Sourdough Rolls

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

Cook Time 20

Rise 20

Total Time 20 55

Servings: 12 rolls

Course: Bread

Cuisine: Scandinavian

140 g active sourdough starter (about ⅔ cup) bubbly, ripe, and passing the float test
400 g water (about 1⅔ cups) lukewarm
350 g bread flour (about 2¾ cups) or sifted landhvete
150 g whole wheat flour (about 1¼ cups) or fine wholemeal landhvete
100 g coarse / stoneground whole wheat flour (about ¾ cup) or coarse wholemeal landhvete
15 g fine sea salt (about 2½ tsp)

A digital kitchen scale — I bake everything by weight; it's the difference between a good bake and a lucky one.
A bench scraper — the key tool here: it cuts the cold dough into clean, rustic rolls in seconds.
A banneton or a lidded tub — for the overnight cold rise; a basket gives the nicest release, but a lidded tub works perfectly if you don't have one.

Day 1

Feed your starter the morning you bake (or the night before) so it's lively when you mix — domed, bubbly, and floating in water.
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.)
Add the salt. Sprinkle it over and work it in thoroughly until fully incorporated.
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.
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.
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 floured proofing basket 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

Preheat, hot. 45–60 minutes ahead, heat the oven as hot as it goes — around 250°C / 480°F — with two trays inside: your baking tray on the middle rack, and an empty metal roasting tray on the rack below. (Metal, never glass.)
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 parchment-lined perforated baking tray.
Bake with steam. Slide the tray onto the middle rack, immediately pour about 1 cup of just-boiled water into the roasting tray below (stand back), and shut the door fast. Bake at 250°C / 480°F for 12 minutes.
Finish in dry heat. Take the tray out, drop the oven to 200°C / 390°F, and bake another 8 minutes or so until deeply golden. Rolls are done at 96°C / 205°F internally — smaller ones may be ready a touch sooner, so go by deep color.
Cool. Cool on a wire rack for about 30 minutes (rolls cool much faster than a loaf).

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. Shaping cold and baking right away keeps it 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.