Make the bestest Sourdough Pav Buns recipe an easy enriched dough with 100% sourdough starter –, Butter soft Sourdough Dinner Rolls recipe, no kneading required.

Back with another recipe after a week and it is Sourdough Pav Buns recipe. Experimenting and using Sourdough has been the new normal at home, just like many other things with the covid lockdown. Every weekend is dedicated to caring for my Sourdough Starter and baking Sourdough Bread. A revelation I had during one of my experiments in the last couple of months is that the Sourdough need not be sour at all, an acquired taste for many. It also need not take many hours and learning a few different kneading techniques. To be honest, I was intimidated by the sourdough kneading and with the limited kitchen space, I don’t think I am ready to tackle that kind of mess – there a lot of tutorials online, but again, nothing would prepare you enough for baking bread until your hands are dirty.

My recipe of Sourdough Pav Buns uses no kneading, just 4 sets of 4 envelops folds to build the gluten. If you remember my Eggless Sourdough Cinnamon Buns, I used the same technique with 100% sourdough starter and no commercial yeast. The dough for these Buttery Soft Sourdough Dinner Rolls is very similar to that of the Cinnamon Rolls, with very minor differences. If there is one lesson I learnt through weeks of Sourdough baking – you just need one master recipe. You master it again and again until you get the technique as well as the process right. And then, the master recipe can be tweaked according to the result desired. By fluke or luck, out of sheer desperation I was trying different proportions and stuck the golden chord with the current master recipe which has been loyally serving me for few weeks now.

Here is another tip I picked up – the bulk fermentation that many articles and tutorials recommend, not really necessary unless you are baking a boule or loaf. With both the sourdough cinnamon buns and Sourdough Pav Buns, I got away with bulk fermentation. I fold the dough in 4 sets of 4 (minimum 16 in total, but more wont hurt) until the dough is silky smooth and then roll out of the buns. There starts our waiting game. I learnt this tip from blondieandrye on Instagram that the butter soft sourdough dinner rolls can be left on the kitchen counter until they are tripled in size – resulting in the most fluffiest of rolls/pav buns.

I was super skeptical giving this a try for the first time, but just everything else with sourdough, a little risk taking helped immensely. The temperature in my kitchen was less than 27°C in Bangalore and with most of the raising happening overnight, the buns raised beautifully well without falling flat. You can’t keep this dough in fridge, as it would push the whole process a lot more time consuming. You can however store the rolls in fridge for over a week, just reheat/toast them before serving. If you don't have Sourdough starter, check out this Buttery Soft Pav Buns Recipe!

As with my other sourdough recipes, this recipe for Eggless Sourdough Chocolate Cinnamon Buns follows a schedule. Here is how I do it –

Take out the starter from fridge and leave it on the kitchen counter between 8-9am on Day 1.
I start by creating a levain out of my mother starter at 12.30pm on Day 1.
In 3hrs, my levain doubles in size. I mix the dough without salt.
After 20-30mins, I mix in the salt. Let the dough proof at room temperature on kitchen counter for 3 hrs. I do 4 envelop folds within the bowl every 30-45 mins totaling to 16 folds at the end of 3hrs. The dough is very smooth and soft at the end of folding.
I weigh the buns at each 84/85gms, roll them to balls and set them in baking pan, leave for proofing on the counter until they are tripled in volume. It took me about 8 hours/overnight. Bake them the next morning until golden brown.

How to make Sourdough Pav Buns | Buttery Soft Sourdough Dinner Rolls –

📖 Recipe

Detailed step-wise picture recipe of making Sourdough Pav Buns | Buttery Soft Sourdough Dinner Rolls –

12.30pm: begin making the Sourdough Starter from your mother starter. To make 168 grams of Ripe Sourdough Starter, I mix equal amounts – 56grams of starter, flour and water and let it double in 3 hours.

3.30pm: measure all the ingredients and keep them ready. In a mixing bowl add all purpose flour, sourdough starter, butter and sugar.

I used my kitchenaid stand mixer to knead the dough on lowest speed for 3 mins until it is crumbly. You can mix it with hands too.

Now add milk and continue kneading the dough on lowest speed for another two minutes. The dough sticks to the hook and the bottom of the bowl. If kneading by hand, knead for 4 mins gently.

Make it into a ball and add salt on top. Leave it covered for 20-30 mins. This is called autolyze.

4pm: knead the salt into the dough. It is slightly difficult doing it by hand, but it still works.

For the next one hour, keep it covered with a clean shower cap and let it raise at room temperature. It increases in size.

5pm: Now pick the dough from below and pull it over to the top, called as envelop fold. We will do exactly 4 folds.

5.45pm, 6.30pm, 7.15pm: Tuck the dough, smoothen and let it rest for 45mins. Again, we will do 4 folds. Repeat this over next 1.5 hours with two more folds. In total, we will do 16 envelop folds on the dough. The dough should look very smooth and shiny at the end of this. Leave it to rest for 30-45mins.

7.45 to 8pm: Carefully remove the dough from bowl and onto a lined/lightly floured kitchen counter.

Cut the dough into half by using a dough scrapper/sharp knife and further cut each half into 4 equal pieces. I used a weighing scale to ensure each ball of dough weighed exactly 84grams.

Tightly roll each piece of dough into a ball as smooth as possible without any creases. Repeat this with rest of dough balls and place the prepared buns into a lined greased baking tin at equal distance from one another. I used 9” round pan.

Leave them to proof on the kitchen counter for about 8hours or overnight or until the rolls have tripled up in size. I used a clean shower cap to cover the pan.

It is important for the dough to triple up in volume for soft and fluffy rolls. Depending on the temperature and season, this could take anywhere between 6-16 hours.

8am next morning: Preheat the oven at 180°C. Bake the buns at 180°C for 25-30 mins until there are golden.

Remove from oven. Apply a layer of butter on top and bake again for 5 mins on broil (both top and bottom filaments turned ON) to get the golden color.

Serve as Pav Bhaji or as rolls on the side of soup. To store them, place in airtight container in fridge. Reheat in microwave for 20 secs before serving.

Note –

The cup measurements are approximate, use your judgement to adjust the wet ingredients. This dough is very forgiving, so don’t worry.
You can increase the sugar quantity by a tablespoon or 15grams for sweeter buns.

Sourdough Pav Buns | Buttery Soft Sourdough Dinner Rolls

How to make Sourdough Pav Buns | Buttery Soft Sourdough Dinner Rolls –

📖 Recipe