“Must know: sourdough discard bread” A bit dramatic? Maybe. But when I tell you this is the hands down most used recipe in our house, it is for a good reason. Why? let me tell you…

So quick- This sourdough discard bread is ready in about 5 hours only, start to finish.
No waste- using up any extra sourdough discard you might have sitting in your fridge
No planning ahead- just pull discard from your fridge and use it straight away.
Last minute recipe- No need to feed the sourdough and wait for it to bubble up ahead of time
Freezes beautifully- After the bread has cooled, I slice and place in the freezer, taking out slices as needed.

Some might say this is a cheater (gasp) version of sourdough bread because it uses commercial yeast to really get things rising. But for me, it is more important to be able to use what I have, when I have it, and sometimes I don’t have 2 days to wait for a loaf of bread. I just know you don’t either.

Another perk of making your own bread is that you are aware of the ingredients that go into it. From an allergy family perspective, finding ‘safe’ baked products is challenging. Making your own baked products can be much less stressful. Once you have made it a couple times, it is so easy to pull together without ever looking at the directions again.

inside view of Sourdough discard bread loaf, sliced.

The Process- How to achieve the perfect sourdough discard bread loaf: A step by step guide

Step 1- In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine sourdough discard, water and 510 g flour. Before setting the mixing bowl on the stand mixer, hold the dough hook and stir to combine. Then, attach the bowl and dough hook, and mix these ingredients on speed 2-3 until it turns into a dry ball of dough (about 30-60 seconds.)

dry sourdough on dough hook — Picture of said dry dough, cover and let it rest for 30 minutes

sourdough after all ingredients have been added, but mixing hasn't been completed

After 30 minutes, add in yeast, salt, sugar, and butter. Continue kneading on stand mixer for 5-10 minutes. Add in extra flour a tablespoon or two at a time until dough comes together and butter no longer is seen and is fully incorporated.

sourdough after all ingredients have been completely incorporated, but still needs kneading.

Kneading is complete, a smooth sourdough ball is seen — Kneading is complete when you have a smooth ball of dough as you can see in the picture above.

smooth round sourdough ball that holds its shape — Turn off mixer, remove dough and shape into a smooth ball. Gently poke/push the dough in with a finger and watch for it to spring back. If it pops back quickly it is a good sign the dough is done kneading. Like your very own homemade “Pop-it!”

Clear 4 qt container to watch sourdough rise — Step 5- Place dough in a greased, clear container, or any container that will be easy to recognize it has doubled in size. I prefer to use this Cambro one, with the numbers. You can see mine is just below the 1 quart line, so it’ll rise until it reaches at minimum 2 quarts /doubled in size which takes approximately 1.5-2 hours, depending on how warm your house is. Instant yeast will make it rise quickly so keep an eye on it!

dough has more than doubled in size, and ready to be prepped for loaf pan — This is a perfect rise in my opinion. It has more than doubled but not overly proofed.

Step 6- After it has doubled in size, remove to the counter and flatten and stretch the dough with your hands until it makes a large rectangle.

rectangular shaped dough — voila, rectangle-ish!

1/3 of dough folded towards the center — Fold righthand outermost 1/3 toward the center

remaining third of dough folded into the center — repeat, folding lefthand outermost 1/3 onto the other 2/3s

tuck and roll the dough, starting from closest end to you, pushing away from you. Roll TIGHT. — Tuck and roll, starting from the bottom, really focusing on conforming it to the shape you’ll need for your pan.

Roll and shape dough into shape for preferred loaf pan. — rolled and ready to go into the pan.

dough goes into the pullman pan to rise before baking. this is the final rise. — Place in pan, and let it rise until doubled again. This will usually be much quicker, 45-60 minutes.

dough is ready to be baked now that dough has doubled in size again. Container cover is able to be closed without touching the top of the dough. — She is ready to bake!

food thermometer stuck into the dough, reaching 210 degree F. It is golden brown and done baking. — Remove from oven when internal temperature reaches 190°F – 210°F. This bread while definitely on the ‘more done’ side, was still incredibly light, fluffy, moist and tender. If you don’t have a food thermometer, you can usually tell by the hollow sound when you tap on it, or the golden brown color. But I highly recommend getting a thermometer!

sourdough baked and cooling on wire rack

Things that helped in the kitchen for this recipe, and can help you too:

To make perfectly square sliced bread, Pullman Pans – amazon -the 2 pack is handy if you ever wanted to double this recipe or make another discard loaf like this cheese bread.

Food thermometer (amazon) to check the temperature of basically everything and anything. One of my most used and underrated kitchen tools.
wire racks, amazon, or Home Goods – I use this specific brand and size and it fits my 17.25 X 12.25 inch USA half sheet Pan which can be found on amazon or Home Goods!
A container to watch and track your dough rise, and the lid both on amazon. It is beyond me why they don’t sell the container and lid together.
The best serrated bread knife, 10 inches so it’s perfect for large loaves. Don’t forget the protective cover to store it! (Amazon)

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This comes at no cost to you, just like a free Disney travel agent. I’m only here to make suggestions that hopefully help you 😉

sourdough discard sandwich bread in pullman pan

Must know: Sourdough Discard Bread Loaf [vegan, Nut Free]

Yes Yum Go

Perfect square slices of homemade sandwich bread, made from sourdough discard

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Course Bread

Ingredients

100 grams sourdough discard (unfed sourdough starter)
250 grams water at room temperature or cool
510-550 grams all purpose or bread flour*
7 grams instant yeast
10 grams sea salt
20 grams sugar
55 grams softened/melted butter

Instructions

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine sourdough discard, water and 510 g flour. Before setting the mixing bowl on the stand mixer, hold the dough hook and stir to combine. Then, attach the bowl and dough hook, and mix these ingredients on speed 2-3 until it turns into a dry ball of dough (about 30-60 seconds.)
Cover with a kitchen towel and let dough rest for 30 minutes, in the meantime measure out the remaining ingredients.
After 30 minutes, add in yeast, salt, sugar, and butter. Continue kneading on stand mixer for 5-10 minutes. Add in flour a tablespoon or two at a time until dough comes together and butter no longer is seen and is fully incorporated.
Kneading is complete when you have a smooth ball of dough that generally swirls along staying attached to the dough hook. Turn off mixer, remove dough and shape into a smooth ball. Gently poke/push the dough in with a finger and watch for it to spring back. If it pops back quickly it is a good sign the dough is done kneading.
Place dough in a greased, clear container, or any container that will be easy to recognize it has doubled in size. I prefer to use this one, with the numbers. Rise until at minimum doubled in size (approximately 1.5-2 hours, depending on how warm your house is.) Instant yeast will make it rise quickly so keep an eye on it!
After it has doubled in size, remove to the counter and flatten and stretch the dough with your hands until it makes a large rectangle. Mentally divide into thirds, and fold the far right 1/3 over the center 1/3. Lastly, fold the left hand 1/3 section onto the 2/3 section, so it is another long skinny rectangle with 3 layers stacked neatly on top of one another.
Tightly roll the dough from the bottom of the just formed skinny rectangle, tucking the dough under itself basically as you go. You'll need to stretch and flatten the dough as you roll to keep it similar to the shape of your loaf pan. I love the USA pullman loaf pan with cover, but you can use whatever loaf pan you prefer! Once it is your desired shape and size, tuck the rough ends under to smooth it out and place seam side down into a greased loaf pan.
Allow to rise for another 45-60 minutes approximately until once again doubled in size. Watch closely in this final rise, as you will want to preheat your oven when it looks like it is nearly risen.
Place in preheated 350°F oven, and bake for 50-60 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 190°- 210℉. Remove to wire rack immediately to allow to cool. Try not to cut the warm bread, I know it is tempting but it is best to let it cool for multiple reasons.
You're done, you did it!!!

Notes

*Tips, Tricks and Substitutions

*I have used both all purpose flour and bread flour, and while I prefer bread flour, both lend successful results.

*To make it dairy free or vegan, use a vegan butter substitute (our preferred is country crock avocado oil butter sticks)

*Using a covered pullman pan versus uncovered loaf pan doesn’t change bake time for me.

*Slice and freeze leftover bread, to quickly reheat use microwave or toaster or allow to come to room temperature

Keyword beginner sourdough bread, discard bread easy, pullman style bread loaf, sourdough discard bread, sourdough sandwich bread

Slice and freeze leftover bread like this^ 🙂

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3 responses to “Must know: Sourdough Discard Bread Loaf [vegan, Nut Free]”

Recipe for Beautiful Sourdough Cheese Bread [made from discard] – Yes, yum, go!

October 2, 2023

[…] Follow steps 1-5 below. Prepare the dough of your sourdough cheese bread the same as the regular recipe here. […]

Reply
Tammy Chang

October 3, 2023

I’m wondering if you can make this into a cinnamon raisin bread?

Reply
1. Melissa
  
  October 3, 2023
  
  I think you could! Keep in mind cinnamon hinders yeast, so you might want to add 1-2 g more yeast to the original recipe 🙂 Alternatively you could try my sourdough cheese loaf recipe, and add the cinnamon and raisins instead of the cheese. It would be more like a cinnamon swirl bread.
  
  Reply

3 Comments

Recipe for Beautiful Sourdough Cheese Bread [made from discard] - Yes, yum, go! says:

October 2, 2023 at 8:31 pm


[…] Follow steps 1-5 below. Prepare the dough of your sourdough cheese bread the same as the regular recipe here. […]
Tammy Chang says:

October 3, 2023 at 3:55 am


I’m wondering if you can make this into a cinnamon raisin bread?
1. Melissa says:
  
  October 3, 2023 at 10:49 pm
  
  
  I think you could! Keep in mind cinnamon hinders yeast, so you might want to add 1-2 g more yeast to the original recipe 🙂 Alternatively you could try my sourdough cheese loaf recipe, and add the cinnamon and raisins instead of the cheese. It would be more like a cinnamon swirl bread.

Must know: Sourdough Discard Bread Loaf [vegan, Nut Free]

The Process- How to achieve the perfect sourdough discard bread loaf: A step by step guide