey butter for more volume and "fluff".
Notes
- Make a plain roll with no herbs and no add-ins.
- Or add one herb to the basic recipe.
- Or add one puree to the basic recipe.
- The honey butter recipe pairs particularly well with pumpkin rolls, FYI.
- If the rolls have increased in size and maybe even have small blisters forming on the surface, they're ready to bake.
- Over-proofed dough will usually have lots of blisters or wrinkles where blisters have collapsed.
- It will also start to look loose and flabby - not able to hold its structure well.
- It may also have a strong alcohol/yeasty smell.
Instructions for Stretch & Folds for Sourdough
To learn more about stretching and folding your dough, please visit Sourdough Bread – Beginner Recipe. This article has A LOT of great beginner information for sourdough bread baking.
In brief, here’s how to perform an easy stretch and fold:
- After your dough has sat 30-60 minutes, remove the lid, and wet your hands to prevent sticking.
- Gather the dough and stretch the dough up a bit and fold it over itself.
- Rotate the dough a bit and repeat the stretch and fold process. Pull up on one side of the dough, stretch it, and fold it over on itself.
- Rotate the dough until you’ve stretched it 4-8 times on all sides.
- Return the dough to the bowl and cover it; allow it to sit another 30-60 minutes.
- Stretch and fold the dough 1-2 more times, and then allow it to rest for the rest of its fermentation time.
You’ll notice that each time you stretch and fold the dough, it gets more resistant to your stretching. This means the gluten is forming strong strands that will give good structure to your loaf.
- I no longer knead my bread because it hurts my not-20-year-old-shoulders. Strething and folding works great for me!
More Sourdough Discard Dinner Rolls Notes
I like using my cupcake carrier to cover and rise my sourdough discard dinner rolls. They’re tall enough, they keep the dough moist, and they keep the cats and kids out!
This recipe is very versatile, so don’t let all the options confuse you. Here are some ideas for you:
- Make a plain roll with no herbs and no add-ins.
- Or add one herb to the basic recipe.
- Or add one puree to the basic recipe.
After you’ve made the basic recipe several times, you can start experimenting with your own ideas. These rolls are simple and delicious – you’ve got this!
*If using dried herbs, reduce the amounts to 2 tsp.
The egg wash will give the rolls golden tops when baked, but it is optional. You can similarly wash them with cream.
You can also cover the rolls in butter when they come out of the oven to give their tops a delicious texture.
- The honey butter recipe pairs particularly well with pumpkin rolls, FYI.
Here are a few other specialty butters and toppings to consider:
How to Make Vegan Butter from Loving it Vegan
Maple Butter from Olives & Thyme
Maple Yogurt Cheese – great inside these rolls!
Make Ahead
If you need to whip these up the night before, shape the rolls and place them on parchment paper in a container with a lid. Put this container into the fridge to ferment overnight.
The cold will slow down the ferment a bit so that you can pull them out in the morning to come to room temperature. You may want to let them rise a bit more, too.
- If the rolls have increased in size and maybe even have small blisters forming on the surface, they’re ready to bake.
I love using my refrigerator to slow down ferment time so that I can bake when it’s convenient!
Heavy Dough & Over-Proofing
Follow the recipe and everything will turn out wonderfully! However, if you have trouble, here are some things of which you should be aware.
Add-ins, especially wet ones like pumpkin and cranberry sauce, will weigh down your dough no matter how long it rises. The trade-off is that they’re amazingly delicious! Just be sure that you don’t over-proof your rolls waiting for them to get super big and fluffy.
This is also true if you have used whole wheat flour or an ancient grain like Einkorn. The rolls will bake up beautifully and taste divine, but whole wheat flours are heavier than any white, bran-free flour.
- Over-proofed dough will usually have lots of blisters or wrinkles where blisters have collapsed.
- It will also start to look loose and flabby – not able to hold its structure well.
- It may also have a strong alcohol/yeasty smell.
You probably won’t, but should you happen to over-proof your dough, try making:
These weird but delicious sourdough pan-fried donuts!
Or a foccacia bread that will work beautifully with any dinner plan.
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These were so easy and delicious. My house is cold so the rise took longer but I’m experienced in sourdough and knew what the expect. My kids were raving about them. The texture is phenomenal. I used dried Italian herbs and even the dough smelled enticing. Will definitely make again, trying different variations. I used the milk, sour cream, and olive oil variation this time. I may do one with cranberries and cinnamon /cardamom for Christmas.
Thanks so much for taking time to share that – so glad they were a hit! Thank you for letting me know about omitting the instructions for the oil addition. Got that fixed!
The spiced rolls are amazing toasted, FYI. Coconut oil mixed with butter is great to melt into them while they’re hot.