These sweet rolls are nothing but super soft buns, just slightly sweetened, which I have been preparing often for our breakfast, especially on Sundays.
It’s a leavened dough made with my sourdough starter and kefir.
To be honest, I have several versions of these sweet buns, because every time I make them, I change something. I’ve made them with Manitoba flour or whole wheat flour, once with rye flour, several times with raisins, or with chocolate chips… but one thing ties all these variations together: the sourdough starter, of which I am really proud because it always makes my buns soft.
I usually prepare the dough in the evening after dinner, form the rolls just before bed so they rise all night, then I bake them as soon as I get up in the morning.
They are great warm or at room temperature, and in the first few hours after baking, they are at their softest, with a slight crispy crust.
Even the next day – if your kids haven’t finished them all! – they will still be delicious, perhaps filled with jam, honey, or Nutella. And if you briefly heat them under the grill, the crust will return. 😉
👇 If you’re looking for other sweet leavened doughs, take a look at these recipes: 👇
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 8 Hours
- Preparation time: 2 Hours
- Portions: 18 rolls
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 5.3 oz sourdough starter (refreshed)
- 3.5 oz water
- 3.5 oz milk kefir (or yogurt)
- 1.4 tbsp butter
- 1.4 tbsp sugar
- candied orange peel
- raisins
- chocolate chips
- jam
- sugar
Tools
- Bowl
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Cooling Rack
Steps
After refreshing the sourdough starter, take 5.3 oz of it, place it in a bowl, and let it rest for a couple of hours.
If you need to refresh specifically for this recipe, proceed as follows:
take 2.1 oz of sourdough starter and dissolve it in 1 oz of water in a bowl, add 2.1 oz of flour and mix well until you get a dough weighing about 5.3 oz. Place it in a bowl, covered and stored in a sheltered place, and let it rest for a couple of hours before using it.After two hours, in the same bowl or a larger one if the first isn’t big enough, add the water and dissolve the sourdough starter by working it with your fingertips (if it doesn’t dissolve completely, that’s fine too).
Add the kefir, sugar, and softened or melted butter. Usually, I leave the butter out of the fridge during the sourdough starter’s resting time; in about two hours, it softens almost to the point of melting (depending on room temperature).
Add the flour and mix with your hands.
Knead everything (I kneaded by hand) for about ten minutes until you get a dough ball.To get buns with a classic bun shape, divide the dough into balls.
To get rolls, simply transform the dough balls into sticks, like thick breadsticks, and roll them onto themselves. While rolling the breadstick, add candied orange peels, chocolate chips, or raisins, or anything else you like.Place the rolls on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper, lightly moisten them by brushing with a little water, or milk, then let them rise closed inside the oven for several hours (even overnight, if it’s not summer).
Bake in the oven at 392°F (lower to 356°F halfway through cooking) for 15 to 20 minutes.
Take the rolls out of the oven and let them cool on a rack for about ten minutes.
Here, in the following photo, are three examples of rolls filled with: raisins + jam topping, raisins and candied orange peels, or just candied peels and simply sugar on top.
All very simple variations that you can change as you wish.
I also want to point out (they are in the background in the photo) the jars of my sourdough starter and kefir, foolproof ingredients of these sweet and soft rolls. 😊
In the next two photos: a flattened bun that then returns tall and soft. I hope that with these two photos I was able to convey the softness of these sweet rolls (which in this case are buns). I used the same recipe as the rolls, without fillings but with the addition of a small amount of whole wheat flour, and they turned out just as soft.
Try them! 😊
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WW Propoints Info
For those dieting, like me at the moment, and interested in the WW Propoints score (I talked about this diet here), here are the points for each roll: simple roll: 3.44 points; roll with 1.8 oz of chocolate chips: 3.86 points; roll with 1.8 oz of chocolate chips + 1 oz of raisins: 4.02 points.
Happy dieting!! 😀
