Quick Sourdough Buns

How to make Sourdough Buns with sourdough starter (or discard) – that turn out light and airy (like a brioche bun) in 2 1/2 hours from start to finish, with only 20 minutes of hands-on time! 

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)
• nut milk- nut milk, or soy or oat milk, or regular milk or half & half
• egg
•  olive oil
•  instant yeast (or rapid yeast -use fast-acting yeast works best here)
•  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

1. Make Sourdough Waffles!
2. Make Sourdough Pancakes!
3. Make Sourdough Scones!
4. Make Sourdough Biscuits
5. Make Sourdough Tortillas!
6. Make Sourdough Crackers!
7. Make Sourdough English Muffins!

Need some Burger Inspiration? Here are my favorites:

1. Smoky Chipotle Black bean Burgers 
2. Miso Portobello Burgers!
3. Grilled Lamb Burgers with Harissa Mayo!
4. Thai Turkey Burgers 
5. Falafel Burgers with Tzatziki 
6. Sprouted Lentil Burgers! 
7. Chickpea Quinoa Veggie Burgers

Give the Sourdough Buns a try this weekend and let me know what you think!

xoxo

Sourdough Buns

★★★★★ 5 from 81 reviews

• Author: Sylvia Fountaine
• Prep Time: 120
• Cook Time: 22
• Total Time: 2 hours 22 minutes
• Yield: 6 1x
• Category: bread, baking
• Method: baked
• Cuisine: american

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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.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/2 cup sourdough starter or discard (unfed) ( 120 grams)
• 1/2 cup nut milk (slightly warm 100F), oat milk, soy, 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) AP 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…

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Instructions

1. Mix warm milk, unfed sourdough starter, oil, and egg in a large bowl (or stand mixer).
2. Mix in salt, sugar,  instant yeast and flour.
3. 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 )
4. Oil the dough in the bowl, cover, place in a warm spot (70-80 F) and let double, 1 – 1 1/2 hours.
5. On a floured surface, gently divide into 6 pieces, form into balls and place on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
6. Let rise again, 30-45 minutes, while you preheat oven to 375F
7. Brush with an Egg Wash, sprinkle with salt and seeds, and bake 20-22  minutes, on the middle rack until perfectly puffed and golden!

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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

Keywords: sourdough buns, sourdough brioche buns, sourdough discard recipes