Sourdough dinner rolls

Makes 12 rolls · about 85g each

• Bread flour500g
• Whole milk280g
• Active sourdough starter100g
• Unsalted butter50g
• Egg (large)1 egg
• Honey20g
• Fine sea salt10g
• Butter glaze15g

56% hydration

1. 1

   Mix starter, milk, egg and honey

   10 min

   Warm 280g whole milk to approximately 35°C / 95°F: warm to the touch but not hot. Add 100g active starter, 55g whisked egg, and 20g honey and stir until the starter is dissolved and the milk looks creamy. Warm milk wakes the starter and helps the dough come together smoothly.

2. 2

   Add flour and autolyse

   35 min

   Add 500g bread flour to the bowl. Mix with your hand until no dry flour remains, about 3 to 5 minutes. The dough will feel soft and slightly sticky. Cover and rest 30 minutes at room temperature.

3. 3

   Add salt

   10 min

   Sprinkle 10g fine sea salt over the rested dough and squeeze it through with wet hands, using firm pinch-and-fold motions, until no gritty salt remains.

4. 4

   Incorporate butter

   10 min

   Uncover the rested dough. Add 50g softened butter in small pieces over the surface. Work in using firm pinch-and-fold movements for 6–10 minutes. The dough will go through a greasy, broken-looking phase. Keep going. When fully incorporated the dough should feel smooth, supple, slightly tacky, and have a beautiful sheen. Cover and rest 20 minutes.

5. 5

   Bulk fermentation with stretch and fold

   5 h

   Cover and leave to rise at room temperature, 22–24°C / 72–75°F. Do 3 sets of stretch and folds at 30, 60 and 90 minutes: with a wet hand, stretch one side of the dough up and fold it over, turn the bowl a quarter, 4 times per set. Then leave it undisturbed. This first rise (bulk) is done when the dough has grown by 50–75%, looks domed and bubbly and feels pillowy: about 4–6 hours.

   At 20–24°C / 68–75°F this usually takes about 5 hours; a warm kitchen (24–28°C / 75–82°F) can be ready in about 4 hours, a hot one (28°C+ / 82°F+) sooner still, and a cool kitchen (below 20°C / 68°F) may need about 6½ hours.

6. 6

   Divide and shape rolls

   25 min

   Lightly flour the bench and turn the dough out. Using a bench scraper and scale, divide it into 12 equal pieces of about 85g each. Shape each into a tight, smooth ball: fold the edges into the centre, flip it over so the folded side is down, cup your hands around it and drag it in circles. Place in a lightly buttered 23x33cm baking tray, 3 across and 4 down, about 1cm apart.

7. 7

   Cold retard (overnight)

   10 h

   Cover the tray tightly with a shower cap or cling film. Place in the fridge at 4°C for 8–12 hours. The rolls will rise slowly overnight. Bake straight from the fridge the next morning: no need to let them warm up.

8. 8

   Preheat the oven

   30 min

   Set oven to 190°C (170°C fan) / 375°F. Fan-assisted if available. Start 30-minute timer. Leave tray in fridge while oven preheats.

9. 9

   Egg wash and bake

   25 min

   Take the tray out of the fridge. Whisk 1 egg with 15g milk. Brush the cold rolls gently with the egg wash, in one smooth pass. Place on the centre rack at 190°C (170°C fan) / 375°F. Bake 20–25 minutes to deep golden brown. Internal temperature in the middle of a roll: 90–93°C / 195–200°F.

10. 10

    Butter glaze and serve

    5 min

    Remove tray from oven. Immediately brush hot rolls generously with 15g melted butter within 60 seconds. Serve warm from the tray. Pull apart at the table.