Sourdough Discard Hamburger Buns Recipe
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These quick sourdough discard hamburger buns are perfect for grilling season. Make these speedy sourdough discard hamburger buns in around 2.5 hours - and use your sourdough discard. Winning right? They are soft and tender with a rich, buttery crumb yet will wow you with their golden brown, glossy sheen. Honestly, you'll never want (or need) to buy store-bought buns again!
Just like this sourdough discard sandwich bread and these sourdough English muffins, these sourdough discard hamburger buns are perfect to make while you are making a sourdough starter, just like this list of 100+ sourdough discard recipes!
Why You'll Love This Recipe!
Fast Rise Time - These soft buns utilise a small amount of commercial yeast, along with your unfed sourdough starter, to make them rise. This gives you a delicious flavor, without having to wait. If you'd prefer to use active starter, check out these sourdough burger buns.
Perfect for Grilling Season - You can use these sourdough discard burger buns during grilling season, for burger night, breakfast or lunch sandwiches - and the best thing is you can make them whatever size you like. Why not serve them with these sourdough onion rings, sourdough hot dog buns or sourdough pigs in blankets?
Make Ahead, Bake When You're Ready - If you want to make these buns earlier than you need them, you can put them in the fridge after shaping. They can stay there for up to 24 hours. Just bring them to room temp before you bake them. Because they have commercial yeast, they will complete the second rise in the fridge.
Ingredients
- Milk - I've used whole milk, but you can use 2%. I recommend warm milk if you can as it will speed up the rising process.
- Sourdough Starter Discard - You'll use 100g of sourdough discard in this sourdough hamburger bun recipe.
- Bread Flour - I've written this recipe with bread flour and it works perfectly. If you want to use all purpose flour, I recommend reducing the milk by around 20g.
- Sugar - just a little granulated sugar to create a slight sweetness to the dough and soften the crumb. You can leave it out if you prefer, but trust me on this, it's much better if you leave it in!
- Egg - I've used 2 egg yolks to create an enriched dough. I've then used the egg white to create an egg wash before baking. No waste here!
- Butter - softened but not melted, salted butter is best, but you can of course use unsalted if you prefer.
- Instant Yeast - we are using instant yeast here because we are using sourdough discard, which doesn't have the leavening power that active sourdough starter does (plus we are wanting a quick rise here).
- Salt
- Sesame Seeds - these are completely optional, I've use black sesame seeds for something a little different!
How To Make Sourdough Discard Hamburger Buns
Start by combining warm milk, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, stirring gently until dissolved. Add the flour, sourdough discard, egg yolks, butter, and salt, and bring everything together into a shaggy dough (a silicone spatula can help scrape down the sides). Fit your stand mixer with a dough hook and knead for 6–8 minutes, until the dough is silky, smooth, and comes away cleanly from the sides of the bowl with no stickiness. Using a stand mixer is both fast and convenient here, as it efficiently works the butter and eggs into the dough (but as always, you can easily knead the dough by hand if you prefer).
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a bag and let the dough rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size. The exact time will depend on the temperature in your kitchen. Once risen, transfer the dough to your counter for shaping. For accuracy, weigh your dough on a kitchen scale and divide it evenly by the number of buns you’d like. For larger burger buns, divide into 8 pieces of approximately 137g each. For smaller buns, divide into 12 pieces of about 90g each. The enriched dough is smooth and easy to handle, making shaping simple—just pull the edges into the center to create a rounded top, then roll on the counter to form a bun.
Place the shaped buns on a parchment-lined baking tray, cover, and let them rise for around 30 minutes until plump and round. Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Brush each bun with egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, Everything Bagel Seasoning, or leave plain—it’s completely up to you. Bake for about 22 minutes, keeping a close eye on them as they brown quickly. The buns are ready when they’re golden, glossy, and sound hollow when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack before serving.
If you’d like to make them ahead, you can refrigerate the shaped buns for up to 24 hours before baking; just bring them to room temperature to complete their second rise. Soft, buttery, and slightly sweet, they toast beautifully—split and lightly char the insides for the perfect brioche-style burger bun. We love eating them with this simple tomato chutney.
How To Store + Freeze
Store At Room Temperature - These sourdough discard hamburger buns will last for 2 days at room temperature. Store in a plastic ziplock bag or airtight container. Warm slightly in the microwave to freshen them up.
Freeze - These buttery hamburger buns are super fast to make fresh, however sometimes you may have a few leftover. Or perhaps you like having a stash in the freezer for easy weeknight dinners. These sourdough buns can be frozen. Simply place them in a Ziploc bag and freeze (there's always a bag in my freezer).
Thaw at room temperature. You can microwave them for a few seconds to soften them up or simply split them and toast the insides before adding your favorite burger fillings.
You'll find more information on how to freeze sourdough bread here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Since this recipe uses discard, the flavor is mild. You’ll get a hint of tang, but the enriched dough (with butter, milk, and eggs) makes them soft, fluffy, and slightly sweet — more like brioche.
No — you can knead by hand if you prefer. It will take a little longer (around 10–12 minutes), but the dough is smooth and enriched, so it’s easy to handle.
The dough should be silky, elastic, and come away cleanly from the sides of the bowl. It shouldn’t feel sticky.
No you don't have to. If you have a mature sourdough starter and you're confident in your discard, you can skip the yeast, or just use active starter.
Sourdough Discard Hamburger Buns Recipe
Video
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Digital Scale
- Baking Tray
Ingredients
- 250 g Milk (warm)
- 100 g Sourdough Starter Discard (unfed sourdough starter)
- 500 g Bread Flour
- 50 g Sugar
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 100 g Butter (softened but not melted)
- 7 g Instant Yeast
- 10 g Salt
- 1 Egg White (for egg wash)
- 30 g Sesame Seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Combine the warm milk, yeast and sugar together in a stand mixer bowl and gently incorporate so that the yeast and sugar are dissolved in the milk.
- Add the flour, sourdough discard, egg yolks, butter and salt to the bowl and bring together to form a shaggy dough. You may need a silicon spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Use a dough hook and/or knead function for this step.Knead the dough for 6 to 8 minutes using a stand mixer (see notes for hand kneading below).The dough will be silky and completely come away from the sides of the bowl when it's done. There should be no stickiness at all.
- Cover the bowl with a plastic bag or wrap and set aside for around an hour to rise. The time it takes depends on the temperature in your home.
- Once the dough has doubled, transfer it to your kitchen counter for shaping. If you are able to, weigh your dough. Divide the weight of the dough by the number of buns you want. Then you'll know how big to make each bun.I make 8 from this recipe and each bun is around 137g. For smaller buns, divide into 12 pieces of approx. 90g each.
- Divide the dough into 8 perfectly even pieces (weighing them for accuracy).
- Shape each piece into a bun. Pull the edges into the centre to form a rounded top and then place each piece on the counter and roll to shape (like you'd shape a boule).
- Place your buns on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and cover with a plastic bag or wrap. Set aside to rise for around 30 minutes. They will be plump and round when they're ready to bake.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- Brush each bun with egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional).
- Bake for around 22 minutes or until glossy and hollow when you tap the base. They burn very easily so keep an eye on them.
- Cool on a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Made this today - DELICIOUS!! I added dried onion to the top of the egg wash … OUTSTANDING (as are ALL your recipes). Thank you.
This recipe is absolutely amazing! It never lets me down! Normally I use bread flour, but unfortunately, I only have all-purpose flour in the house today. Would it be okay if I only use AP rather than bread flour?
You can use AP flour. Just watch the hydration - you might need to lower it a little.
First time making these. The dough didn’t rise as it should have. Even put in the oven with the light in. My house was pretty cool this afternoon. Followed recipe to the T. I bake sourdough bread all the time so not new to baking. Just can’t figure out what I did wrong. Any suggestions??
Absolutely delicious! My husband said I can make them every week. Loved the video for shaping the dough. Recipe radio follow !!
My only comment is that if you are vegetarian and using the pre-shaped impossible patties, make sure that after you shape them into a round little boule that you also squish them down a good bit too so that they will better match the circumference of your burger! I did this and the buns still had great shape and rise, still had a beautiful dome to the top! But I don’t think they would have been big enough in diameter if I hadn’t squished them out a little before the second proof.
Overall, great recipe!
Thanks for the tips, Jill!
Can you shape, refrigerate overnight and bake in the morning?
That should work, Lori. You want them to be nice and plump and risen before you bake them, so they would need to be brought back to room temperature before baking.
I’m excited to try these! I don’t have a stand mixer…yet. Do you think I could use the dough cycle on a bread machine?
You can knead these by hand, or yes you can use a bread machine for the kneading for sure 🙂
These buns were wonderful. They came out perfect. Will be my go to buns.
We will never go back to commercial buns! Basically foolproof and so amazingly soft and delicious- thank you! I have a very happy family.
Only took a star because I needed about 50g more of flour. I was doing a no yeast version and just using active starter so I'm not sure if that made a difference. Other than needing to add a good bit more they turn out really good.
I’ve never written a food review after I’ve made a recipe until now. This was THE most delicious bread I’ve ever made. We used the buns for chicken sandwiches tonight. Absolutely 10/10.
For anyone too lazy to separate two eggs, I’m here to say the recipe still works amazingly with 2 whole eggs, you’ll just need a bit more flour as it needs to account for the egg whites. So delicious, so tender, an awesome recipe!
Newer to making bread and really want to make this recipe. Two questions (I have a kitchen aide mixer)
1) do I mix the dough with the paddle attachment until shaggy and then switch to the dough hook?
2) at what speed do I knead the dough?
Hi Robin, You're correct - use the paddle attachment until the ingredients have formed a dough, then switch to the hook. You'll knead the dough with the hook on low (speed 2 at the highest) so it doesn't stress the motor. You may find this post helpful as well. 🙂
These turned out amazing! So easy and quick to make. Thank you!
Is it possible to make these hamburger buns without adding commercial yeast?
You can use active starter instead of discard and you wouldn't need the yeast. 🙂
We loved these rolls! My husband doesn't prefer a real "bready" roll, so these light rolls hit the spot! Has anyone made a revision of these with a long ferment? I would love to hear tips.
Do you have a burger bun recipe without yeast? Or can I increase the starter to make up for not adding yeast?
You can try these brioche buns (they're delicious!). 🙂
I make this recipe so often. I give it longer to rise when they are formed until they are the size I like and I pat them down when I'm forming them to get a nice wide bun. So yummy and so light, great texture and flavour as well as a good way to use up my discard!
I made these buns using active starter and no yeast. Started at 10am friday proved shaped put in fridge overnight . Took out this morning allowed to rise at room temp. Did' t rise much but backed anyway they rose beautifully in the oven super pleased. Wish i could show a pic.
Thanks for sharing, Mary! We would love to see a pic. Unfortunately, you can't share here, but we would love for you to share in our Facebook group here, if you can. 🙂
This recipe came out great! If you’re kneading by hand, i recommend the slap and fold kneading technique until it starts to come together and then knead normally until it stops sticking to the counter.
Hi, I tried this with active starter and no yeast. It did take over 12 hours to rise with the temperature in my house. Is the dough still ok to use given the ingredients and how long it took? Thanks
Yes it will be fine to use still 🙂
This is probably the best recipe I’ve ever used in terms of ease and turnout!
Thank you, Hannah! We love to hear that, and are so grateful for your review. 🙂
Turned out great! Easy to make and totally worth it.
Hello,
I will be making these buns but I can’t find the video. I only need it to shape properly. Do the 8 you make hold a regular size burger?
Making these with freshly milled hard white wheat berries and Kamut.
Thank you
The video is linked in the recipe card, it appears at the top of the card 🙂 You can also hit "jump to recipe" and it will take you straight there 🙂
Hello,
I love your recipes but a big BUT. Can you put the ounces or teaspoons next to the gram amount because my scale cannot accurately give me 7 or 10 gms of salt or yeast. All of these conversions are all over the board. It makes it so much easier instead of finding out 10 gms of salt equals 1.69 teaspoons and ok so what is the .69. Another site gives you different calculations. It would truly be easier on the small gm amounts that are tricky but extremely important on the outcome of the baked good.
So what is the 7 gm of yeast and 10 gms of salt. Thank you
I'm glad you love the recipe! I've never measured it in teaspoons because I always use a scale, but if I had to use teaspoons, I'd use 2 teaspoons of yeast and 1 teaspoon of salt :-).
Wonderful recipe. I mill my own flour so used 250 gms of hard red and 250 of hard white wheat berries. Everything else the same except used olive oil instead of butter and because it’s freshly milled after mixing everything together let it sit for 30 mins before kneading. I may try with butter next time but the olive oil worked beautifully. Yum yum!
Because it’s hard to scale salt and yeast: 10 gms of salt equals and 7 gms yeast =
Salt is 2 teas of fine sea salt and yeast 1/1/2 teas.
I love that you mill your own flour! Thank you so much for your comment. 🙂
These were SO good! Has anyone tried freezing the proofed dough and then thawing/baking it? I often buy "sister" rolls and these were so much better, I'd like to freeze the dough and have fresh rolls whenever we'd like.
Fantastic hamburger buns! I like to use 20% (100 grams) of whole wheat flour.
This is now our forever burger bun recipe. We can’t wait to try this dough in other forms: Parker House rolls, pull-apart rolls, even a Pullman loaf!
We make them in 12, and the size is perfect. They even stay quite fresh all week in the larder in a ziplock.
Thank you!
These were fabulous and so easy to make! Thank you. Can you tell me if I can reduce the sugar and still get similar results? Thanks!
Yes you can reduce the sugar or even leave it out if you want to 🙂