September 18, 2011: Sourdough Dinner Rolls

This week I’m hosting my women’s Bible study class at my house. We’re going to combine the lesson with a potluck in celebration of a couple of the ladies’ birthdays. As usual, I was asked to provide the bread. But rather than make something I’ve done over and over again, I decided to turn to Rita Davenport’s Sourdough Cookery for a couple new recipes. These sourdough dinner rolls are one of those recipes I tried. This particular one didn’t call for yeast but I’ve found that sourdough starter just performs far better when you add a bit to the recipe.

Sourdough rolls during the second rising, before baking.

Sourdough Dinner Rolls

1 t. yeast

1 T. warm water

1 ½ cups sourdough starter

2 T. sugar

½ t. salt

3 T. butter, melted

1 egg, beaten

2 – 2 ½ cups flour

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add the sourdough starter, sugar, salt and melted butter. Add the beaten egg, then about one and a half cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead until smooth, adding flour as necessary to make a stiff dough.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turn to cover all sides. Cover the bowl with a towel and place in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, about one hour.

Punch down dough and break off pieces to form rolls. Depending on their size you will get anywhere from 18 to 30 rolls. Place them on a greased cookie sheet and cover with a cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Tip: Don’t forget to take your sourdough starter out of the fridge the night before and feed it with at least 2 cups water and 2 cups flour.