Sourdough Pull Apart Rolls
These sourdough pull apart rolls are soft and airy with a wonderful hint of tang.
When I started baking with sourdough, I made a wonderful discovery: sourdough takes your favorite recipes to the next level. It enhances the flavors and textures of most baked goods. For example, sourdough pie crust is so flaky and delightfully tangy. Sourdough sandwich bread has a depth of flavor that just isn't there with regular yeast bread. Sourdough waffles are simply sublime.
The same is true for these sourdough pull apart rolls. They're super soft and fluffy, and that hint of tang just adds an extra something special. These are perfect for all of your holiday needs (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, you name it!).
Okay, now let me show you how to make these rolls!
How to Make Sourdough Pull Apart Rolls
Firstly, you want to ensure that your sourdough starter is ready to go. About 8 hours before you plan on mixing together the dough for these rolls, feed your sourdough starter. I keep mine at 100% hydration, which means that I feed it with equal weights, not volumes, of flour and water. If you're new to sourdough baking, you can always purchase a starter online, or refer to my How to Make a Sourdough Starter From Scratch post.
You know when your starter is ready when it doubles in volume and passes the float test. Drop a small amount of your starter into a cup of water. So if it floats, you're good to go!
Now it's time to mix up the dough for these sourdough pull apart rolls!
Place all of the ingredients for the dough in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix until a shaggy dough forms.
Switch to the dough hook and knead on medium-low speed until the dough is quite elastic, about 10-15 minutes.
Transfer to a buttered bowl and allow to rise at room temperature for 8-12 hours. You want it to double in bulk. But how long this takes will vary depending on how active your starter is and how warm your kitchen is.
Plop the dough out onto a work surface.
Forming the Dough Into Rolls
Divide into 16 equal pieces. I find it handy to weigh all of the dough first, divide that by 16, and portion out the pieces that way. For example, each of these pieces weighed about 64 grams.
To shape these sourdough pull apart rolls, grab the corners of a piece of dough. Pull them towards the center.
Flip the ball over so it's seam side down. Roll the dough on an ungreased work surface, creating surface tension.
Next, place the formed balls into a buttered 13x9-inch baking dish. As you can see, I decided to squish one of the balls in between 4 others. If you want them to fit in the pan perfectly, you can form them into 15 instead of 16 rolls. Then you can arrange them in the pan with 3 buns going the short way and 5 buns going the long way.
After that, cover them with a tea towel and let rise for 6-8 hours.
You want the buns to be quite puffy and fill the pan.
Baking/Serving Sourdough Pull Apart Rolls
Bake in a preheated 375° F oven for 20-25 minutes, or until deep golden brown. One challenge with sourdough is ensuring that it gets baked enough. I like to insert an instant-read thermometer into the center of one of the buns. It should register 200° F.
After that, remove the sourdough pull apart rolls from the oven and brush the tops with melted butter.
Serve warm with MORE butter spread on the inside.
It's so fluffy I'm going to diiiiieee! Sorry, it had to be said.
Since these sourdough pull apart rolls are naturally leavened, they take quite a bit longer to rise than rolls made with commercial yeast. Plan to start making them around 24 hours before you want to serve them.
Here's a couple of sample baking schedules:
If you want to serve these rolls at noon (this works best in a cool kitchen):
- 2 nights before you plan on serving the rolls, feed your sourdough starter right before you go to bed.
- The next morning at around 10:00, mix together the dough. Let rise 12 hours.
- That evening, before going to bed, form the dough into rolls. Let rise overnight.
- The next morning, bake the rolls once they rise to fill the pan.
If you want to serve these rolls in the evening (this could also work for serving at noon if your kitchen is really warm):
- The afternoon before you want to serve the rolls, feed your sourdough starter.
- That evening, just before bed, mix together the dough. Let rise overnight until doubled.
- The next morning, form the dough into rolls. Let rise 6-8 hours.
- Bake once the rolls fill the pan.
NOTE: If you're squeamish about letting dough sit out at room temperature because contains milk and eggs, you can always let the dough rise in the refrigerator instead. You'll need to add several hours to the rise time if you choose that method.
Here's a Step-by-Step Video for You:
P.S. I have joined up with a bunch of blogger friends for a Friendsgiving Virtual Potluck!
My friend Julie from The Little Kitchen invited me to her virtual Friendsgiving Potluck, and of course I wanted to join in the fun! Be sure to check the recipes below out for wonderful Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving recipe and craft ideas - you might find a new favorite!
Appetizers
Baked Brie with Honey & Walnuts from Kelley of Mountain Mama Cooks
Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball Bites from Nicole of I am a Honey Bee
Reindeer Bacon Cheddar Cheese Ball from Julie of Julie Blanner
Salads
Sauteed Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad with Cranberries and Walnuts from Shashi of Savory Spin
Creamy Brussels Sprouts Salad from Faith of An Edible Mosaic
Main Dishes
Savory Vegetable Crisp from Bree of Baked Bree
Rosemary Lamb Steaks from Danyelle of The Cubicle Chick
Turkey Pot Pie from Kelly of Eat Picks
Side Dishes
Fried Brussels Sprouts from Erin of The Almond Eater
Cheesy Horseradish Mashed Potato Casserole from Renee of Kudos Kitchen by Renee
Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip from April of April Golightly
Sauteed Garlic-Butter Mushrooms from Linda of Simply Healthyish Recipes
Easy Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole Recipe from Mel of Adventures of Mel
Cornbread Stuffing with Chorizo from Isabel of Isabel Eats
Bacon Brussels Sprouts from Kara of Kara J. Miller
Crockpot Sweet Potato Casserole from Jennifer of Show Me the Yummy
Amazing Gluten Free Thanksgiving Stuffing from Sommer of A Spicy Perspective
Pumpkin Caramelized Onion Gratin from Denise of Chez Us
Crockpot Mac & Cheese from Leanette Fernandez of Funtastic Life
Cheesy Brussels Sprouts au Gratin from Rachel Gurk of Rachel Cooks
Drinks
Spiced Pumpkin Margarita from Sharon of Cupcakes and Cutlery
Breads
Sourdough Pull Apart Rolls from Erica of Buttered Side Up
How to Make Homemade Butterhorn Rolls from Mel of Flour on My Fingers
Sweet Dinner Rolls from Jocelyn of Grandbaby Cakes
Parker House Rolls from Irvin of Eat the Love
Desserts
Sugar Pie from Julie of The Little Kitchen
Oatmeal Apple Crisp from Julie of Peanut Butter Fingers
Pumpkin Pie Milkshake from Eden of Sugar and Charm
Strudel Pastry from Justine of The Typical Mom
Tahini Hawaij Pumpkin Pie from Amy of What Jew Wanna Eat
Turkey Cookies from Meaghan of The Decorated Cookie
Mini Apple Pie Bites from Lynsey of MoscatoMom
Kabocha squash pie from Hilah of hilahcooking
Pecan Pie Cupcakes from Courtney of Pizzazzerie
Coconut Cream Pie from Schnelle of Brooklyn Active Mama
Chocolate chip cheesecake from Jeannette of Hispana Global
Chocolate Pecan Pie from Kate of I Heart Eating
Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes from Chelsea of Someday I'll Learn
Cinnamon Apple Crisp from Erica of The Crumby Kitchen
Turkey Donut Race Cars For Thanksgiving Treats from Theresa of Chewable Structures
Crafts and Centerpieces
Cinnamon Stick Holiday Candle Place Setting from Alli of Made with HAPPY
Metallic Pumpkin Luminaries from Amy of As The Bunny Hops
Easy centerpiece that will stun + party favor from Noelle of Oh Happy Play
Sourdough Pull Apart Rolls
Pull apart rolls get an upgrade with sourdough starter!
Ingredients
- ¾ cup whole milk, warm (105°F)
- 1 cup active sourdough starter (220 grams) - see note
- 3 ½ cups organic all-purpose flour (465 grams)
- ¼ cup grass-fed butter, melted
- ¼ cup raw honey
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoon unrefined sea salt
- 1 tablespoon grass-fed butter, melted (for brushing tops of buns)
Instructions
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Place all dough ingredients in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until a rough dough forms. Switch to the dough hook and knead on medium-low speed until the dough is quite elastic, about 10-15 minutes. Resist the urge to add more flour - you want the dough to be very soft.
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Transfer the dough to a large, buttered bowl. Cover and allow to rise at room temperature for 8-12 hours, or until doubled.
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Gently deflate the dough and divide it into 16 equal pieces. Grab the corners of one of the pieces and pull it towards the middle. Roll the ball, seam side down, on your work surface to create surface tension. Place in a buttered 13x9-inch baking dish. Repeat with the remaining dough.
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Cover the pan and allow to rise at room temperature for 6-8 hours, or until the rolls are quite puffy and fill the pan.
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30 minutes before you plan on baking the rolls, preheat your oven to 375° F. Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes, or until they're deep golden brown and register 200° F when an instant read thermometer is inserted into the center of a roll.
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Remove from oven and brush the tops of the rolls with the melted butter. Serve warm with grass-fed butter.
Recipe Notes
An active sourdough starter means that it has been fed 8-12 hours beforehand and is bubbly and passes the float test.
Hi could these be made with out a stand mixer ? I don’t own one.
Yes, but you would want to increase the kneading time. You may find that you need to either grease or wet your hands while kneading by hand to keep the dough from sticking to your hands. Or you could increase the amount of flour in the dough, but that will result in rolls that are a little less fluffy.
Thanks for the amazing recipe! It sure can be kneaded by hand. It takes a workout of your wrists and arms though, that's for sure! After about 10 minutes, my muscles are shot and I switch placed with my husband who finishes the remainder of the needing. 😀 I am sure it doesn't help that we make double batches each time, as our family of 6 LOVES anything bread! We have made these into rolls several times, pulled pork sliders (twice), cinnamon rolls, and scones (too many times to count). In all the different ways we eat it, it's always had a wonderful texture, perfectly sweet taste, and is super easy to make! This evening, for the first time, we did a batch where I did one recipe as called for and one recipe with yeast, but combined them in the same bowl. Hoping to see if it works to reduce the rise time just a bit for me! 😀
Thank you for sharing that kneading by hand works as well! And also sharing all the delicious ways you've made these. Oooh...making them as scones sounds yummy! Would you care to elaborate on what you changed to make them into scones?
If I used this recipe to make a big loaf of bread will it give as good result as making rolls?
I haven't personally tried it, so I can't say for sure! But I think it would work well.
Could I place the rolls in the fridge before the second rise - if I let the dough rise all day, then make the rolls, place in fridge overnight, then take out the next day to rise and then bake?
Hi Lauren,
Yes, that should work. You may have to use some judgement on when they've risen enough. The oven spring on cold dough can be pretty dramatic, so they might not look like they've risen enough, but then they could have a nice oven spring. Or they may need a few hours at room temperature before baking.
This is my favorite dinner roll recipe of all time- beats out the commercial yeast ones I've been using!
Sharing my personal experience with the recipe, in case it helps others:
- Fed starter 2 parts flour + water to 1 part yeast
- < 5 hours later, mixed up the dough. It came together incredibly well; I knead by hand, and usually I find that doughs have a "sticky stage" before coming together, but there was no such issue with this dough. (Perhaps it has something to do with the gluten that developed in the sourdough starter as it ripened?)
- 12 hr overnight proof: this was way too long for me; room temperature here is around 80F. I used milk and egg straight from the fridge in hopes of delaying the starter's growth, but the dough was overproofed int he morning and had a crust on top. Neither of these turned out to be issues! However, next time, I'd try making the rolls all in one day, decreasing the amount of starter (adding flour + water as necessary) for an overnight rise, or refrigerating the dough.
- Divided dough into 12 instead of 16.
- Monitored the dough closely for the second proof and it was perfect at 2 hours.
Lovely texture; chewy and pillowy. It was very sour as a result of the overproofing on the first rise, but not in a bad way, just a very strong sourdough flavor. I personally qould prefer something more mild, but I love that the first rise is so flexible; people who want sour rolls can "overproof" the dough, and people like me can cut down on the rising time.
Thank for sharing your experience with making these, Stella! I think that will be really helpful to others that have a warm kitchen. Yes, I'm almost always surprised that the sourdough version of a recipe is actually much better than the commercial yeast-risen version!
Ok so I made these yesterday! However, ours turned out overly sour! Does that mean I may have overproofed the dough both times??? The texture was perfect but definitely sour!!!
Hi Francesca,
There are several factors that can affect how sour your sourdough is. If your starter was too mature, that can make the final dough more sour. Overproofing can also make for a sour dough. The temperature of your kitchen can also affect this. People tend to disagree on whether a cold kitchen or a warm kitchen will make your sourdough more sour. I think it comes down to figuring out your starter and your kitchen!
Just baked my batch of these this morning - they are yummy! There is a fairly decent sourdough tang to them which I really like but I am not sure if my toddler will approve so much. Ate one just with butter and had a couple of mini sarnies which were amazing!
I attempted to do the 2nd rise overnight in the fridge but I think my fridge is far too cold so they didn't seem to rise up at all and had to finish the rise out of the fridge which worked fine. I guess without the overnight stint in the fridge they wouldn't be so sour so need to work on my timings a bit if I want to go for a less sour flavour.
Will definitely be making again - lovely to just have around and would be great for packed lunches for days out.
Hooray - happy you're enjoying them! ❤ A longer rise can definitely make them more sour, but another factor is the maturity of your starter. If you use it when it has doubled and passes the float test but before it has fallen, it will most likely produce a less sour final dough. Also, if the dough is over proofed during the first rise, that can make for a very sour final product.
It’s my first time trying this recipe and wondering if I can half the ingredients to make a smaller batch of rolls? Would that work?
Yes, that should work just fine. I recommend cracking an egg into a bowl and weighing it, then whisk it lightly, and put half of it in the dough.
Hi Erica, when I’ve halved the recipe I’ve still used a whole egg (halving the egg was too efforty for a lazy cook like me) and the rolls come out every bit as fluffy as the little clouds of deliciousness should be. Next step is working out how to turn them into fruit rolls!
Thanks for the amazing recipe, Corin
That's good to know, Corin! Love that term: efforty. I'll have to use that one! Mmmm...let me know if you try fruit rolls!
Oh my goodness, I can't even tell you how excited I am to try this recipe!! Growing up, my hometown had a local bakery that used to make pull-apart sourdough rolls that were the definition of my happy place, but the bakery went out of business years ago, so I'm SO SO SO happy I found this recipe to try and recreate them! They look EXACTLY like how I remember them, except they would bake them in a circle. I'm going to surprise my sisters and make them this weekend for a family BBQ... I'm not even exaggerating - I think they will both cry tears of joy when they see them!! Oh and I so appreciate your sample prep schedules! That's what always overwhelms me with sourdough. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! <3
Aw, your comment makes me so happy! I think these would be so pretty baked in a round dish. I hope you and your sisters enjoy! ❤
Okay so these were SO. DELICIOUS!!! They reminded my sisters and I soooo much of our favorite rolls! My sourdough starter is half whole wheat, so the flavor was slightly different... but I'm going to try them again with an all white flour starter. I baked them in an oval baking dish and they fit perfectly, and came out in a pretty, round cluster. I'm definitely going to add these to my favorite recipes list! Thanks again!!
Hi! Can I omit the honey and just totally make this unsweetened? Thank you!
Yep! The dough might take a little longer to ferment, though. The honey helps to boost the fermentation process.
Baked these rolls today, they are so delicious! I used a package of instant yeast as well as the sourdough starter. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you!
Yay! So happy you enjoyed them!
Would it be ok to let the first few hours of bulk rise happen at room temp with a few stretch and folds then let the rest of bulk rise happen over night in the refrigerator???
Yes, that should work fine. But if you knead the bread with a stand mixer, it shouldn't be necessary to perform the stretch and folds.
I do not have a stand mixer, How long do you recommend I knead by hand? I am new to the sourdough and baking world!
I would recommend that you knead the dough for 20 minutes by hand, or until it's nice and elastic.
Very good! My son has allergies so I’m one of those people that played with the recipe. I did water instead of milk, avocado oil butter instead of grass fed and I did sugar instead of honey. Turned out great my little guy and the rest of the family loved them.
So happy it worked out for you, Rachel, and that your little guy could enjoy them! Thank you for sharing your modifications.
I made these vegan and as sweet rolls, just in case anyone wanted the alternate ingredients i used: vegan butter, soy milk, flax egg (1TB flax 3TB water), 6TB sugar. In the shaping stage, i added a piece of guava candy in the center then after they were done proofing I lightly brushed some water on top and added sugar on top. super good! thanks for the recipe!
Thank you so much for sharing your adaptations, Jazmin!
LOVE this recipe. I have made it several times and every time it is a huge hit. I’ve been asked to provide about 2 dozen rolls for a family get together and so here’s my question....
If I were to double this recipe, do you suggest I double the starter or not? (I have recently been gifted a KA Pro series mixer so I *think* the mixer can handle a double batch, but I’m not sure.)
Thank you so much for your review, Amber! So happy they've been a hit. I would double the starter for a double batch.