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You are going to LOVE this recipe. So easy. So fast. So delicious. These sourdough discard burger buns can be made start to finish in just ONE HOUR. One hour to delicious, soft and tasty burger buns that can hold up to a burger but are also soft enough to enjoy. There’s nothing better than a grilled, juicy burger – especially if it’s on a homemade sourdough burger bun! Ditch the store-bought buns and start making them yourself. I know you’re going to love them!
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Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love One Hour Sourdough Discard Burger Buns
- Quick & Easy: This recipe is SO FAST and easy because it uses instant yeast. If you want a long-fermented sourdough version, you’ve got to try my easy sourdough burger bun recipe!
- Delicious: These burger buns are perfect for toasting – like my Sourdough Brioche Hamburger Buns. They can hold a juicy burger, but won’t disintegrate in your hands – just like my soft and sturdy sourdough hot dog buns.
- Discard Recipe: If you’re looking for a good use for your sourdough discard, this recipe is what you need. It uses 200 grams of sourdough discard, which is a lot!
Important Ingredients
- Sourdough Discard: A lot of sourdough discard is used in this recipe. I use discard where the starter has been fed equal weights of flour and water (100% hydration). The older the discard, the more sour tang will be prevalent in these buns. If you don’t want any sour flavor, use a fresher discard.
- Warm Water: Warm water, around 95-100ºF helps activate the instant yeast and influences how quickly the dough will rise.
- Sugar: Just a little bit of sugar is added to these buns to enhance the flavors.
- Instant Yeast: This bread requires instant yeast to rise. If you want to use dry active yeast, make sure to activate it in some water/honey before incorporating into the dough. Check out this recipe if you want a easy natural yeast burger buns.
- Egg: This recipe uses an egg in the dough. It also calls for a quick egg wash to top the bread after the dough is shaped and proofed and before baking.
- Unsalted Butter: Melted and cooled unsalted butter allows you to control the salt content in the dough and gives these rolls a rich flavor.
- Salt: Just a little bit of salt tempers the fermentation and brings out the flavor in the buns. Don’t leave it out.
- Bread Flour: I almost always use bread flour for any bread that I am kneading. My bread flour is purchased from a local mill and is about 12.5% protein content. If you don’t have bread flour on hand, make sure to substitute some vital wheat gluten.
Quick Recipe Overview
Normally sourdough takes A LONG time to rise. And that’s okay. I kind of love that. BUT, sometimes you need something fast. Something homemade that tastes delicious and uses a lot of sourdough discard. Enter these super quick sourdough discard burger buns. Here’s a recipe breakdown of the timeline:
- 15 minute Mix/knead/shape
- 30 minute Rise
- 15 minute Bake
How to Make One Hour Sourdough Discard Burger Buns
Knead the Dough
Add warm water (around 100ºF) and sourdough discard to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix together quickly. If your discard is cold from the fridge, it is especially important to use warm water to warm up the dough. Add in the sugar and instant yeast. Mix. Watch for the yeast to activate – you will notice a yeasty smell and the yeast will start to clump together. Add the egg, melted butter and salt. Mix again.
With the dough hook running, add the bread flour, reserving about a cup of flour to add in at the end so you don’t over-flour the dough. Dough should be tacky and not overly sticky. Knead for about 5-7 minutes until the dough forms a cohesive ball and is smooth and elastic.
Note: This dough can also be mixed together by hand in a large bowl. Knead for 7-8 minutes until smooth.
Shape and Rise
Turn the sourdough discard burger bun dough out of the mixer and onto the countertop. Cut the dough into twelve equal pieces, about 130 grams each. Shape each piece of dough into a ball. Take each piece of dough and pull/pinch up the sides until it forms a ball. Roll the ball on the counter, holding your hand in a cupping shape to seal the balls and create tension.
Note: If you’d like to let the dough bulk rise, place the dough in a container. Cover the dough and let rise until doubled. Then proceed with the recipe as written.
Place the sourdough burger buns on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Put your hand on top of each bun and lightly push down to form a wider burger shape. Cover the rolls and place them in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes. This quick rise is going to be very dependent on the temperature of your dough. Keep your dough warm if you want them to rise quickly. If you don’t notice much rise, leave them for a few minutes longer or use your oven as a proofing box (put the dough in the oven with the light on—don’t turn the oven on while the dough is proofing).
Egg Wash and Bake
Preheat the oven to 425ºF (pull the buns out of the oven if you are proofing them in there BEFORE you turn the oven on).
While the oven preheats, mix together the egg wash by cracking an egg and adding a splash of water. Whisk together with a fork. Lightly brush the egg wash over each bun. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.
Bake the buns for about 15-18 minutes until golden brown and reach 190ºF inside. Allow to cool completely before slicing and enjoying with your burgers.
Amy’s Recipe Tip
This recipe is based off of my recipe for quick and easy burger buns. In order for this recipe to work, make sure that the dough is warm throughout the whole process. If you are using cold discard, use warm water in the dough. And if you find your buns are splitting a little when baking, let them rise a little bit longer before baking them – making the recipe take a little over an hour – TOPS!
Substitutions
- Instant Yeast: Dry active yeast can be substituted, but it needs to be activated in water for about 5 minutes before adding to the dough. The dough will also take longer to rise.
- Egg: If you have an egg allergy, leave the egg out of the recipe and decrease the flour just a bit.
- Whole Wheat Flour: I have made this recipe using freshly milled white wheat flour. Hold back about 50 grams of flour when mixing the dough and only add it in if needed. If you’re just starting out with whole wheat I recommend half whole wheat and half bread flour. The buns won’t rise quite as high with whole wheat but will have more flavor.
How to Store Leftovers
Store in an airtight bag and freeze for up to 2 months. I like to make these buns ahead of time, bake them and store them so I always have them on hand in the summer months.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Most yeast-based recipes call for a bulk rise. This first rise is especially important if using dry active yeast or sourdough to raise bread. It also gives the dough more flavor and a better crumb. BUT, the question is: How much better? For these quick and easy burger buns, we may sacrifice a tiny bit of flavor/crumb/gluten development but we get a delicious scratch-made yeast bun in about an hour thanks to the instant yeast in this recipe.
If you would like to add a first rise to this recipe, decrease the instant yeast to 10 grams or 1 Tablespoon and let the dough rise before shaping and proofing the buns.
Yes. This dough is perfect for hot dog buns. Instead of rolling the dough into balls, shape them into 12 – 14 logs, about the length of your hot dogs and proceed with the rest of the recipe.
This just means that they needed to proof a little bit longer. I don’t mind a little bun splitting if I’m trying to make them quickly. If you don’t want them to split on the bottom, let them rise until puffy and doubled – a little longer than 30 minutes.
Yes! But make sure you use warm water to bring the temperature of the dough up. Keeping that dough warm is key to a quick rise.
One Hour Sourdough Discard Burger Buns
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 380 grams warm water, see recipe notes, about 1 1/2 cups
- 200 grams sourdough discard, see recipe notes, about 3/4 cup
- 30 grams granulated sugar, 2 Tablespoons
- 20 grams instant yeast, 2 Tablespoons, see recipe note
- 1 large egg, about 50 grams
- 55 grams unsalted butter, melted, about 4 Tablespoons
- 20 grams salt, 1 Tablespoon
- 830 grams bread flour, about 5.5 – 6.5 cups
- 1 large egg, for egg wash, 50 grams
- sprinkle of sesame seeds, if desired
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer add the warm water (around 100ºF) and sourdough discard. Mix together quickly. If your discard is cold from the fridge, it is especially important to use warm water to warm up the dough. Add in the sugar and instant yeast. Watch for the yeast to activate – you will notice a yeasty smell and the yeast will start to clump together. Add the egg, melted butter and salt. Mix again.
- With the dough hook running, add the bread flour, reserving about a cup of flour to add in at the end so you don't over-flour the dough. Dough should be tacky and not overly sticky. Knead for about 5-7 minutes until the dough forms a cohesive ball and is smooth and elastic.Note: This dough can also be mixed together by hand in a large bowl. Knead for 7-8 minutes until smooth.
- Turn the dough out of the mixer and onto the countertop. Cut the dough into twelve equal pieces, about 130 grams each. Shape each piece of dough into a ball. Take each piece of dough and pull/pinch up the sides until it forms a ball. Roll the ball on the counter, holding your hand in a cupping shape to seal the balls and create tension.You can see how I shape rolls here.Note: If you'd like to let the dough bulk rise, place the dough in a container. Cover the dough and let rise until doubled. Then proceed with the recipe as written.
- Place the buns on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Put your hand on top of each bun and lightly push down to form a wider burger shape.
- Cover the rolls and place them in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes. This quick rise is going to be very dependent on the temperature of your dough. Keep your dough warm if you want them to rise quickly. If you don't notice much rise, leave them for a few minutes longer. Sometimes I will leave them in the oven with the pilot light on (do not turn the oven on) to encourage a good, quick rise.
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF (pull the buns out of the oven if you are proofing them in there BEFORE you turn the oven on).
- While the oven preheats, mix together the egg wash: crack an egg and add a splash of water. Whisk together with a fork. Lightly brush the egg wash over each bun. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.
- Bake the buns for about 15-18 minutes until golden brown and reach 190ºF inside. Allow to cool completely before slicing and enjoying with your burgers.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m always skeptical when trying a recipe for the first time, but was absolutely delighted at how easy and pleasurable it was to make these. My friends were blown away that they had homemade buns to eat with their venison burgers. Amy, I’m obsessed with your videos and how relatable you are.
I’m glad the recipe was both delicious and easy to make! Thanks for your support and review!
I’ve made the hamburger buns twice already and made hotdogs buns tonight. Each time this recipe has never failed me. Always amazed at the outcome. Thank you so much Amy for this easy and delicious way to use up our discard. These freeze well also. Will be trying more of your recipes. Thanks again for your hard work. A++
Yum! Thanks for the review.
I’ve made burger buns twice previously and today I made hot dog buns instead. All turned out beautifully and recd great reviews. After the first time, I halved the recipe – I halved all ingredients except the egg. Worked like a charm. Thx for a great recipe.
Thanks for sharing!
These were perfect!! My sons and husband said we can never buy buns again. It’s so nice knowing what is in our food. Thank you for sharing your recipes, you’re one of my go-to’s!
Thanks for the review! I’m glad you’ve found a new go-to recipe.
These buns are perfect!!!! Thank you!!!
Thanks for the review!
Thank you so very much for sharing your hamburger buns recipe. I will try to share how it will become no matter what. Haha.
Happy baking!
Thank you so much for sharing your recipes. I am late to the sourdough starter game. My first attempt failed. On my 2nd attempt and it’s looking really good. I am keeping the discard and used it for the first time today. We are having Elk burgers tonight, so I thought I would make sourdough discard hamburger buns. Oh my goodness, my house smells amazing and these turned out so good and beautiful, I wish I could post a pic of them.
Yum! Thanks for sharing your review.
I wanted an easy discard bun recipe and this one is excellent! I follow it exactly as written (minus sesame seeds) and they turn out perfect and delicious every time. I like to make them in the morning and cool all day. For supper, I slice (with butter and a shake of garlic powder) and broil just as the burgers are ready. I don’t think we’ll ever be able to eat store bought buns again!
It’s definitely hard to go back to store-bought after enjoying these!
These will be a new staple in our home. They froze great too! They will make easy burger nights this summer!!
I’m glad they are a new staple! Enjoy!
Making these now! Do they freeze well?
Yes! They freeze really well.
I’m happy they freeze well. mine are proofing in the oven and i only need 3 of them.
Yep! This is a great recipe to keep in the freezer for whenever you need a bun!