Artisan Sourdough Rolls (with Everything Bagel Topping)

Delicious artisan sourdough rolls with a crusty exterior and chewy interior. A great addition to your sourdough recipes, these make perfect dinner rolls, slider rolls, or split and toasted for breakfast.

Another great recipe you will find on our Best Breads Recipe page.

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It’s been awhile since I’ve had a new sourdough recipe for you. Mainly it’s because I use my starter mostly for artisan bread, the cheesy batter bread, and English muffins (among others), since they are so good.

But I’ve wanted a sourdough dinner roll option for awhile, and when I saw this fun recipe at King Arthur, I knew it was something I’d want to adapt. Because chewy artisan rolls baked in a pot? With an everything bagel topping? And in a pretty round presentation? Yes, yes, and yes.

There were a couple of problems with the KA recipe for this simple baker, though.

The main one being the $100 baking pan they list as the only way to make them. Um, no. It was enough for me to cough up half that for my enamel pot for the artisan bread!

The cooking method was created for that expensive pot, so that would have to be changed, plus the recipe called for a specialized ingredient that most people don’t have (non-diastatic malt powder), as well as added yeast (my #1 problem with most KA Flour sourdough recipes…).

So I started experimenting.

I tried two pots – my enamel cast iron pot and a regular cast iron dutch oven. I used all regular whole wheat and half whole wheat/half all purpose flours. I made it with an equivalent of the special ingredient (barley malt syrup) and without.

Then I tested a cooking method that is similar to the original, but works with the cast iron pots. (Basically, I was trying to avoid putting a cold enamel cast iron pot into a screaming hot 500 degree oven – my recipes that use the enamel cast iron pots all allow the pot to heat with the oven first.)

And I have to say the results are fantastic – we’ve devoured these rolls whenever I’ve made them!

Artisan Sourdough Rolls Tips

• Either type of pot works, regular cast iron and enamel coated, for this recipe. You might be able to use a 5-6 quart stainless stock pot with a heavy lid, but because this goes into cold oven, I don’t recommend cooking uncovered on a baking stone or cookie sheet. (Note: I did see a review on the original recipe where they used a round cake pan inside a turkey roaster with a lid.)
• Simpler is better. We couldn’t tell a difference between the rolls made with the malt and without, so I don’t include it.
• All whole wheat made them a bit heavy, so I make them with about half whole wheat and half unbleached flour (I only buy unbleached all-purpose flour since it hasn’t been treated with chemicals). My starter is whole wheat as well. However, you can make them with only unbleached all purpose flour or a regular bread flour, I just always lean to more whole wheat in baking. I haven’t tried all white whole wheat flour yet – that might be good.
• To give the starter time to work without the added yeast, I increased the first rise time to 4 hours, and the second to an hour, which is still enough to have the rolls ready for dinner when started in the morning. You can also let the first rise go overnight in the fridge, though you’ll need closer to a 2 hour rise after shaping.
• The everything bagel topping is optional, but it is SO good and makes them look so pretty, don’t you think?

How to Make Sourdough Rolls

Ingredients

The main ingredient in sourdough bread is the sourdough starter, of course. You will need a fed starter, one that has doubled after being fed in less than 6 hours.

You can also do a float test: drop about a half teaspoon of starter into a cup of water and if it floats, it is ready to bake with.

Go here to read more about creating a starter from scratch, caring for it, and storing tips.

In addition to your fed starter, you will need these simple ingredients:

• Flour, either part whole wheat and part unbleached/all purpose (or bread flour), or only unbleached/all purpose or bread flour. White whole wheat is an option, too.
• Salt
• Water
• For optional topping: everything bagel seasoning and an egg for a wash.

Note: you can easily make your own bagel seasoning. Mix all the following in a small jar:

• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1 tablespoon dried garlic flakes
• 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
• 2-3 teaspoons coarse salt (like kosher), to taste

Tools You’ll Need

• Stand Mixer (optional, but of course makes it easier!)
• Tea towel and bench scraper or sharp knife
• Plastic bowl cover (I’ve found plastic better than towels at keeping the dough moist and these are still washable and reusable – I’ve had mine for years.)
• 4 to 6 quart enamel cast iron pot or regular cast iron dutch oven
• Parchment paper
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Pastry brush

Instructions

Make the Dough

Place all of the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and stir to fully combine. You can also use a bread machine for this part or a mixing bowl to make by hand.

Knead for 3 minutes with a dough hook (or 5 minutes by hand, or according to your bread machine) to make a smooth dough. It should still be a bit somewhat tacky.

Cover the dough in the bowl with a plastic cover (a towel doesn’t keep it moist enough) and leave to ferment and rise for 4 hours at room temperature.

Alternately, you can make the dough in the evening and leave it to rise overnight in the refrigerator.

After four hours the dough should look puffy and doubled in size.

Depending on your starter and your kitchen temperature, this could take slightly less or more time, so adjust accordingly.

Shape the Rolls

Turn the dough out onto a floured tea towel (my tip for easier clean up and less sticking) and divide the dough into 10 roughly equal portions.

You can weigh them if you’re concerned about exact sizes, though I never do (to do that, weigh the entire dough and then divide that by 10 to get the amount each portion should weigh).

Shape each portion into a ball with floured hands.

Rise & Top The Rolls

Line your enameled or regular cast iron pot with a piece of parchment paper and arrange the dough balls in a pattern of 1 in the middle and 9 around the outside.

TIP: The bigger your pot, the more rounded the outside rolls will be. The pot pictured is a 4-quart and the rolls are a bit more triangular shaped after baking than when I made them in my 6-quart enamel pot.

Cover the pot with your plastic cover and let the shaped rolls rise for another hour (2 hours if you did an overnight rise). They may not double, but should look puffier.

Before baking, make an egg wash and brush it on top of the rolls, followed by about a teaspoon on each roll of the optional everything bagel seasoning.

Bake the Rolls

The baking technique is a bit different, but one I read about in Cooks Illustrated years ago. You’re going to place the pot, with the lid on, in a COLD oven and turn the temperature to 425 degrees.

Then WAIT to set the timer until the oven comes up to 425 – so you have to hang around the kitchen for 10 minutes or so.

When the oven is at 425 degrees, then set the timer for 20 minutes. When the timer goes off remove the lid and bake for 10-15 minutes more, until tops are golden. You can also use an instant read thermometer in the center of one roll to double check doneness – it should read 205 degrees.

Remove from oven and use parchment edges to transfer rolls to a rack to cool completely.

Do these sourdough rolls freeze well?

Yes, we have frozen them for 3 months in an airtight container and when reheated in a toaster oven were almost like fresh from the oven!

More Sourdough Recipes to Try:

• Easy Sourdough Artisan Bread Recipe
• Amazing Whole Wheat Sourdough Waffles Recipe
• How To Make Homemade Sourdough Bagels
• Sourdough Whole Wheat Crackers Recipe

 

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