Easy Fresh Milled Einkorn Sourdough Dinner Rolls
Soft and fluffy Einkorn sourdough dinner rolls made with fresh milled flour are nutty with a slight tang and make the perfect side bread for most any meal.
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Einkorn is an ancient grain that is a bit easier to digest than modern wheat.
The gluten structure is weaker lending to the ease of digestion. Because of this, Einkorn flour requires a bit of finesse when making risen doughs.
I use all fresh milled flour in my kitchen and recently dove into converting a lot of my recipes into Einkorn.
Why Fresh Milled Einkorn Flour?
Whole grain flour has the bran and germ which is sifted out of store bought flour or all purpose flour.
This bran and germ holds all the nutrition of the berry.
There is also an enzyme in fresh milled flour that aids digestion!
Whole grain Einkorn flour ups this with a weaker gluten structure making it even more digestible.
The flavor of fresh-milled Einkorn flour is nutty and creates full flavored baked goods.
Ingredients you need to make Einkorn Sourdough Dinner Rolls
- Fresh Milled Einkorn Flour – Although you can use all purpose Einkorn flour, the flavor of the whole grain Einkorn flour is far superior!
- Sourdough Starter – Use active sourdough starter. You do not have to use an Einkorn starter.
- Water – For best results, use filtered water that is room temperature.
- Olive oil – Added for softness.
- Honey – Honey is optional but it does even out the flavor profile of the whole grain flour.
- Egg
- Salt
For full ingredient amounts, see recipe card below
Looking for a Sourdough Einkorn Bread Recipe? Click here!
How to make Einkorn Sourdough Dinner Rolls with Fresh Milled Flour
Before we get into the recipe, I want to make clear the reason I don’t use a stand mixer.
Einkorn dough gets stickier and stickier the more you work with it. While you can use a stand mixer, just be cautious on how long you knead it.
Mill the grain
Weigh the Einkorn berries and grind them in your grain mill on a fine setting.
I use the Nutrimill Grain Mill (use my coupon code: rose20 for $20 off!)
Mix the dough
In a large bowl, add the water, starter, oil, honey, and egg. Mix well.
Pour the flour over the wet ingredients and the pour the salt over the flour.
Mix with a danish dough whisk or wooden spoon until it is just combined.
The dough will be shaggy and sticky.
Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let the dough rest for 30 minutes to an hour.
Fold the dough
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. You may need a bowl scraper or spatula to scoop the dough onto the table. It will be sticky!
Flour your hands and pull one corner of the dough over onto itself. Do not stretch it out as it will tear at this point.
Continue folding the dough into the center of itself all the way around the dough. You can use a bench scraper to help you in this process.
Return the dough to the bowl and cover. Let rest 15-30 minutes and come back to repeat this process.
Aim to do this 4-6 times every 15-30 minutes.
Bulk Fermentation
After the last fold, return the dough to the bowl, cover and let ferment in a warm place for an additional 2-3 hours or until the dough feels airy to touch.
The total time for the bulk fermentation will vary, but generally 4-6 hours before shaping the dough.
At this point, you can put the dough in the fridge overnight and proceed with the recipe the next day.
Shape the rolls
NOTE: This recipe makes 12-16 rolls depending on how big you want them to be. Baking time will vary by 5-10 minutes, see below under “Bake the rolls” for adjustments.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface and divide into 12-16 equal pieces.
With a floured hand, take a piece of dough and drag it on the table in a rolling motion to make a round shape until the top of the dough is smooth and tight.
Place dough balls on a parchment lined quarter sized baking sheet, cast iron skillet, or a glass baking dish.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1-2 hours.
Bake the rolls
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Brush the tops of the rolls with an egg wash.
Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes for 12 rolls and 20-25 minutes for 16 rolls until golden brown.
Let the rolls cool on a wire rack or cooling rack completely before storing.
Storage
Store in a plastic bag or airtight container on the counter for 3-4 days.
Freeze in freezer safe bag for up to 3 months.
No, just use your master sourdough starter.
Although you can, I caution you that the more you work with Einkorn dough the stickier it gets, so keep this in mind if using a stand mixer.
Easy Fresh Milled Einkorn Sourdough Dinner Rolls
Equipment
- Grain Mill
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- 500 grams Einkorn Berries Will make 450 grams Einkorn Flour
- 225 grams Water
- 100 grams Sourdough Starter
- 10 grams Salt
- 30 grams Olive Oil
- 20 grams Honey optional
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Mill wheat berries on fine setting in your grain mill.
- In a large bowl, add water, oil, honey, egg, and starter. Mix well.
- Pour fresh milled flour in and top with salt.
- Using a wooden spoon or danish dough whisk, mix the ingredients until combined.
- The dough will be shaggy.
- Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let dough rest for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. You may use a bowl scraper to remove the dough. It will be quite sticky.
- Flour your hands and pull one corner of the dough over onto the center of the dough. At this point, do not stretch the dough too much until it tears. It will get a bit stretchier as you go.
- Continue folding the dough into the center of itself until you get all the way around the dough ball.
- Place the dough back in the bowl, cover, and let sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes.
- Repeat the folding process. Aim to do this 4-6 times every 15-30 minutes.
- After the last fold, put the dough back in the bowl. Cover and let it ferment for ad additional 2-3 hours.
- At this point, you can put the dough in the fridge overnight and proceed with the recipe the next day if you want.
- After it has risen for a total of 4-6 hours on the counter, turn the dough onto a floured work surface. You want the dough to be airy to the touch.
- NOTE: THIS RECIPE CAN BE MADE INTO 12 OR 16 ROLLS DEPENDING ON THE SIZE ROLL YOU WISH TO MAKE. BAKING ADJUSTMENTS LISTED BELOW
- Divide the dough into 12-16 equal pieces.
- With a floured hand, take a piece of dough and drag it on the table in a rolling motion to make a round shape until the top of the dough is smooth and tight.
- Drag the dough pieces until the top of the dough is smooth and tight.
- Place each dough ball on a quarter sized baking sheet lined with parchment paper or in a 12 inch cast iron skillet. You can also use a glass baking dish.
- After all dough balls are on the baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and let them rise for 1-2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Brush the tops of the dough with an egg wash.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes for 12 rolls or 20-25 minutes for 16 rolls until golden brown.
- Let rolls cool on a wire rack completely before storing.
