Affiliate disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
Soft, hearty and full of that sweet molasses flavor, you are going to love this sourdough discard brown bread recipe. Based on the sourdough discard version of my sourdough molasses brown bread, you will never know that this loaf is made with a combination of whole wheat flour and bread flour – it just tastes delicious. If you love brown bread from the grocery store or a favorite restaurant, you will especially love this homemade sourdough discard version. We love making sandwiches out of it but also serving thick slices with dinner. It’s a tried and true family favorite.
Save this for later!
We'll email this post to you so it doesn't get lost in your open tabs 😉
Why You’ll Love this Sourdough Discard Brown Bread Recipe
- Flavor: You’ll love the hearty flavor that molasses gives this brown bread.
- Discard Recipe: This discard brown bread recipe is great if you don’t have time for a 100% sourdough recipe. Including commercial yeast decreases the rise time for your bread.
- Hearty: Sourdough Discard Brown Bread uses a combination of whole wheat and bread flour for a healthy and hearty loaf of bread.
Important Ingredients
- Sourdough Discard – Use sourdough discard straight from the fridge or room temperature.
- Instant Yeast – This recipe uses commercial instant yeast to reduce the rise time.
- Honey – Honey adds sweetness to the dough. The flavor is reminiscent of the sweet brown bread you can buy in grocery stores or find at favorite restaurants.
- Molasses – I use regular molasses in this recipe. For a deeper (and more bitter) molasses flavor you can use blackstrap molasses.
- Cocoa Powder – I use a Dutch processed cocoa powder in this recipe. The loaf does not taste chocolatey. The cocoa powder just gives the beautiful dark color and adds a depth of flavor to the molasses sourdough loaf.
- Water – Depending on the temperature of the other ingredients and the temperature inside your kitchen, you’ll want to use either cool, warm or room temperature water. This strongly influences how well your dough will rise (especially in the winter).
- Salt – Salt enhances flavor. Don’t forget to add it!
- Whole Wheat Flour – I use a freshly milled HARD whole wheat flour for the whole wheat flour in this recipe. I usually like a combination of white HARD wheat and RED hard wheat. Both are high in protein (13-14%) and are milled using a grain mill. You can also use whole wheat flour from the grocery store.
- Bread Flour – I use a good quality bread flour that I buy from my local mill (any bread flour works great) at around 12.5% protein content.
How to Make Sourdough Discard Brown Bread
Mix the Dough and First Rise
Add the warm water, molasses, honey and instant yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer. Let the yeast activate a bit until it gives off a “yeasty” smell, telling you that it is active and ready. Add the sourdough discard, cocoa powder, salt, whole wheat flour and bread flour. Knead the dough in the stand mixer for 8-10 minutes until cohesive and strong. You’ll know your discard brown bread dough is ready when it pulls away from the sides of the bowl. It will feel tacky to the touch, but should not be overly sticky. If it is very sticky, add a little bit more flour 10-20 grams at a time until it feels tacky and workable.
Note: If you don’t have a stand mixer, that’s okay. You can make this loaf by hand, kneading for 10-12 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a large container and cover with a plastic shower cap or kitchen towel. Let rise for about an hour or two until doubled in size. The whole wheat flour, honey and molasses tend to slow down the rise of this loaf a little bit. Use a bread proofer or dough mat to speed this process if you want to.
Shape & Proof
Once the bread dough has doubled in size and is light and airy, dump the dough onto a countertop and separate into two equal portions.
Shape your loaves by patting one of the portions out into a rectangle. Starting at the edge closest to you, roll up the dough. Take care to press in the dough at the seam after each roll and pinch the seam closed at the end. Pinch and round the ends of the dough just a bit to get a uniform loaf. Place in a greased 8.5-by-4.5 loaf pan and cover. Repeat with remaining portion of dough.
Let the bread rise in the pan until the dough has risen over the edge of the loaf pan. Keeping the dough warm during the rise will help it rise more quickly.
Bake the Bread
Once the brown bread loaves have doubled in size and risen above the loaf pan, bake the bread for 40-45 minutes at 350ºF until the internal temperature is about 200ºF. Spread melted butter on the tops of the loaves if desired. Let bread cool completely before slicing. Enjoy!
Amy’s Recipe Tip
This is a versatile dough. Shape the dough into 3 or 4 smaller mini dinner-sized loaves to serve alongside your dinner if you don’t want a sandwich-style bread. Bake mini loaves for about 30-35 minutes. Or shape the dough into 24 rolls (about 80-85 grams per roll) and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Substitutions
- Whole Wheat Flour: Use freshly milled hard whole wheat or aged whole wheat from the store. You can substitute bread flour or all-purpose flour for the whole wheat, though it may change your fermentation times.
- Honey: Substitute brown sugar for the honey and add a little less flour while kneading the dough to compensate for the loss of liquid.
- Cocoa Powder: The cocoa powder gives color and depth of flavor to this loaf, but if you want to leave it out and substitute it with bread flour, that can also work.
How to Store Leftovers
Leftover bread can be stored at room temperature for 24 hours. I slice and freeze anything extra in bread bags. Pull out to defrost when ready to use or toast from frozen.
If you liked this, you’ll also like…
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Shape into 3-4 smaller loaves, place on a baking sheet and let proof. Then bake in a preheated 350ºF oven for about 30-35 minutes. Shape the loaves similar to this discard french bread, but smaller.
Yes, you can make sourdough brown bread with active starter, but know that it will take MUCH longer. The honey and molasses slow down the fermentation of the bread and it can take a very long time to rise.
Yes! Just divide all the ingredients in half and make 1 loaf instead of 2.
Sourdough Discard Brown Bread Recipe
Save this for later!
We’ll email this post to you so it doesn’t get lost in your open tabs 😉
Equipment
Ingredients
- 450 grams water, warmed , about 1 3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons
- 80 grams molasses, about 1/4 cup
- 175 grams honey, about 1/2 cup
- 9 grams instant yeast, 1 Tablespoon
- 200 grams sourdough discard, heaping 3/4 cup
- 30 grams cocoa powder, about 5 Tablespoons
- 14 grams salt, about 2 teaspoons
- 460 grams whole wheat flour, freshly milled, about 3 1/3 cups
- 550 grams bread flour, about 4 cups
Instructions
- Mix: To the bowl of a stand mixer add the warm water, molasses, honey and instant yeast. Look for the yeast to give off a “yeasty” smell telling you that it is active and ready. See recipe notes for using dry active yeast.Add the sourdough discard, cocoa powder, salt, whole wheat flour and bread flour. I like to reserve a little of the flour (a little less than a cup) and add it in as needed. Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes until cohesive and strong. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl or gather all together as it kneads. It will feel tacky to the touch, but should not be overly sticky. If it is very sticky, add a little bit more flour 10-20 grams at a time until it feels tacky and workable. This dough can also be kneaded about 10-20 minutes by hand.
- Bulk Rise: Transfer the dough to a large container and cover with a plastic shower cap or kitchen towel. Let rise for about an hour or two until doubled in size. The warmer you keep the dough, the faster the dough will rise.
- Separate: Once the dough has doubled in size and is light and airy, dump the dough on the countertop and separate into two equal portions.
- Shape: Pat one of the portions out into a rectangle. Starting at the edge closest to you, roll up the dough. Take care to press in the dough at the seam after each roll and pinch the seam closed at the end. Pinch and round the ends of the dough just a bit to get a uniform loaf. Place in a greased 8.5-by-4.5 loaf pan and cover (I use a plastic shower cap or plastic wrap). Repeat with remaining portion of dough. You can watch a shaping video here.
- Rise: Let the bread rise in the pan until the dough has risen above the edge of the loaf pan. Press in gently on the dough with a finger. If the dough springs back immediately, it needs a little more time to rise. If it leaves a little indentation and springs back just a little bit, it is ready to bake.Note: Keeping the dough at a warm temperature will encourage this bread to rise more quickly. If the dough is warm, it should take about 1 – 1.5 hours to double in size. Do not bake the bread until it has at least doubled in size.
- Bake: Pre-heat oven to 350ºF. Bake loaves of bread for 40-45 minutes until the loaf is baked through and the internal temperature is about 200ºF. Spread melted butter on the tops of the loaves if desired. Let bread cool completely before slicing for sandwiches. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
l liked the recipe but would advise against putting plastic wrap over the loaves during the last rise as was indicated in the recipe directions. The plastic wrap stuck to my loaves and when I pulled it off, it deflated the loaves and left the tops a wreck. Next time I’ll just put a kitchen towel over the top so it won’t stick and I think it will be fine.
I’m sorry you had issues with the plastic wrap – you can also lightly oil the plastic wrap or sprinkle the tops of your loaves with a small amount of flour if you find it is giving you trouble.
Interesting, I had no problem with the plastic wrap over the loaves. I’ll keep this in mind though.
Thanks for the feedback!
Delicious! Reminds me of the brown bread I had as a kid in Massachusetts!
Yum! Thanks for the review.
I would love to gift loaves of this! If I want to deliver on the same day, can I freeze a baked loaf? or would it be better to keep them refrigerated until ready to bake. If I made 3×6 mini loaves would this make 4 recipes? And would I need to decrease the cook time?
I would be careful about refrigerating the dough for too long (it could overproof). You can definitely freeze a baked loaf. I think a doubled batch should get you at least 4 mini loaves (possibly 5). And yes, I’d keep an eye on them because the mini loaves will bake quicker than a regular sized loaf. Happy baking!
Do you think, if the recipe were halved, that you could knead thru first rise on the Dough Cycle of a breadmachine??
Yes, I think you could do that.
If I want to use all active starter (no discard) would I still use the yeast? Would I use the same amount of active starter as discard? Thanks!!
This is a discard recipe, so it needs yeast in order to rise. You would use the same amount of active starter as discard.
This recipe is awesome! My loaves got a little too brown on top though. I am wondering if it would be best to lower my oven temperature just a bit or tent it with foil at about the half hour mark?
All of your recipes are great!
You could do either of those options to keep the top from browning as much. So glad you loved this recipe! Thanks for sharing.
Ten stars! I had too much starter after feeding it. I decided to try this recipe so I wouldn’t have to discard the leftover starter. The dough was an absolute dream to work with. My KitchenAid stand mixer did a great job of needing the dough that was soft and pliable. I did hold back on about 3/4 of a cup of the flower, and that was a good decision. I didn’t need it.
The loaves baked, tall and beautiful! The bread reminds me of Outback Steakhouse brown bread—in a good way! Your instructions were great so I thank you.
So glad you loved this recipe! Thank you for sharing your review.
I made the brown bread yesterday. I did reserve some flour as you suggest, but am wondering if I need a wetter dough to get the extra softness like in your video. It looks great and tastes amazing. It’s just a bit firmer than yours. It’s a beautiful loaf and can’t wait yo make toast as well.
It may depend on the whole wheat flour you are using. Different flours can absorb different amounts of liquid, so yours may benefit from a little extra water (or less flour).
My family loved this recipe! My daughter asked me to send it to her. My husband said it made the best toast for his breakfast the next morning. Thank you for sharing another winning recipe!
I’m so glad you loved this one! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Absolutely awesome. I’ll probably let it rise a little longer next time but the taste is wonderful, especially when toasted.
So glad you loved this recipe!