Sourdough Rolls

Sourdough rolls are the easiest way to bake with a starter — no tight shaping, just cut the dough into rustic pieces and bake. They use the same naturally leavened dough as our whole grain sourdough bread, made a little firmer so it’s simple to handle. Crusty outside, soft and open inside, and out of the oven in 20 minutes.

Sourdough Rolls

Crusty, rustic sourdough rolls made from our everyday whole grain dough — cut and baked with no fuss, soft and open inside.

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Prep Time 35 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Rise 20 hours hrs

Total Time 20 hours hrs 55 minutes mins

Servings: 12 rolls

Course: Bread

Cuisine: Scandinavian

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 140 g active sourdough starter about ⅔ cup — bubbly, doubled and at its peak
• 400 g water about 1⅔ cups, lukewarm
• 350 g bread flour about 3 cups — or sifted landhvete if you're in Scandinavia
• 150 g whole wheat flour about 1¼ cups — or fine wholemeal landhvete
• 100 g coarse / stoneground whole wheat flour a scant 1 cup — or coarse wholemeal landhvete
• 15 g fine sea salt about 2½ tsp
• rice flour a few tablespoons — for the cloth-lined basket and the counter; it resists sticking far better than wheat flour

Equipment

• Digital kitchen scale We bake everything by weight; it's the difference between a good bake and a lucky one.
• Bench scraper The key tool here: it cuts the cold dough into clean, rustic rolls in seconds.
• Banneton or a lidded tub For the overnight cold rise. Line it with a linen cloth dusted with rice flour for the cleanest release; a lidded tub works perfectly if you don't have one.
• Perforated baking tray Lets heat reach the base so the rolls crisp all over. Preheat it with the oven.
• Metal roasting tray Your steam source on the rack below. Metal only, never glass.
• Instant-read thermometer A quick check that the rolls are baked through: about 205°F (96°C) in the center.
• Wire cooling rack Keeps the bases crisp while the rolls cool.

Method

 

Day 1

1. Feed your starter the morning you bake (or the night before) so it's lively when you mix — it should have roughly doubled and look domed and bubbly. A spoonful floating in water is a good extra sign, but a whole grain starter can sink even when it's ready, so trust the rise first.
2. Mix the dough. Whisk the starter into the lukewarm water to loosen it. Add all three flours and mix by hand until no dry flour remains. Hold the salt back for now. Cover and rest 1 hour. (With the extra flour this dough feels firmer and less sticky than a standard sourdough — that's exactly what makes it easy to handle.)
3. Add the salt. Sprinkle it over and work it in thoroughly until fully incorporated.
4. Stretch and fold — every 30 minutes, at least 4 times. Wet hand, grab one side, stretch it up and fold over the center; turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat around (four pulls = one set). Cover, rest 30 minutes, repeat. Our Stretch & Fold Timer keeps track of the sets for you.
5. Bulk ferment until risen. Cover and let it rise at room temperature until grown by about 30–50%, domed and jiggly with bubbles on top and sides — roughly 4–6 hours total from mixing. Watch the dough, not the clock; our guide to bulk fermentation shows what to look for.
6. Cold retard overnight — as a mass. Don't shape yet. Transfer the dough straight into the fridge for 12–16 hours, left as one piece in a proofing basket lined with a cloth and dusted generously with rice flour — or a lidded tub if you don't have a basket. You'll shape right before baking — this is the whole trick to these rustic rolls.

Day 2

1. Preheat, hot. About 45–60 minutes before baking, heat the oven as hot as it goes — around 480°F (250°C) — with two trays inside: your perforated baking tray (or a regular baking sheet) on the middle rack, and an empty metal roasting tray on the rack below. Both metal, never glass — glass can shatter when the water hits it.
2. Cut the rolls. Tip the cold dough onto a well-floured counter (rice flour works best). With a bench scraper, cut it into 10–12 rough pieces — squares or wedges, handled as little as possible. The ragged cut edges are the look; don't tighten them. Lift each onto a sheet of parchment, close together for soft sides or spaced apart for crust all round.
3. Bake with steam. Slide the parchment onto the hot baking tray on the middle rack in one quick movement. Immediately pour about 1 cup of just-boiled water into the roasting tray below (stand back), and shut the door fast. Bake at 480°F (250°C) for 12 minutes.
4. Finish in dry heat. Take the roasting tray out, drop the oven to 400°F (200°C), and bake another 8 minutes or so until deeply golden. The rolls are done at about 205°F (96°C) internally — smaller ones may be ready a touch sooner, so go by deep color.
5. Cool on a wire rack for about 30 minutes (rolls cool much faster than a loaf)..

Notes

Chef’s tip: cut, don’t saw. Push the bench scraper straight down through the cold dough in one firm movement. A clean, single cut leaves the edge open, so it bursts and colors in the oven into that ragged, crusty look. Sawing back and forth drags the dough and seals the edge, and those rolls come out smoother and paler.

• Easy dough. The extra flour makes this far more forgiving to handle than a wet boule dough — a great one for beginners.
• No final proof. Cutting cold and baking right away keeps them rustic and fast; the rise comes from the overnight ferment.
• Rice flour on the counter (and in the basket) stops the dough from sticking.
• Soft-sided or crusty: set the pieces close together for pull-apart rolls with soft sides, or spaced apart for crustier rolls all around.

Rustic Sourdough Rolls — No Shaping Required

The whole point of these rolls is that you skip shaping. Tip out the cold dough, cut it into pieces with a bench scraper, and bake — the irregular shapes look handmade because they are. It’s the most forgiving way to bake with sourdough, and a bench scraper is the one tool that makes the cut clean and quick. When you’re ready to build tension into a full loaf, our guide to how to shape sourdough picks up from here.

About the dough (and the flour)

This is our everyday sourdough dough with 50 g of extra flour worked in, which firms it up and makes it easy to divide by hand. It’s a mix of sifted and whole grain wheat — about 40% whole grain. For the full breakdown on the flour, and how to adapt it outside Norway, see our whole grain sourdough bread. The same firmer dough also rolls into sourdough baguettes once you want a shaping challenge.

How to tell when they’re ready

Go by color and feel: deeply golden, light for their size, and about 205°F (96°C) inside. Let them cool for half an hour before tearing in — even rolls firm up as they cool. Our guide to sourdough baking temperature explains why the high start and the steam matter.

Serving and Storing Sourdough Rolls

They’re at their best the day they’re baked, split and buttered, or carrying cheese, cured meat or smoked salmon at breakfast. Keep them uncovered on a board for the first day; a bag softens the crust within hours.

Rolls freeze better than almost anything else you can bake. Freeze them the moment they’ve cooled, then crisp them straight from frozen in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 8–10 minutes. Any that go firm before you get to them are perfect for our leftover sourdough ideas.

More Nordic bakes you’ll love

• Sourdough Baguettes — the same firmer dough, rolled into long, crusty logs
• Beginner Sourdough Bread — your first full loaf, with one flour and simple shaping
• Brown Butter Sourdough Bread — a richer everyday loaf with a deep, nutty crust