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If you’re looking for the best strawberry sourdough quick bread, this Sourdough Discard Strawberry Bread is the perfect spring bake. Made with both freeze-dried strawberries and fresh berries, this easy sourdough discard recipe is packed with real strawberry flavor in every bite. The crumb is soft, tender, and extra moist thanks to the sourdough discard, which helps balance the sweetness beautifully.
And the thick, naturally pink strawberry glaze on top makes it feel completely bakery-worthy. My kids walked into the kitchen while it was cooling and immediately declared it the best thing ever. Honestly, I can’t argue with them.
Table of Contents
- Quick Look: Sourdough Discard Strawberry Bread
- Why You’ll Love Sourdough Discard Strawberry Bread
- Ingredients For Strawberry Sourdough QuickBread
- Substitutions
- Step By Step Instructions
- How to Store Leftovers
- Amy’s Recipe Tip
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Strawberry Sourdough Recipes
- Sourdough Discard Strawberry Bread Recipe
Quick Look: Sourdough Discard Strawberry Bread
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Fermentation Time: none (optional long ferment 24 hours in the refrigerator)
- Bake Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Servings: 12 slices
- Calories: ~230 kcal per slice (based on nutrition panel)
- Cook Method: Mixed and Baked
- Flavor & Texture: Moist, fluffy, and sweet strawberry flavor
- Difficulty: Easy
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Why You’ll Love Sourdough Discard Strawberry Bread
- Springtime Favorite – Perfect for spring brunches, afternoon tea, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or anytime you have strawberries on hand, this is one of those recipes that feels bakery-worthy but is simple enough for a weekday bake, just like my Sourdough Discard Lemon Loaf.
- Fresh Strawberries – If you love fresh strawberry bakes, you’ll love this strawberry sourdough loaf full of real strawberry flavor. And if you want something extra special, try my strawberry sourdough rolls too, made with both freeze-dried and fresh strawberries for juicy pops of tart and sweet in every bite.
- Sourdough Discard Recipe – This strawberry discard bread uses sourdough discard for light flavor and added moisture. If you’re looking for a long fermented artisan loaf, try this Strawberry Sourdough Bread too!
Sourdough Discard Tip: I keep a jar in my fridge that I continually add sourdough discard to. Discard is simply the portion you remove when feeding your sourdough starter, and there’s no reason to throw it away. If you’re new here, be sure to check out my guide on how to maintain a sourdough starter so you always have discard ready to use.
Instead of throwing it out, I use it in incredible sourdough discard recipes where it adds moisture and great flavor. Use older, more tangy discard in savory recipes like my Sourdough Discard Pizza and young/fresh discard in sweeter recipes like this tender Strawberry Sourdough Cake.
Ingredients For Strawberry Sourdough QuickBread
- Sourdough Discard – Use discard straight from the refrigerator or an active, bubbly sourdough starter. I use a 100% hydration starter, which means it’s fed with equal parts flour and water by weight. If using a thicker discard, you may need an extra Tablespoon of milk.
- Unsalted Butter – I always bake with unsalted butter, but you can substitute salted butter if preferred.
- Strawberries: Use red, ripe strawberries for the best flavor. Freshly picked, in-season strawberries make this loaf even better!
- Freeze Dried Strawberries: Freeze-dried strawberries (I get mine at my local grocery store) give this loaf and glaze it’s sweet strawberry flavor. I crush the freeze dried strawberries into a fine powder to get the best flavor and texture throughout this loaf.
- Strawberry Glaze: Made with powdered sugar, crushed freeze-dried strawberries, vanilla extract, and milk, this naturally pink glaze adds the perfect fresh strawberry flavor to the top.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities
Substitutions
- Sourdough Discard: Substitute ripe, bubbly active sourdough starter if you don’t have discard and want to make this quick bread.
- All-Purpose Flour: This loaf bakes up sweet and tender with all-purpose flour. You can substitute up to half of the flour with freshly milled whole wheat, but it may not rise quite as high and the texture will be slightly less soft.
- Eggs: I haven’t tested this recipe with an egg substitute, so I can’t guarantee the results. If you choose to experiment, a flax egg or a store-bought egg replacer may work, but the texture may be slightly different. Let me know if the comments if you choose to try it!
- Freeze Dried Strawberries: If you can’t find freeze-dried strawberries, you can leave them out. The loaf won’t have quite the same bold strawberry flavor, but it will still taste delicious.
- Glaze: I love the added flavor and sweetness that the strawberry glaze gives this loaf, but you can leave it off or substitute a different glaze instead.
Step By Step Instructions
Prep the Berries and Mix the Batter
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350ºF and dice the strawberries into small pieces. Set aside.
Step 2: Combine the dry ingredients including the flour, baking powder, salt, and crushed freeze-dried strawberries in a large mixing bowl.
How I Crush Freeze Dried Strawberries: While you can use a food processor or blender to crush the freeze dried strawberries, I usually just add them to a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to crush them into a powder.
Step 3: Toss the fresh strawberries in the dry mixture. Coating the strawberries prior to mixing with the rest of the batter helps them to stay evenly dispersed through the bread. If you don’t coat the strawberries in the flour mixture, you risk them sinking to the bottom of your bread as it bakes.
Step 4: In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the sourdough discard, melted butter, and sugar. Combine. Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Pour the liquid ingredients into the flour and strawberry mixture and stir until just combined.
Over-mixing can result in tough or rubbery bread, so be careful to mix until just combined with just a few dry streaks remaining.
Long Fermenting the Batter: To long-ferment this strawberry quick bread, mix up the batter without the strawberries. Cover the batter and refrigerate for 24–48 hours to let the discard pre-digest some of the gluten and develop flavor. When you’re ready to bake, stir in the diced strawberries, pour into your prepared pan, and bake straight from the fridge. You may need to add a few extra minutes to the bake time to account for the colder batter.
Long fermenting with fresh strawberries can cause the berries to break down and make the batter mushy/purple. I like to fold in fresh strawberries just before baking.
Bake The Discard Loaf
Step 5: Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. This ensures that your bread will easily come out of the pan after baking with minimal mess and pour the prepared batter into the loaf pan, spreading it evenly in the pan.
Step 6: Bake at 350º Fahrenheit for 50-55 minutes. Test that your bread is done by sticking a toothpick or sharp knife into the center. It will come out clean if your bread is fully baked and should register 200-205ºF. Remove the loaf to a wire cooling rack to cool slightly while you prepare the glaze.
Top with Strawberry Glaze
Step 7: Prepare the strawberry glaze by whisking together powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract, freeze dried strawberry powder, and a pinch of salt. Add more or less milk to achieve the desired consistency. Pour the glaze over the warm strawberry bread and let cool completely before slicing and enjoying.
How to Store Leftovers
This loaf stays good at room temperature for a couple of days, wrapped or in an airtight container. After that, I slice the loaf and store any extra pieces in an airtight bag or container in the freezer. When you want to eat a piece, pull it out of the freezer to thaw or zap it in the microwave for about 20 seconds.
Amy’s Recipe Tip
For real sweet, not “fake” strawberry flavor, don’t skip the freeze-dried strawberries in both the bread and the glaze. I usually find them at Aldi or Kroger in the healthy snack section. Crushing them into a fine powder is the key to getting that true, fresh strawberry flavor in baked goods, not just sweetness. It’s absolutely worth it.
Frequently Asked Questions
I add sourdough discard to many discard recipes for good flavor, texture, and to use it up! The older and stronger in smell the discard you use is, the more sour your strawberry loaf will taste. A younger discard will have less sour flavor.
Yes, but you’ll want to dice them while they’re still frozen and toss them in the flour mixture straight from the freezer. Do not thaw them first, or they’ll release too much liquid and make the batter too wet. You may need to add a few extra minutes to the bake time.
This usually happens if the bread is underbaked or if there’s too much moisture from the berries. Let the loaf bake a little longer, and if needed, add a tablespoon or two of extra flour to the batter, especially if your strawberries were very juicy or your discard was thinner than usual.
Yes! These are delicious as muffins. Line a muffin tin with liners, fill each about ¾ full, and bake at 375°F for 20–25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Add the glaze on top, or skip it and try my strawberry chocolate sourdough muffins instead.
Yes! I like to split the batter in half, about 400 grams per pan, and bake it in these 5.5 x 3.25 inch mini loaf pans for about 35-40 minutes. If you want smaller mini loaves, use about 275 to 300 grams of batter per pan and shorten the bake time a bit.
Strawberry Sourdough Recipes
If you tried this Sourdough Discard Strawberry Bread or any other recipe on my website leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Happy Baking!
Sourdough Discard Strawberry Bread
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Ingredients
Strawberry Sourdough Discard Quick Bread
- 165 grams all-purpose flour, about 1 1/4 cups
- 5 grams baking powder, 1 teaspoon
- 3 grams salt, about 1/2 teaspoon
- 12 grams freeze dried strawberry powder, about 2 Tablespoons
- 150 grams strawberries, diced, about 1 1/2 cups
- 100 grams sourdough discard, scant 1/2 cup
- 85 grams unsalted butter, melted, about 6 Tablespoons
- 165 grams granulated sugar, about 3/4 cup
- 2 large eggs, about 100 grams
- 65 grams milk, about 1/4 cup
- 4 grams vanilla extract, about 1 teaspoon
Strawberry Glaze
- 120 grams powdered sugar, about 1 cup
- 30 grams milk, about 2 Tablespoons (or substitute strawberry juice)
- 12 grams freeze dried strawberries, about 2 Tablespoons
- 2 grams vanilla extract, about 1/2 teaspoon
- pinch of salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º Fahrenheit. Line a 8.5 by 4.5 -inch loaf pan with parchment paper or grease with cooking spray. Set aside.
- To a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Crush the freeze-dried strawberries and add 12 grams (about 2 Tablespoons) to the flour mixture. Whisk together. Dice the strawberries into small, 1/2- inch pieces. Add the diced strawberries to the dry ingredients and use a fork to toss the mixture together, fulling dispersing and coating the strawberry pieces. Set aside.
- To a medium-sized bowl whisk the sourdough discard, melted butter and sugar together until completely combined. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla extract and mix together until smooth. Pour the liquid ingredients on top of the flour mixture and mix together until just combined with just a few dry streaks. Pour into the prepared baking pan.
- Bake at 350ºF for 50-55 minutes until a sharp knife or toothpick is inserted into the center and comes out clean and the loaf registers 200-205ºF. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack and cooling completely before slicing.
- While the loaf cools, whisk together powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract, freeze dried strawberry powder and a pinch of salt. Add a little more milk if needed to thin the glaze. Pour over the warm bread and let cool completely before slicing and enjoying!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is a fabulous recipe–gone in 2 days
I am making another today for a potluck.
Thanks for the review! I’m glad it was a big hit.
These were so good!!! I made them in the mini loaf pans you suggested and were perfect!
I’m glad the mini loaves worked out perfectly!
This was a major hit in our house. Made them as muffins, baked at 350 degrees for 18 minutes and they were perfect. Only thing I was not a fan of was the glaze. It was way too sweet. In my opinion, I think it was too much powdered sugar which overwhelmed the strawberry flavor. I didn’t end up using it at all and noone noticed a glaze was missing. If I make the glaze again I’ll likely add the powdered sugar much more slowly and test the flavor in between so I don’t lose the strawberry flavor. But, the muffins honestly didn’t need the glaze for everyone to love them. Thanks for the recipe
Thanks for the review! I’d say the glaze is up to personal preference. Some people like a sweeter finish and some don’t.
Made this recipe today! Great bread! I made this into mini loaves! Excellent bread!! Grand babies love it and Inwill share with a coworker! Thanks Amy!!
Yum! I’m glad the mini loaves worked well for sharing. Thanks for the review.
Made these as muffins to expedite the baking time – came out great! Made 12 muffins and took about 20 min to bake.
Thanks for the review. I’m glad this bread worked great as muffins!