The best pull apart sourdough discard dinner rolls [egg free]

Soft, fluffy, slightly sweet and with a great chew, these pull apart sourdough discard dinner rolls are the best recipe.

A common trend on my blog is that recipes are generally easy to make with familiar ingredients. These dinner rolls are no exception. You want to bring the wow factor to the holiday party? Take these babies. You want a comforting homemade meal to sit around the table with your family? Make these babies. You want to indulge yourself in a pan of warm, buttery, and soft dinner rolls? These. Are. For. You!

The added bonus to these delicious rolls is that they use the leftover sourdough discard, making them a fiscally responsible choice as well as a healthy choice. Win-Win 😀

How to achieve the best pull apart sourdough discard dinner rolls:

whew, that title is a mouthful. And pretty soon your mouth will be full of delicious bread.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine sourdough discard, water, butter, yeast, and sugar. Mix it around while holding the dough hook with your hand. Next add the salt and flour, then attach dough hook and the bowl to the stand mixer. Turn on low-medium speed, for about 8-10 minutes, kneading with the dough hook. Add extra flour about a tablespoon or two at a time if dough seems particularly wet and not holding together well.

Place dough in a clear container so you can watch it rise; you want it to double in size at minimum. I find my sweet spot is about 2-3x the original size.

After you punch down the dough and take it out of the container, place on a kitchen scale and weigh it. Divide weight by 10 if you want 10 dinner rolls, or adjust accordingly to how many rolls you want.

Lay dough flat on the counter in a rectangular shape and cut strips using your bench scraper, weighing each one, for me it was 69 grams, per roll.

[Of course you can eye-ball it, but for for me it is so quick and easy, and I prefer the consistency in baking.]

To roll the dough into a ball, gather into a round shape using the ‘L’ crook of your hand turned into a circle, aka thumb and index finger meeting together to make a circle. Push the dough through the circle of your hand and gather the seam at the bottom, tightening it as you go. Almost as if it were a mushroom shape, with the smooth round top, then round off the bottom. See photos for a better visual. Place seam side down into the greased pan and repeat with remaining dough.

After all the dough has been shaped into dinner rolls, you can arrange them in a lightly greased oven safe pan of your liking, making them close together for the pull apart style of dinner rolls.

Pro tip, if you suck at ‘eye-balling’ things like me, I would encourage you to measure and take a picture of the size of the rolls so while you monitor them you’ll see how much they’ve risen and puffed out.

Cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rise for about 60 minutes, and when they’ve doubled in size again, place in preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Internal temperature should be around 200-210, and golden brown tops. You have the option to glaze them before baking, so instead of an egg wash I use milk and agave mixed in a small bowl and brushed on the tops right before they go in the oven. Totally optional step however it does add a bit of shiny-ness.

Voila! lather with butter if you’d like, and serve warm! They also freeze well too, if you like to get ahead of the game.

Things that helped in the kitchen for this recipe, and can help you too:

• Kitchen scale -from amazon, this one I used for 1-2 years, its inexpensive but gets the job done! The one I currently have is unavailable, but maybe your luck will change that when you stumble upon this post!
• Kitchen-aid stand mixer– amazon, or Costco- Like many of my essentials, I’ve had mine for years, don’t let the big price tag scare you.
• A container to watch and track your dough rise, and the lid both on amazon. It is beyond me why they don’t sell the container and lid together.
• Stainless steel bench scraper– amazon has many options, I have this curled handle one because it can go into the dishwasher and not get water stuck under any crevices! Also the handy measuring device built in? yes please, make my life easier.
• Food thermometer (amazon) to check the temperature of basically everything and anything. One of my most used and underrated kitchen tools.
• Pyrex baking dish amazon, the glass baking pans are so versatile.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This comes at no cost to you, just like a free Disney travel agent. I’m only here to make suggestions that hopefully help you 😉

dinner rolls not what you’re looking for? Head Home or checkout other amazing sourdough recipes!