Yes! You can make soft light dinner rolls with wild yeast water, the sourdough alternative. Not every bread need be crusty!

The trick to soft rolls, or a great sandwich loaf, is including a mixture called Tangzhong in the dough. Tangzhong is a small amount of flour and liquid cooked into a paste (looks like mashed potatoes), which becomes a gelatinized starch allowing the main dough to hold more liquid than it normally would. It’s a very simple step that is well worth the results.

Also known as Japanese Milk Bread, this fluffier bread stays soft and fresh a little longer than other breads. Tangzhong can be added to active dry yeast doughs, as well as long fermented sourdough or wild yeast water breads like these rolls.

This recipe is an adaptation of the sourdough rolls by Maurizio Leo. I’ve converted other tangzhong recipes to wild yeast water, but I keep going back to Leo’s recipe for the rolls. So why mess with perfection! As explained in my post on how to convert sourdough recipes to wild yeast water, the sourdough starter is replaced with a yeast water and flour levain which is made 8-12 hours ahead of the main dough.

I hope you’ll give these rolls a try!

PS: My right-hand bread baking tools are this High Capacity Baking Scale, Brod & Taylor Folding Proofer and Swedish Whisk. Brod & Taylor is also a great resource for equipment and recipes.

Print Recipe

Wild Yeast Water Soft Dinner Rolls

Tangzhong, a cooked mixture of milk and flour, plus a generous amount of butter, make these rolls soft and pillowy. A stand mixer is recommended for mixing the dough.

Prep Time2

Cook Time40

includes 12hrs for preferment and 12hrs cold proof40

Total Time2 1 20

Equipment

1 stand mixer recommended
1 10-inch round or 9×13-inch metal baking pan

Ingredients

Preferment (levain)

100 grams wild yeast water, shaken heated to 80-85F for faster activation
50 grams whole wheat flour
50 grams bread flour

Tangzhong

166 grams whole milk can substitute non-dairy milk of choice
41 grams all-purpose flour

Main dough

328 grams all-purpose flour I use Kirkland brand which is slightly higher protein than some all-purpose flours. Or use regular bread flour.
148 grams bread flour
39 grams white sugar
12 grams Kosher salt I prefer the flavor of Kosher salt but table salt can be used
181 grams tap water if your preferment rose slower than usual, try substituting 50grams of the tap water with yeast water
all the Tangzhong
95 grams unsalted butter* cut into 1/2-inch slices, slightly softened at cool room temperature. UPDATE: 70g works great, actually makes the rolls a little lighter in my tests
200 grams risen preferment
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water optional

Instructions

MAKE PREFERMENT 24-48 hours before you want the baked bread.
Stir together the 100 grams 85F Yeast Water and 100 grams choice of flour. The mixture will be thick enough to nearly hold a chopstick straight up for a couple seconds. Let stand at room temperature (65-75F) until at least doubled in volume with a slightly domed top. A very active water could double in 6-8 hours, but plan on about 12 hours. More or less time depending on temperature and yeast water strength. Once the preferment doubles, use or refrigerate for up to two days. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.

Making Tangzhong

Combine 166 grams milk and 41 grams flour in a small saucepan. Place over medium heat and whisk constantly until mixture becomes thick and smooth. It will be a dead-ringer for mashed potatoes! Cool in pan or spread on a plate for faster cooling.

Making Main Dough

In bowl of a stand mixer, add both flours, sugar, salt, all the preferment and all the cooled tangzhong. Then add water. Mix on low speed until all ingredients are completely combined and moistened.
Start on low then increase speed to medium-low (#2 to #4 on KitchenAid) mixing until dough is mostly smooth and starts to hold onto the dough hook in one mass. Let rest 10 minutes before continuing.
On medium-low mixer speed, add the butter one piece at a time, waiting until each piece is nearly mixed in before adding the next. This may take about 5 minutes. Continue mixing 1-2 minutes after the last piece of butter, until the dough is completely smooth and feels soft and silky.
Either leave the dough in the mixing bowl or transfer to another bowl for bulk fermentation. Cover and place in a warm (75-78F) place. If temperature is lower, it will take longer to rise. The Brod&Taylor Folding Proofer is a great place for rising!
Give the dough 3 folds, 30 minutes apart, then let rise until the dough is about double in size and is well-puffed and rounded. At 78F my dough took 4.5hrs to be softly rounded and one small bubble at 12 o'clock as in this photo. Bubbles are a good sign!

Cold Proofing, Shaping and Baking

At this point, there are three options:
1) same-day shape, 2nd proof, and bake
2) cold proof overnight, shape, bench rest, and bake the next day
3) shape, cold proof overnight, next day bench rest and bake
Same-day Bake: Leave dough in the proofing bowl and refrigerate 15-30 minutes for easier handling. Gently ease dough out of bowl with a flexible bench scraper. Using a large knife or metal bench scraper, cut dough into 16 pieces, each about 70 grams, or 20 pieces about 55g pieces. Gently roll into balls, using cupped palm of one hand and gently coaxing into a ball with your other hand or a bench scraper. Little bubbles on the dough are a good thing! Place into a parchment lined 10-inch springform pan or 9×13 metal baking dish. Let rise at warm room temperature until soft and puffy, 1-2 hours. Bake as directed below.
Overnight cold-proof unshaped: Cover bowl and place in refrigerator for up to 18 hours. Let dough stand at warm room temperature for 30 minutes then shape as above. Dough will be cold so allow 3-4 hours at warm temperature (70-75F) to until soft and puffy.
Overnight cold-proof shaped rolls: Shape as for the Same-day Bake. Cover and refrigerate up to 18 hours. Place into a parchment lined 10-inch springform pan or 9×13 metal baking dish. Let rise at warm room temperature until soft and puffy, 3-4 hours. Bake as directed below.
To Bake: Preheat oven to 400F conventional. Brush tops of dough with egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame, poppy seeds, or coarse salt if desired. Bake 20 minutes; rotate pan 180 degrees for more even baking. Continue baking 10-15 minutes until golden brown and top sounds hollow when tapped.
Rolls are delicious hot from the oven, room temperature, or lightly reheated before serving.

Notes

*Variations I am testing, let me know your results if you try these options!

Experiment with reducing the butter to 50-60grams, as I think it is a little rich. DONE! Made with 70 grams butter instead of 95 and my Thanksgiving guests said these rolls were like çrack! I think the rolls were even lighter in texture.

Loaf: Divide dough in half. Line two 9×5-inch loaf pans with parchment paper. Gently shape each half into a rectangle using a rolling pin or hands. Roll into 8-9-inch long log. Place into parchment lined loaf pan. Let rise until puffy and soft. Bake about 25 minutes until golden brown and loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Quick picture before these rolls were gobbled on Thanksgiving! 20 rolls at 55g each fit perfectly in 9×13-inch baking pan. My BIL saved two for his bedside table and was amazed they were somehow gone by morning~ 🙂

Wild Yeast Water Soft Dinner Rolls