Sourdough Dinner Rolls- No Yeast!

These sourdough dinner rolls have no yeast, a perfect crust, a chewy crumb, and are so easy to make! Pile them high in a bread basket and slather them with the best butter you can find! The best part is you don't have to knead them!

I started my sourdough journey the Summer after I had my son. I've always wanted to learn how to make my own bread and have my kids enjoy homemade bread. My daughter calls my sourdough "mommy bread" and she eats it's all the time!

The first book I bought to learn about sourdough was Emilie Raffa's Artisan Sourdough Made Simple. This recipe is inspired by the sourdough dinner rolls that are in that book. I've made these rolls thousands of times! Every time I make them, everyone loves them!

With the Fall here and Winter in New England just around the corner, you better believe I'll be giving my sourdough starter a good workout! These would be perfect to dunk in New England clam chowder, Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower soup, or our favorite roasted cherry tomato soup.

Why You'll Love These Dinner Rolls

• You don't need any crazy equipment! These rolls are no knead! No need to break out the stand mixer either. You'll mix everything by hand or with a spoon.
• You don't need any yeast! These are no yeast rolls! An active, bubbly sourdough starter is essential in making these dinner rolls or our Hawaiian sourdough rolls. Check out this post about how to keep your starter happy!
• They are great to make ahead! This dough can be made ahead of time and then baked off, or you can bake the rolls and keep them stored for a few days, reheating when ready to serve.

What Makes Sourdough Rolls Different?

Sourdough tends to be more nutritious then regular bread. That's because the long fermentation of the natural yeast makes the gluten in bread easier to digest. Whenever possible, I try to make sourdough bread for my family. Making bread in my own kitchen eases my mind that my family isn't getting all the preservatives and extra unnecessary ingredients that are often in store bought breads.

Sourdough is super healthy, easy to make, and delicious! You'd be amazed what a little bit of patience and some high quality ingredients will get you.

Ingredients You'll Need

• Sourdough Starter- It should be bubbly and active. This dough is best to make on a Saturday night, so your starter should be fed Thursday and Friday so it's ready to go by Saturday afternoon. You can make your own sourdough starter from scratch, buy it, or get one from a sourdough friend.
• Flours- I like to use a combination of whole wheat flour and bread flour. You can use all bread flour if that's what's available.
• Honey- Granulated sugar is a good substitute if you don't have honey.
• Milk- Creates a velvety, rich crumb. Whole milk is great but I have also used almond milk and they come out perfectly.
• Water- Warm water is best. It should be around 100 degrees, or a little above room temperature.

See printable recipe card for full recipe information on ingredients and quantities.

How To Measure the Ingredients

It's best to measure the ingredients on a kitchen scale. Baking is science, so you want to be as accurate as possible to get the best results. If you don't have a kitchen scale yet, I'd suggest buying one. You'll get a lot of use out of it when making sourdough bread.

Example Baking Schedule

• 10:00PM- Feed sourdough starter
• 8:00AM- Mix together starter, warm water, warm milk, and honey. Add flours and salt. Let the dough rest.
• 8:45AM- Form the dough into a ball and let it rest for 8 hours until doubled in size.
• 4:00PM- Cut the dough into 12 dough balls and place them on a baking sheet. Let them rest until puffy.
• 5:00PM- Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake.
• 5:30PM- Serve

How To Make No Yeast Sourdough Dinner Rolls

Step 1: Mix together the warm water, warm milk, active sourdough starter, and honey.

Step 2: Add the flours and salt to the bowl. With your hands or a fork, mix well.

Step 3: The dough will look very shaggy, but that's ok! At this time, the dough needs to rest for 45 minutes to relax the gluten in the dough.

Step 4: With your hands, work the dough into a ball in the bowl and cover the bowl with a damp towel. Place the bowl in a warm, draft free place, such as an off oven. Allow the dough to rise for 8-10 hours.

Step 5: After 8 hours and once the dough has doubled in size, place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Stretch the dough to an 8x11 rectangle and cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. You can either eyeball equal sizes, or you can grab your kitchen scale and weigh out the dough balls to ensure they are equal in size.

Step 6: Form the pieces of dough into balls. Take the edges of the dough and roll them into balls. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet with a damp cloth and allow the dough to rise for an hour, until the balls are light and puffy.

Step 7: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Score each dough ball to allow for them to expand. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes until the rolls are golden brown.

Making the Rolls Ahead of Time

This dough is perfect to make ahead of time! You can make the dough ahead of time, or you can bake the rolls ahead of time and then reheat them when you are ready to serve the,

Making the dough

Once the dough has been mixed and risen for 8 hours, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. This will also allow the dough to ferment for a few more hours and deepen the tangy, sourdough taste. You can keep the dough refrigerated for up to 24 hours before you will need to bake the dough.

Making the rolls

Bake the rolls as you normally would and allow them to cool completely. Place the cooled rolls in a Ziploc bag. Just before you are ready to serve the rolls, place them in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. That will heat them through. Pile them high in a bread basket and serve!

Tips and Tricks

• It is essential that your sourdough starter is active and bubbly. Feed your starter at least once before you are ready to bake with it.
• The temperature of your kitchen will depend on how fast the dough will rise. If it is the middle of winter when you are making this recipe and the temperature in your kitchen is in the 60s, the dough will take longer to rise. The best place to keep the bowl of dough is in an off oven. It's warm and draft free and will give the dough the perfect environment to rise.
• The water and milk should be room temperature or warmer when you add it to the starter. Cold milk and cold water will take more time to rise and instead of 8 hours, the dough might take 12 to double in size.