Faintly tart, and mildly sweet, these sourdough einkorn dinner rolls are wonderfully soft with a tender crust and rich flavor - perfect buttered or used to sop up extra gravy from a slow-roasted turkey or roasted chicken.
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The Secret to Soft Dinner Rolls
While I love crusty artisan-style sourdough bread, I prefer dinner rolls to be tender and soft - pliable and sweet. To produce rolls with a soft crust and tender crumb, adding fat or egg to the dough helps, but the trick I've found to be most effective is to dampen a tea towel slightly with warm water and to lay it over the buns as soon as they emerge from the oven. This helps to ensure the crust doesn't harden and the dinner rolls remain pleasantly soft.
Karen says
I love this recipe. I make mine with 1/2 freshly milled einkorn and 1/2 all-purpose flour. I have also used this dough to make cinnamon rolls for the last three Christmas mornings. I mix the dough the day before and in the evening roll out, add filling, cut into 12 rolls, and place in a pyrex pan. I then cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until morning. You do need to remove 4 hours before you want to bake them or place in oven with the light on to speed things up a bit. Then bake. I have also done this with the rolls for using at lunch or if I'm making lots of other things and don't want to mess with on the day of a gathering. I can just pull out of fridge 4 hours before I need them and fhave fresh baked rolls.
Thanks for a great recipe!!
Anna says
I made these on Easter Sunday with just a couple of adjustments-50 percent einkorn and 50 percent AP because I was out of einkorn. Bulk fermentation at cool room temp for 13 hours and proof at the same temp were perfect. I got beautiful fluffy delicious rolls. Would totally do it again! Oh and I beat the butter into the dough with the wet ingredients-as an experienced baker that's what made sense to me
Caroline Chase says
Hi I can't said I've tried recipe. It sounds lovely and I'm wanting very much to try it however I can't seem to find the high extraction flour, I did try the link and looking at amazon but for some reason am not finding. I wonder if it is okay to simply use all regular einkorn flour? Can't wait to try! Thank you.
Charlotte says
The most beautiful dinner rolls! I make them with high extraction wheat flour which I grind myself because I can't find anything like that here in Australia. And I only put in 1 tablespoon of maple syrup because I find any more a bit too sweet. They always turn out amazingly! My go to bread recipe that I know will ALWAYS turn out perfectly! Thank you Jenny
Marina says
Ummm.... You never said what to do with the butter...,
Claire says
Can anybody clarify where the butter listed in the ingredients comes into the recipe? I am assuming that this gets included with the wet ingredients before the egg, but maybe it is meant for oiling the bowl?
Stephanie Nance says
Yes! I just made these and "forgot" to add the butter because it didn't specify where! I have it rising now... hope it turns out ok! I am thinking maybe the butter was to oil the bowl? Or included in wet ingredients? yikes! I hope they are ok!
Rita Ladany says
Made and so enjoyed.Thanks Jenny!
Karen says
I made these a few days ago with these changes:
1. I only had 1 T. of maple syrup, so I used 2 T. honey with it.
2. My dough hadn't risen to double after 9 hours, so I put it in the fridge overnight. I took it out the next AM, let it rise in a warm oven, and also let the formed rolls rise in a warm oven.
3. I didn't want a sweet top on them, so I just brushed with 1 egg mixed with a little cream.
4. I made them a little smaller and got 15 rolls - good size for us.
I froze them for Thanksgiving, but we tried 2 tonight with our soup; they are FANTASTIC!
Karen says
Oh, and I used all high extraction einkorn flour.
Lydia says
Hi Jenny,
I'm looking forward to baking these for Thanksgiving this year. I have a question about the proofing time though. We are driving an hour to get to our friends' house for 2 pm Thanksgiving dinner, and I want to figure out how to bake the rolls without getting up at the crack of dawn to do it! My two options are either
1) bake them Wednesday and reheat them right before the meal - how are they a day after being baked, do you know??
or
2) mix and proof the dough Wednesday, form the rolls and let rise for half the time or so, then stick in the fridge overnight and bake either Thursday morning before we leave home, or bring to bake at our friend's place right before serving.
Would you please let me know what you think is the best approach, according to your experience with the recipe? Thank you!
Joy Roxborough says
Hi Jenny
can i do this with spelt flour and either honey or molasses instead of the maple syrup? thanks
Erica says
I made these last night- they were a little too soft and didn't hold their shape like the rolls in the picture. But they are delicious! Especially the glaze, I just want to eat the tops off of them! Thank you for the recipe. I can't wait to give it another go and see if I can make mine as pretty as the ones in your picture.
Roz says
Hey Jenny!
Happy Thanksgiving. Just in case you're checking comments today, I'm starting this recipe right now and I can't see where I use the butter. Does it go in with the starter/water/milk/eggs mixture? I'm going to just do that because I'm pretty sure that's where it goes. I'll check back in case you answer in time. 🙂 Thanks for this recipe- great tip on keeping them soft. I can't wait until dinner to eat them!!
Heather says
Dumb question but I do not have the fancy flour- would unbleached all-purpose substitute alright?
Jenny says
You could try and see? Most baking is very forgiving!
Meg @ Cracking an Egg says
These were awesome, Jenny. 🙂 I did an egg wash + the cream & maple syrup on top and they were shiny, soft and delicious. 🙂 Thank you for the great addition to my baking recipes!
Also, I made them again using half organic all-purpose, half (sifted) sprouted spelt, reduced the water by 1/4 c, added an egg, and used the egg wash... And it was still tasty! 😉 I always appreciate the adaptability of your recipes. Thank you!
Jenny says
I'm SO glad you liked them, Meg! I think the addition of an egg wash was a good call - might do that when I make them for Thanksgiving.
Brittney says
Jenny, what do you think about using all whole grain Einkorn? I buy mine from growseed.org and hers is whole grain. Any changes you would recommend making in that case?
Thanks!
Elizabeth says
Hi Jenny,
I'm a huge fan, thanks for the amazing recipes! I'm doing a trial GF diet for a few months. I hate to ask since I'm sure you would have mentioned it if a substitution flour would work but do you think this recipe would work with other GF flours?
Jenny says
I would recommend searching a gluten-free blog for a dinner roll recipe. Gluten-free Girl has wonderful recipes.
Sharon says
I'm confused. What is the difference between the high extraction flour and the flour ground from the berries? I buy Einkorn regularly from Jovial and make sourdough bread. Why would I need the flour too? I'm sure there's a good reason, but I can't figure it out. 🙂
Jenny says
High-extraction flour has been sifted to remove some of the bran and germ. This prolongs the shelf life of the flour, and also makes for lighter baked goods. I use both Jovial's high-extraction flour as well as their einkorn berries that I grind myself.
Kaitlyn says
I'm new to baking and about to make my first sourdough bread using einkorn flour, once all of my supplies come in the mail. Can you explain why you choose to use a combination of of high-extraction and whole grain flours (in this recipe and others) as opposed to just using one or the other? I appreciate your time in clarifying this :).
Judy @Savoring Today says
I just experimented with some sprouted whole grain einkorn flour last week as a trial run before Thanksgiving and it made wonderful dinner rolls. I was delighted with the flavor and texture. It is my new go-to flour for just about everything. The sprouted version was more expensive, so now I'll work on sprouting and grinding the grain on my own. Your rolls look beautiful ~ I'm sure your family and guests will love them. 🙂
Hattie says
Thanks for this, Jenny! Love my Jovial Einkorn flour & so does my starter! I don't have whole grain or a mill, however. Have you tried this without the whole grain by chance?
Jenny says
I bet you could just substitute the same amount of Jovial's flour in place of the freshly ground flour for good results. I haven't tried it, but I see no reason why it wouldn't work.