Crusty Sourdough Bread Rolls

These crusty sourdough bread rolls are made using dough that has been shaped and cold fermented as a batard, but cut into smaller pieces right before baking to create individual rolls that are crusty on the outside and soft and delicious on the inside.

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Keyword Sourdough Bread, Sourdough Recipes

Prep Time 4

Cook Time 45

Fermentation Time 22

Total Time 1 2 45

Servings Rolls

Calories 231kcal

Equipment

Mixing Bowl
Digital Scales
Banneton
Dutch Oven

Ingredients

500 g Bread Flour
350 g Water
50 g Sourdough Starter (active and bubbly, increase to 100g if needed).
10 g Salt

Instructions

Weigh out your sourdough starter and water into a large ceramic or glass bowl. Mix the water and starter together briefly. Then add your flour and salt and mix whole lot together to form a shaggy dough.
Cover your bowl and let it sit for around 1 hour (this is called autolyse).
After the dough has been through autolyse you need to bring it together into a ball. Work your way around the bowl, grabbing the dough from the outside, stretching it up and over itself, into the centre, until a smooth ball is formed. You shouldn't need more than about 20-30 stretches to form the ball.
Once the dough has formed into a smooth ball, cover it again and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Over the next few hours you need to create some structure for your dough by "stretching and folding".
Aim to do around 4-6 sets of stretches and folds.
For each set, stretch the dough up and over itself 4 times. Leave around 15 minutes in between each set. You do not have to be exact with time, but you need to do at least 4 sets over 2 hours.
Bulk Ferment
Once you've finished your stretch and folds, place the cling film or damp tea towel back over your dough and let it rest and ferment (a plastic cover is a better option for this stage). You want the dough to double.
Shaping The Dough
Once your dough has finished it's first ferment, it's time to shape it into a batard.
You will need a banneton to put your dough into.
Placing Into A Banneton
Once the dough is shaped, place it into your banneton smooth side down, so your seam is on the top.
Cold Ferment
Now place the dough into the fridge, covered with a plastic cover, for around 24 hours to cold ferment until you're ready to cut it into rolls and bake them.
Preparing To Bake
Once you're ready to bake your crusty sourdough rolls, you'll need to preheat your oven to 230C/450F.
If you are going to use a cast iron bread pan, place this into the oven to preheat as well.
Cutting the Rolls
When your oven is at temperature, take your sourdough batard out of the fridge. Tip the dough out of the banneton, straight out onto a clean work surface.
Working quickly, cut the batard in 2 length ways using a dough scraper, and then cut each half into 4 small pieces. Gently tuck the dough under each piece, forming them into rough rounds and place them on a sheet of baking paper with a little space between each one. Just be really gentle and shape them without actually squashing them - you want to preserve as many of those precious gas bubbles as possible.
Baking the Rolls
Cast Iron Bread Pan - take the hot bread pan out of the oven and gently lower the rolls in using the parchment paper. Place the lid securely on top and place into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F plus 10-15 Minutes with the lid off at 210C/410F.
Open Baking on Cookie Sheet - place the parchment paper containing the sourdough rolls onto the cookie sheet and then spray the rolls liberally with water mist. Place immediately into the hot oven and bake at 230C/450F and then a further 10-15 Minutes at 210C/410F or until the rolls are sufficiently golden and crusty.
When you remove your crusty sourdough bread rolls from the oven, carefully remove them from the cast iron bread pan or cookie sheet as soon as possible and place on a wire rack to cool.
Finishing The Bake
When you remove your crusty sourdough bread rolls from the oven, carefully remove them from the Dutch oven as soon as possible and place on a wire rack to cool.

Notes

Notes on Flour: This recipe is written using strong Bread Flour. Bread flour has a higher protein content than All Purpose flour. If you choose to use All Purpose flour you may have a different result because of this. You can read more about the differences between All Purpose Flour and Bread Flour here.

Notes on Sourdough Starter: This recipe is based on you having an active starter that you have fed a few hours before starting your bake. For info on how to make a sourdough starter. You can use between 50g and 100g of sourdough starter, depending on the temperature of your home.

Notes on Stretch & Folds: If you are going to do the stretch & folds on your bench top, spray your surface with water mist rather than using flour. You can leave the dough in the bowl if you want to. Wet your hands to stop the dough sticking - although it shouldn't be too sticky. It will get less sticky as you do your stretches and folds. For more information on how to do stretch and folds, go here.

Notes on Bulk Fermentation: If your home is warm then your dough will ferment a lot faster and could be done in as little as a few hours. If it's colder, it will take longer, possibly overnight.
I would recommend that you try to do your first few bulk ferments during daylight hours so that you can watch your dough closely.
Once you're more familiar with the process - and the temperature of your home - you will be able to do overnight ferments. You will know your dough is ready to move to the next stage when it has *just* doubled in size. It will be fairly wobbly and full of bubbles. You should be able to see large air bubbles under the surface of the dough.
You don't want to let it go any further than doubled as it will be over fermented.
If you want to do an overnight ferment, but your home is warm, consider using a little less starter (ie 25g).
Less starter means your dough will take longer to ferment and you will reduce the risk of over fermenting your dough.
You'll find more information on these topics here:

When is my bulk ferment finished?
What is the difference between cold ferment and bulk ferment?
Why does the amount of starter matter?

Notes on Baking: You can bake these crusty sourdough bread rolls in a cast iron bread pan (that's generally how I bake them). The rolls will touch each other if baking this way and you will need to pull them apart. If you'd prefer individual rolls then you can space them out on a cookie sheet or put them on a pizza stone. This way you'll get a crusty roll all the way around.

Nutrition