Sourdough Hawaiian Rolls
and buttery sourdough lemon blueberry focaccia
If you asked my kids, they’d tell you that the soft homemade dinner rolls are the best part of Easter (or any holiday celebration). I’ve always kind of laughed to myself that they’d choose rolls over the stars of the show - Easter ham or lamb, Thanksgiving Turkey, Christmas Rib Roast - or even over the side dishes (my favorite part). But I must admit, there is something magical about a soft, warm, freshly-baked dinner roll.
I have a Sourdough Discard Dinner Roll that uses a bit of yeast along with starter to create a quicker, fluffier dinner roll - these are the rolls I make most often and the ones my kids prefer. I also have a true Sourdough Dinner Roll for the long-fermenting, sourdough purists among us. It takes a bit more time but as long as you let the rolls rise until they are very puffy, you’ll end up with a beautiful soft dinner roll.
I’ve been teasing this one for a while now, and I’ve finally added a Sourdough Hawaiian Roll to my site just in time for Easter. I have a feeling these will be a mainstay on all of our holiday tables, but especially Easter. The slight sweetness of these rolls is the perfect match for a salty Easter ham. I’m not a huge fan of ham, but I wouldn’t turn it away if it came on one of these rolls - with a bit of Dijon mustard, of course.
Sourdough Hawaiian Rolls
These recipes have been getting a lot of love lately:
Lemon Bars with Shortbread Crust: My grandma declared them “the best lemon bars” many years ago. I miss making them for her.
Sourdough Discard Bagels: Bagels are surprisingly easy to make at home and they are infinitely better than store bought.
Sourdough Discard English Muffins: Same as above - once you make a homemade English muffin there is no going back to store bought. And they freeze really well so you can prep a bunch, split them before freezing, and take them straight from the freezer to the toaster.
a quick note on discard recipes: In almost any discard recipe, if you want to omit the added yeast and use active, bubbly starter, you can. You will just need to increase the rising times significantly as with any true sourdough recipe. If you have any questions on how to modify a specific recipe, just email me or leave a question in the comments section of the blog post.
And now, a very fun treat and a big thank you to my paid subscribers: a buttery, lemony, blueberry focaccia recipe and video. I mentioned in my last newsletter that I had been dreaming about this recipe and it was everything I dreamed it would be and more - soft, buttery, hints of lemon and vanilla, and lots of juicy blueberries. I did not glaze mine, but if you do I’d recommend a lemon glaze, of course. This focaccia kind of ended up tasting like a doughnut somehow. Kind of like the best doughnut I’ve ever eaten. Really, it is so good and such a treat. I don’t know if I’m allowed to call it focaccia if I make it with lots of butter and not a drop of olive oil, but I’m running with it. Recipe, details, and video below:
If you take a look around social media and the interwebs, you’ll quickly see that 2025 has become the year of the focaccia. When King Arthur Baking announced their annual Recipe of the Year as, you guessed it, focaccia, food bloggers and content creators became focaccia crazy. I even added a focaccia recipe to my site earlier this year, although in my defense I had already been tinkering with the recipe before the big announcement. I don’t know if this version will make it to my site, but for now I’m letting it live here along with a full, candid video of the process, start to finish - you’ll see where I forgot to add the vanilla bean paste and I had to incorporate it during the stretch and folds - this is what recipe developing really looks like! It all worked out in the end. The vanilla really adds something wonderful so don’t skip it like I almost did.
This is a variation of my Sourdough Discard Focaccia (on my site). I halved my recipe and baked in an 8x8 pan but you could make a larger one if you’re feeding a crowd.
Let me know if you like this longer video style or if you’d prefer a more edited, quicker format. I’ll film future videos in horizontal - I don’t love the way the vertical video looks in Substack. I’m learning as I go! Thank you so much for your support!
Buttery Lemon Blueberry Focaccia
a variation of Sourdough Discard Focaccia
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
zest of one lemon
1 cup water, warmed to about 100 degrees F
1 teaspoon active dry yeast or instant yeast
3 tablespoons melted butter (plus more for pan)
1/4 cup sourdough starter (you can use active or unfed here)
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all purpose or bread flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons melted butter for pan and for topping
1 cup fresh blueberries - use more if you want it really packed with berries
Directions:
Place sugar and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl and rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips. This really releases the lemon flavor.
Add warm water and yeast and allow mixture to sit for a few minutes until the yeast shows signs of activity.
Add 3 tablespoons melted butter, sourdough starter, and vanilla and mix well to combine. (in the video you’ll see that I forgot to add my vanilla until later but it worked out.)
Add flour and salt to wet mixture and stir well with a dough whisk or a wooden spoon until no dry flour remains. Cover bowl and set a timer for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, using a dough scraper or similar tool, fold the dough over itself 4-6 times. I like to use a tool for this as it is still very sticky at this stage. See video for reference. Cover and repeat in 15 minutes.
Now for the next 2-3 folds, I use my hands but I make sure to wet them very well. So after the initial two bowl turns using your scraper, you’ll do 2-3 more (I did 3) at 15 minute intervals. You can do stretch and folds and/or coil folds. I did two sets of stretch and folds and then one set of coil folds on my last round and you can really see how the dough developed strength over the course of the turns and stretch and folds. I know a lot of people shy away from sticky doughs, but I promise it’s worth it and it will come together.
After your final set of folds, cover the bowl and let the dough rise until doubled in size.
Prepare an 8x8 square baking pan, metal if you have it, by brushing with one tablespoon of butter and lining with parchment so the parchment overhangs a bit. Add 2 more tablespoons of melted butter on top of the parchment.
Once dough is doubled, transfer to prepared pan. Top the dough with an even layer of blueberries and then fold the dough over itself so that the blueberries are inside the dough. Flip the dough over so the seam side is down and press and stretch the dough to fit the pan as best as you can. It will rise and fill in so don’t fuss with it too much.
Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes until puffed and very jiggly. Preheat the oven to 425 while you wait for the dough to rise.
Once risen, drizzle with one or two more tablespoons of butter and use your fingers to dimple the dough all over. Press right through to the bottom of the pan. Once dimpled, top with more blueberries and press them in slightly.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until bubbly and browned. Enjoy while warm!