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Not your typical dinner roll! These soft, sweet, and shareable sourdough honey buns are the perfect complement to any meal.
They are made with wholesome real-food ingredients and are traditionally fermented and leavened using active sourdough starter.
Fermented grains are easier to digest, have better nutrition, and taste really dang good. Serve them alongside a soup or stew, with your holiday meals, or have one warm with butter and jam!
Try My Cinnamon Version of These Honey Buns Too!
Sourdough Honey Buns
Yield:
16
Prep Time:
30 minutes
Cook Time:
30 minutes
Fermenting Time:
11 hours 49 minutes
Total Time:
12 hours 49 minutes
Perfectly sweet sourdough rolls made with real honey and traditionally fermented.
Ingredients
- 215 grams (1 1/2 cups) bread flour
- 210 grams (1 1/2 cups) whole wheat flour
- 125 grams (1/2 cup) sourdough starter
- 56 grams (4 tablespoons) butter, melted
- 200 grams (7/8 cup) whole milk, preferably raw
- 10 grams (1 1/2 teaspoon) salt
- 80 grams (1/4 cup) honey
- 56 grams (4 tablespoons) butter, for greasing the pan
Instructions
The night before:
- Mix the sourdough bun ingredients together either by hand or in a stand mixer. Knead the dough in the bowl until it’s smooth and supple. It will be fairly sticky. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest overnight at room temperature.
The next morning:
- Preheat your oven to 375°F.
- Flour your work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Shape the dough into a long narrow log and then cut the log into 16 equal portions. Shape each portion into a tight round ball. For directions on shaping dough see my sourdough burger buns recipe.
- Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a baking dish, 12-inch casserole pan, or cast iron pan. Place the buns top down in the butter before turning them over seam side down and spacing them evenly. Allow them to proof until they have doubled in size.
- Bake the buns for 30 minutes. Let them cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Want To Learn Everything About Sourdough?
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Elizabeth
Sunday 3rd of October 2021
I've never ever left a review on a recipe.... But when I went back for the 20-30th time for the measurements, I thought I should leave a note to tell you how fabulous these rolls are!! I started making them two years ago and now they're a Sunday staple. I make them for Thanksgiving, for baby showers, for brunches, for soups, or just because we are craving them! The pan is always gone in a few hours ... And it's the only way to crack a smile from my moody teenage nephew!!
I will say my second rise is way longer than the recipe calls for -- sometimes 3-4 hours before it doubles. But it always gets there eventually! This might be because I like to put coarse salt in the top of the rolls while the melted better is still shiny. It gives a salty sweet that is to die for - even if it slows down the proof.
Anyway, for those debating whether to make these rolls think no more!! I have a batch rising right now!
Butter For All
Thursday 7th of October 2021
Hi Elizabeth!
What a wonderful review! Thank you so much for the feedback. This totally made my day!!!
Courtney
Gigi
Sunday 28th of March 2021
Can I make this recipe with out whole wheat flour? I don’t have that on hand right now. Can I substitute it with regular all purpose flour instead? Thanks gigi
Butter For All
Monday 29th of March 2021
Hi Gigi,
Of course! You can always substitute flours. You might need to adjust the hydration by adding a touch less water, but it should be fine. Go by how the dough feels!
Marli
Wednesday 12th of August 2020
Hi there! This recipe looks wonderful and DELICIOUS! I just have a few questions: I made this recipe a few times now, and wanted to know whether or not the dough should be rising during the overnight rest. My dough is exactly the same size the next morning, and develops a hard crust on the outside. It's also quite hard to handle. My house is nice and warm 24/7, so I don't think that should be a problem. Could it be that my dough isn't moist enough? I've tried to keep it as moist as I could, except that I can't knead it when it's so moist. Also, how should I proof it? How long should it proof before it goes into the oven? My buns don't rise, so I'm wondering if I'm not letting them rise/proof long enough. I proof them by putting them in a warm oven (80 degrees Celsius) covered in aluminium foil for about an hour and then let them bake. The dough is very heavy. How long would you suggest I proof them in the morning? And how? My sourdough starter seems very happy, so I don't think that's the problem either. Thanks so much.
Valerie
Saturday 20th of November 2021
Hi Marli and Courtney!
Marli, did you ever try this recipe again and get your dough to rise? I had the same issue as you where my dough didn’t rise at all-neither in the overnight ferment or after forming into rolls. I made this recipe at the same time as another sourdough roll recipe (practicing for Thanksgiving :)), and the other one did rise, so I think my starter is healthy.
Courtney, I usually weigh my ingredients, and I noticed in this recipe, the sourdough starter is listed at 125 grams (1 cup). When I weigh it, 125 grams is only about 1/2 cup. Do I need to use more?
I’m intrigued by the honey/starter idea, but I’ve made your honey oat sourdough bread several times with good success, so I’m not sure if that’s the issue or not.
Thank you for your help!
Marli
Thursday 13th of August 2020
Thanks so much for the quick reply Courtney! Hmmm, that does sound very strange to me as well. I could probably try an alternative sweetner, only I'm not sure whether I'll be able to source the amount I need where I am. Do you think if I make the dough nice and moist it might help, even if I don't knead it? Perhaps something is wrong with the starter. This will probably sounds really weird but do you think that I might not even be feeding a real sourdough starter? It's all bubbly after feeding, and does devolop a small amount of hooch just before the next feeding. I usually pour that off and just feed it normaly. It doesn't smell like ''nothing'' so to speak. It smells pretty ''strong''. I haven't noticed that the actual starter doubles in size after a feeding. I have baked other sourdough bread with it before, and they rose just fine. Thanks so much for all the help! Marli
Butter For All
Wednesday 12th of August 2020
Hi Marli,
Thanks for taking the time to thoroughly explain what is happening. The dough should be rising overnight. If it's not rising at all there is something very off. There have been rare instances when a certain strain/strength of yeast does not ferment well with honey in the dough. In some cases the honey actually inhibits fermentation completely. That is what it sounds like to me. But it is very unusual. Is there an alternative sweetener you could try? Maple Syrup or coconut sugar are two that come to mind for me.
The dough should behave like any other yeast bread. It should double before baking. If the dough is not doubling then the yeast is not working. You say your starter is happy, that's great! How long does it take to double after a feeding?
Hope I can continue to help!
Courtney
Alex
Monday 10th of August 2020
I've made this recipe countless times at this point. It turns out great every time. Lately it's been so warm in my house - around 30 deg Celsius or 86 deg Fahrenheit - that I have to put my overnight rise in the fridge. But they still rise and taste wonderful.
Yesterday I tried an altered version for the first time: I omitted the honey, used sour milk instead of whole milk, used 50 g of olive oil instead of the butter, used spelt flour instead of whole wheat flour, and added a bunch (maybe two tablespoons) of fresh rosemary. I ended up portioning out 12 buns instead of 16 as I wanted to make mini-sandwiches with these. They are fantastic with a pleasant rosemary aroma.
Thank you for the great recipe!
Butter For All
Wednesday 12th of August 2020
Oh wow, Alex!
Awesome! That alteration sounds amazing! I can't wait to try it!!! Thanks for leaving your feedback, and the kind words :)
Courtney
Rio
Thursday 4th of June 2020
Hi, I’m a newbie. Is the dough left out for the night( how many hours) to increase fermentation? If it doubles in size in 4 hours is that acceptable?
Butter For All
Sunday 7th of June 2020
Hi Rio,
I personally like a long ferment to break down the hard to digest proteins, but since all starters are unique you really need to pay attention to your own dough. So yes, at least double for the first proof is sufficient! You are exactly right!
Happy Baking,
Courtney