How to make light and airy Sourdough Buns with your sourdough starter (or discard) in 2 1/2 hours from start to finish, with only 20 minutes of hands-on time! Watch the video.
Grilling season has officially begun and many of you have been asking for a good Burger Bun recipe. Here is one we’ve been using with our sourdough discard. This brioche-style Sourdough Bun is soft, light and airy and turns out delicious every time!
We add a little bit of yeast to hasten the rising time, but you could absolutely leave this out.
Ingredients in Sourdough Buns
- sourdough starter or discard (unfed)
- milk- plant-based milk, regular milk or half & half
- egg
- olive oil
- instant yeast (or rapid yeast -use fast-acting yeast works best here)
- all-purpose flour
- salt and sugar
- Optional Eggwash: 1 egg whisked with water
- Optional seeds: sesame seeds, “everything spice”, etc…
How to make Sourdough Buns
Step One: It starts with 1/2 cup of your unfed sourdough starter or discard. (120 grams)
Step Two: Mix the milk, unfed sourdough starter, oil and egg in a large bowl ( or stand mixer). Mix bread flour, salt, sugar and instant yeast(or rapid yeast) in a small bowl. Add dry mixture to wet, to form a ball and kneed for 5-6 minutes with a wet hand.
TIP: YES, the dough will be sticky – resist the temptation to add more flour or you will end up with heavy dense buns. Alternatively, use a stand mixer and dough hook. (Or you could do “stretch and folds” like from the first set of folds in the sourdough bread recipe- 2 sets 15 minutes apart )
Step Three: Oil the dough in the bowl, cover, place in a warm spot ( 70-80 F) and let it double, about 1 hour.
Step Four: On a floured surface, divide into 6 balls and place on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Let rise again, 30-45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375F
Step Five: Brush with an egg wash, sprinkle with salt and seeds and bake 20-22 minutes, on the middle rack until perfectly golden!
They will come out perfectly puffed, golden, light and airy!
Store cooled buns in a sealed zip lock bag, or freeze.
New to sourdough starter/discard?
Sourdough Starter is often referred to as “wild yeast”, made from flour and water and the wild yeast in the air around us,and it is typically used as the “yeast” when baking Sourdough Bread. The sourdough “discard” – the part of the starter that often goes to waste- can be used to make flavorful biscuits, waffles and pancakes.
More sourdough starter/discard recipes!
- Make Sourdough Waffles!
- Make Sourdough Pancakes!
- Make Sourdough Scones!
- Make Sourdough Biscuits
- Make Sourdough Tortillas!
- Make Sourdough Crackers!
- Make Sourdough English Muffins!
Need some Burger Inspiration? Here are my favorites:
- Smoky Chipotle Black bean Burgers
- Miso Portobello Burgers!
- Grilled Lamb Burgers with Harissa Mayo!
- Thai Turkey Burgers
- Falafel Burgers with Tzatziki
- Sprouted Lentil Burgers!
- Chickpea Quinoa Veggie Burgers
Give the Sourdough Buns a try this weekend and let me know what you think!
xoxo
Sourdough Buns Video
Sourdough Buns
- Prep Time: 120
- Cook Time: 22
- Total Time: 2 hours 22 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: bread, baking
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: american
Description
How to make Sourdough Buns with sourdough starter (or sourdough discard) that are light and airy (like a brioche bun) in about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish, with only 20 minutes of hands-on time. Watch the video!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter or discard (unfed) ( 120 grams)
- 1/2 cup milk (slightly warm 100F)- plant-based milk, regular milk or half & half
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast (rapid yeast -use fast-acting yeast here, or see notes!)
- 2 cups flour (240 grams) All-purpose flour or bread flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- —–
- Eggwash: 1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water
- optional seeds: sesame seeds, “everything spice”, etc…
Instructions
- Mix warm milk, unfed sourdough starter, oil, and egg in a large bowl (or stand mixer).
- Mix in salt, sugar, instant yeast and flour.
- Combine with fork to form a ball and kneed for 5-6 minutes with a wet hand, (or dough hook). YES, the dough will be quite sticky – resist the temptation to add more flour (which will result in a heavy bun). (Alternatively, if mixing by hand, you could do the “stretch and fold ” technique (see 1st video) from the sourdough bread recipe. Do 2-3 sets, 15 minutes apart )
- Oil the dough in the bowl, cover, place in a warm spot (70-80 F) and let double, 1 – 1 1/2 hours.
- On a floured surface, gently divide into 6 pieces, form into balls and place on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
- Let rise again, 30-45 minutes, while you preheat oven to 375F
- Brush with an Egg Wash, sprinkle with salt and seeds, and bake 20-22 minutes, on the middle rack until perfectly puffed and golden!
Notes
If using regular active dry yeast, mix the yeast with warmed nut milk first until dissolved, let stand 10 minutes before adding starter, oil and egg. NOTE: Rise time will double.
If you rather not use yeast, leave it out, and let the dough rise until it almost doubles. Rising time will vary depending on kitchen temp, but I’d plan on roughly 6 hours.
If making ahead store in a zip lock bag, for freeze for later.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 212
- Sugar: 0.5 g
- Sodium: 222.4 mg
- Fat: 4.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 35.6 g
- Fiber: 1.5 g
- Protein: 7.2 g
- Cholesterol: 31 mg
This is my second sour dough baking project of Sylvia’s and these are the most delicious soft buns ever! We ate them crusty from the oven the first day and then as hamburger buns the next when the crust was softer. They came out so soft and fluffy inside that you wanted to keep eating them until you burst. The sour dough chocolate chip cookie dough is in the refrigerator chilling now and I am anticipating another another delectable recipe to add to my weight gain!
These Sourdough buns were a hit with my Dad – is a very picky fella. I made them for Thanksgiving – it was a first time risk. Anyway, I was wondering if you’ve tried not separating the dough and just baking a loaf of bread – if that turns out? If so, what would I do? Just bake it whole for 20 minutes? Warmer oven? Thanks so much for the recipe!
Yes I think that would be fine. Try 400F for probably longer than 20. Keep an eye on it.
What a great recipe! Thank you for sharing, I can’t wait to make these buns again. Simply and tasty.
These buns are fabulous and great every time. Question – can I use this recipe and method to make a sourdough loaf instead of dividing it into rolls? How long would I need to bake it for?
I haven’t tried, so I’m not sure of specifics, but I bet it would work. Bake until internal temp is 205F
So far so good on my starter! Where I’m living at I’ve never been able to make the quality of bread I did before I moved here. This starter is doing amazing! I’ve just made the buns with my discard. Can’t wait to taste them!
Do the buns need to be covered when they rise for the second time (when they are on the baking sheet)?
I usually don’t cover them.
Can I make this without an egg? Trying to make it vegan.
Hi Rae- I haven’t tried without the egg. It would change the ratios- and not sure how to account for this. Sorry. I’m sure there is a way- you would just have to experiment a bit.
I make everything vegan. For these, I just used 1 tsp egg replacer (store bought, but you can make your own from potato starch or cornstarch) and t extra tbsp of almond milk. For the egg wash over top, just combine 2 tbsp almond milk and 1 tbsp maple syrup. They turn out great and perfect for vegan burgers! 😀
Thanks, very helpful!
I make everything vegan. For these, I just used 1 tsp egg replacer (store bought, but you can make your own from potato starch or cornstarch) and t extra tbsp of almond milk. For the egg wash over top, just combine 2 tbsp almond milk and 1 tbsp maple syrup. They turn out great and perfect for vegan burgers! 😀
I love this recipe! As I hate wasting food I was very happy to find these ideas to use the sourdough starter discard. The buns came out great and my apartment smells like I think heaven smells like 😉
Buns came out heavy and I did not add any extra flour to the mixture. Is there any reason this would happen?
Did they rise?
Wow, i amazed with the result. The bun is soft, fluffy and so bouncy.. i want to make it more sweet, may i add more sugar to the dough? Thanks..
Of course! Try it!
Confusing
Sorry, which part?
Hello Sylvia
I have been learning so much from your site about sourdough, thank you. I started my starter 😁 from dough I bought frozen. It has already doubled in 3 days. I would like to make buns But I was so surprised to see it requires yeast! Please explain why that is. I would like to try just the starter ti get rise.
I added yeast to get the buns to rise faster. If you’d like to try buns without the yeast, leave the yeast out and let it rise overnight. 🙂
Hi to leave the yeast out and rise overnight would this be in the fridge or on countertop? Thanks
I would leave out on the counter.
I would like
To substitute some of the AP flour for wheat (like 50% each) , should I increase the hydration or will it be ok if it remains the same!
I think it should be ok but you can do it by feel, you want a soft tacky dough.
Thank you, for the latest tip. My second batch came out beautiful. Everyone pounced on them so need to make another batch for Tomorrow’s dinner. These will be a family favorite!
Thanks Dianne- glad they worked for you!
I live in Hawaii and having a devil of a time with my rise. The first rise went pretty well but the second rise on the cookie sheet spread to flat disks and didn’t rise. Does our humidity have a factor here. The dough seems too wet and spreads like a batter.
What adjustments can I make? I want mine to look like yours but instead look like flat cow patties. Tasted alright if you love just crust.
Help!!!
Lost in paradise!
It sounds like they may have over-proofed. Maybe shorten the first rise time, especially if it is warm there, it will rise quicker.
When I take the starter out of the Frig. Is this the unfed starter I use or do I need to feed this first then wait for it to slump to use again?
I would just use this- that way you know it is probably hungry.
Hi Sylvia.
Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe.
The rolls are amazingly delicious and easy to make.
I used a stand up mixer. Kneaded dough for 6 minutes. The dough sticks to the bottom of the bowl every time. I feel like I should add flour to loosen the bottom dough. Should I?
The dough is quite sticky and that is why I prefer kneeding with a wet hand to prevent sticking. Or doing the simple stretch and fold technique in the sourdough bread video linked in the recipe. You can add a little flour if you wish to the stand mixer, but know your buns will be a little bit heavier. Prehaps not he biggest deal?
I made these and they were delicious however I had trouble dividing them into equal parts and forming balls because the dough was so sticky!
Any tips?
Thanks!
Yes the dough is sticky. I will try to add a video to help with this! Wet hands help.
This is my husband’s favorite bun recipe! They come out perfectly every time! I like to sprinkle mine with Everything Bagel Seasoning. Thanks for a great recipe!
Love it Molly!
I made a booboo. I clicked on 2X but I forgot about it. Thinking I would need 12 buns for 4 boys and us, I went ahead to double the recipe! Hahaha 🙂
Didn’t know how heavy each bun should be, I made them big (148-150g dough) and bake them till golden brown 😍 Will serve them for our lunch tomorrow, with beef patties, smoked cheese, onions and tomatoes.
Oops!
I didn’t have any eggs, and in no way was I wanting to get any. So I used chia seeds as a replacement. I was a bit concerned. However, they came out perfect. This is a total keeper. Easy to make … Taste awesome..
Perfect! love it Susan!
I followed this recipe exactly. The dough was surprisingly wet but I did resist adding more flour. Definitely needed the bench scraper to form the buns before the last rise. And the result was perfection!!! Light, airy and delicious! Thanks so much Sylvia; this recipe will be in permanent rotation!!!
Excited to try this! I do have a question about flour though. Could I use whole wheat for part or whole of the 2 cups? Or would you recommend sticking with bread flour only! Thanks in advance
I’d start with just using 1/2 cup whole wheat the first time. Then fiddle from there.
Absolutely delicious! First time making homemade buns and no need to look further for a keeper recipe. My husband was quite impressed and we now have half the batch left and waiting impatiently in the freezer for the next burger night 🙂
Great to hear!
Just made these delicious! Didn’t add the full amount of yeast. Will try again with just starter as mentioned in other reviews! Love your site so glad I found it!