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
Looks and sounds great… saw someone doubled the recipe, which I’d like to do too… any tips? Also, about freezing: I saw that the rolls can be stored in ziplock bag, but any tips for freezing the dough ahead? Before or after shaping into rolls? Or, avoid it entirely?
Should double just fine! I havent tried freezing the dough yet- anyone else?
THANKS!
I double the recipe every time, works great!
This is my second time making these buns. I mix the dough in my food processor and they come out perfect. Thank you for this great recipe.
Oh great to hear!
Just made these and had to stretch and fold (first time doing it). I was impatient with the rising because I was a little rushed… they came out GORGEOUS. Had my husband taste test and he said I could make these everyday lol. Thank you very much for this, looking forward to using this recipe and doing some variations.
Excellent and can’t wait to make Sourdough Bread.
Thanks
I’m new to baking with sourdough starter. Several recipes have been a flop. This bun recipe was amazing. Easy and turned out excellent. Soft delicate texture and a good use of discard!!!!!
May I make these with fed sourdough starter?
Yes!
Hi,
I’m very excited to try the recipe and am wondering, since I only have active yeast could I proof it ahead of time and just reduce the water in recipe, keeping rise times the same as in original recipe?
I havent tried this so really know for sure- give it a try if you like?
Great recipe!! A friend of mine gifted me some of her sourdough starter a month ago and I am just now getting brave enough to start experimenting with sourdough baking. This sourdough recipe was very easy and they came out so tender, light and airy for our Easter dinner! This was my very first attempt to bake bread and I’m so happy with the results. I’m going to make sourdough bread next, using your recipe and video.
Very tasty with a great sourdough flavor.
I found this recipe easy to follow and a great use for my spare sourdough starter. I am quite new to sourdough baking so just used strong white bread flour. I loved the light fluffiness of these rolls, the browning, the seeds – delicious too. I shall double up next time and try different flours.
Excellent recipe! First recipe that I made with my sourdough starter, and came out so tasty! Planning on making another batch over the weekend 🙂
Can i bake these on a baking steel?
Hi Dori! Honestly, I haven’t tried using a baking steel here, so not 100% sure. My guess is it should be ok? Will you let us know if you use one?
I ended up baking on parchment/pan but will try steel next time. The rolls were amazing! The whole house smelled great as they puffed up and browned in the oven. Thank you for all your recipes and videos!
We made these rolls for the second time today in my husband’s outdoor bread oven. Second batch – doubled up to make 12 rolls-was as fabulous as the first. I have a wholewheat starter and used brown bread flour. Next time I plan to try half rye, half brown bread flour. This is now my go to recipe! (:
I had never baked any kind of bread before today, was just looking for something easy to try to use starter with… these were so easy to make, and they taste absolutely amazing. Super airy and fluffy texture, as promised! The dough was sooo sticky and soft that I worried I had done something wrong but it baked to perfection. Definitely will make these again!
I had the same experience with the stickiness. Relieved to read your comment!
Yes, dough is quite sticky, but this is how they stay nice and light!
I’m only a few weeks into sourdough baking, but I have made a lot of bread in my life. I just made these with half AP flour and half whole grain rye flour. I topped them with everything bagel seasoning and they were wonderful with veggie burgers. I’m going to try one toasted with butter for breakfast. Thanks for the easy recipe. It’s a keeper.
These buns were soooo delicious. Even my little son, who doesn’t usually like bread, ate it! I made it with 100% whole wheat all purpose flour, so I did add a bit more liquid. Great recipe!!
Just made it double batch and came out amazing! So light and fluffy it bounces back after each bite. It was little hard to handle the dough since it’s sticky, yet plenty of flour definitely helped to shape buns. Thanks!!!
I only have Active Dry Yeast. Do I need to double both rise times? No need to add sugar to the warmed milk because of the “milk sugars” already present?
Yes, I would plan on double, but it may happen sooner. Not sure about the sugar, I’d add a pinch?
We’re looking for a bun that’s FODMAP friendly (for our daughter whose been diagnosed with IBS). Sourdough is okay but adding yeast is not. Do you know what would happen if I made these without the extra yeast? Looking for a great sourdough hamburger bun recipe
You could try but it might take a long time to rise.
I love these so much and have great success with them every time I make them. Quick question though: my sourdough starter died when I was away, so can I make them without it? Any additional tips?
I don’t know how to convert without the starter, I’m sorry, you’d have to experiment a bit, more yeast, and more flour and water?
Perfect. Will experiment and report back.
Thanks Catherine! Appreciate that!
I made this recipe, doubled it and skipped the seeds. It was terrific for pulled pork sandwich, a keeper! Thank you!
Followed this recipe exactly, but decided to cut them into about 9 slider buns instead of larger burger buns. Omgggg they were heaven on earth! Perfect crumb structure, and went great with our pulled pork (way better than any King’s Hawaiian role). Put some everything bagel seasoning on top, you won’t regret it!
Great to hear!
Hi Sylvia, do you bake them with steam?
I don’t… but give it a try if you wish?
Could I make these rolls using my bread machine (through dough cycle)?
I’ve never used a bread machine so I’m afraid I’m ill-equipped to answer. Sorry! If you try it, let us know how it goes.
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!
where is the chocolate chip cookie dough recipe?!