This sourdough discard sandwich bread recipe is perfect for sandwiches and has that classic subtle sourdough tang while only taking a few hours to whip up rather than a day. A soft crust with a fluffy interior, this is the best and easiest recipe.
Sometimes you just need a loaf of homemade bread within a few hours.
Say company is coming over, or you didn’t plan dinner or lunch very well and realize you need some bread for sandwiches. Or maybe you are just getting into sourdough bread making and your starter isn’t mature enough to make bread just yet…
Well this discard sourdough sandwich bread is perfect for that. It uses commercial yeast to give it rise rather than relying on the natural yeast from the sourdough starter. But the sourdough starter still gives it a slight tang.
Is that slightly cheating? Maybe, but sometimes we just need something a little quicker and easier. Plus, there is just no comparing homemade to store-bought bread.
It is soft, buttery, and fluffy with a closed crumb. Perfect for sandwiches, french toast, toast, grilled cheese, bread pudding, and more.
Why you will love this recipe:
Easy recipe: This recipe takes very little hands-on time. After activating the yeasts, you just throw all the ingredients into a stand mixer and let it work its magic.
Quicker: Similar to my soft sourdough sandwich bread recipe, but much less time. Yeast breads just don’t take nearly as long as a sourdough loaf.
Great way to use sourdough starter discard: If you have a new starter and are discarding and feeding a lot, this is a great way to use up that extra discard.
Tips:
- Use really soft butter so it will combine with the rest of the dough ingredients really well and without chunks.
- Don’t let the dough over ferment. It will turn into a wet sloppy disaster that won’t rise well.
- When making the dough, using a stand mixer makes the process much easier and hands off. You can also do this with your hands.
- If you have a Professional KitchenAid stand mixer you can double this recipe. If you have a standard mixer, I would not recommend doubling.
- If you are new to sourdough, you can check out how to make a sourdough starter here.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
Ingredients:
Active dry yeast – The main ingredient to give this recipe rise, it doesn’t rely on the wild yeasts and bacteria in the starter to give it rise.
Butter – Softened
Honey – Could also substitute with sugar.
Salt – This gives the bread so much flavor and skipping it will leave you with a tasteless loaf.
Sourdough discard – This is a sourdough starter that hasn’t been fed in at least 12 hours. It is the portion you would typically just toss before feeding the starter. Active starter could also be used, but you will have a less tangy flavor. Find more sourdough discard recipes here.
Warm water – Room temperature. Make sure it is not too hot or you run the risk of killing the yeasts. It should be about 100 degrees F.
All-purpose flour – One of the best things about this recipe is it includes all-purpose flour, a pantry staple. If you have bread flour, that will also work.
Tools you may need:
Loaf pan
Large bowl with lid
Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
Rolling pin
Measuring cups and spoons or kitchen scale
Bench scraper: optional, but helpful.
How To Make Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread
Whisk together warm water, sugar, and yeast. Allow it to sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes. The mixture should get nice and bubbly. Make sure the water isn’t too hot or it will kill the yeast.
To a bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attachment, add all of the ingredients.
Knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic – about 10 minutes or so. It may take longer. You can also do this by hand. It shouldn’t stick to the sides of the bowl.
To check to make sure the gluten has developed enough so the bread is nice and fluffy, it should pass the windowpane test. Grab a small ball of the dough and stretch it into a square. It should stretch thin enough to see through without breaking. If it breaks, it needs to be kneaded a little longer.
First Rise
Place the dough in a greased bowl with a lid, towel, or plastic wrap.
Let the dough rise (also known as bulk rise) for about 1-2 hours (or until it about doubles in size) in a warm place like on top of a stove or on top of the refrigerator.
Shape And Rise
Grease a bread pan or add parchment paper.
Roll the dough flat into a rectangle and roll it up. Pinch the ends to the rest of the loaf.
Add the shaped bread dough to the parchment lined or buttered loaf pans seam side down.
Second rise for 30 minutes to an hour at room temperature, or until doubled. Covered with a towel.
Optional: whisk an egg in a small bowl. Brush on top of the dough.
Bake the sandwich loaf at 375 for about 45 minutes, or until a lovely golden brown color on top. The internal temperature should be between 195-210 degrees F.
Allow to cool completely before slicing or storing.
Storage:
Store in an airtight container for up to a week or freeze for up to 3 months. Check out this post all about how to store sourdough bread.
FAQ
Can you do anything with sourdough starter discard?
Rather than throwing away your sourdough discard, you can use it for so many recipes. Especially recipes calling for other leaveners like yeast, baking soda and baking powder.
To learn how to make any recipe in sourdough, check out this post or for all my favorite sourdough discard recipes, check out this post.
Can you use sourdough discard in sourdough?
Yes. As long as the sourdough recipe has another type of leavener like baking soda or baking powder and doesn’t require the wild yeast in an active starter to rise the recipe (like in muffins, cookies, quick breads, cakes, etc.) then you probably can use discard.
What is the difference between sourdough bread and sourdough discard bread?
Sourdough bread relies on the wild yeast in active sourdough starter to give the bread its rise, whereas sourdough discard bread uses discard and relies on commercial yeast.
Is eating sourdough discard healthy?
Sourdough discard is healthy because the grains are already fermented and broken down. It works great in recipes, and if you add it to recipes and let it ferment, it will also ferment the grains in said recipe.
Can I use active sourdough starter for this recipe?
Yes. You can use an active starter for this recipe even though it calls for discard.
Find More Discard Sourdough Recipes:
- The Easiest Artisan Sourdough Bread
- Sourdough Discard Pretzels
- The Best Sourdough Discard Scones
- Easy Sourdough Discard Bagels
- Discard Focaccia
If you make this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone with your delicious creation.
Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 1 cup sourdough discard
Instructions
- Whisk together warm water, honey, and yeast. Allow it to sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes. The mixture should get nice and bubbly.
- To a bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attachment, add water yeast mixture, butter, flour, salt, and sourdough discard.
- Knead on low speed until dough is smooth and elastic- about 10 minutes or so. It may take longer. You can also do this by hand. It shouldn't stick to the sides of the bowl.
- To check to make sure the gluten has developed enough so the bread is nice and fluffy, it should pass the windowpane test. Grab a small ball of the dough and stretch it into a square. It should stretch thin enough to see through without breaking.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl with a lid, plastic wrap, or towel.
- Let the dough rise (also known as bulk rise) for about 1-2 hours (or until it about doubles in size) in a warm place like on top of a stove or on top of the refrigerator.
- Grease a bread pan or add parchment paper.
- Roll the dough flat into a rectangle and roll it up. Pinch the ends to the rest of the loaf.
- Add the shaped bread dough to the parchment lined or buttered loaf pans seam side down.
Second rise for 30 minutes to an hour at room temperature, or until doubled. Covered with a towel. - Optional: whisk an egg in a small bowl. Brush on top of the dough.
- Bake the sandwich loaf at 375 for about 45 minutes, or until a lovely golden brown color on top.
- Allow to cool completely before slicing or storing.
Notes
- The internal temperature of baked bread should be between 195-210 degrees F
- Use really soft butter so it will combine with the rest of the dough ingredients really well and without chunks.
- Don’t over ferment the dough. It will turn into a wet sloppy disaster that won’t rise well.
- When making the dough, using a stand mixer makes the process much easier and hands off. You can also do this with your hands.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This makes the perfect sandwich bread everytime! We love it!
I have tried this recipe two times. Followed to the tee. First batch I mixed by hand and kneaded for about 5 minutes , second batch was mixed with stand mixer both times the dough felt very dense not elastic. What could I be doing wrong.
Probably not kneading the dough for long enough. Even in the stand mixer it can take a while.
I made this and it was delicous bread. Like others my dough seemed too much for my usual bread pan ( 9×5). Making this recipe again today however I will use a 10 inch loaf pan. Thank you for the recipes AND information for us newbies!!
I tried baking your bread today. I’m new to the world of sourdough and have attempted about six loaves so far. None of them were terrible and they seem to get a little bit better each loaf but this discard bread is incredibly delicious! It turned out beautiful! I am so proud of myself! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe! This is a keeper for sure!
I could kiss you right about now! I have NEVER been successful with sour dough starter let alone anything sourdough. I just made this loaf of bread and holy moly it worked. It tastes divine! Thank you for this recipe that I will make forever! Hoping the next loaf will be as successful lol.
Thanks again!
Hi, the sourdough used, is it active or less active? I’ve never had luck with sourdough, tossed it out last year and now trying again but followed someone’s advice and kept feeding instead of discarding and now, OH my I have a bit much. I .add a loaf but its too tangy. Do you think I can make bread crumbs with it instead of throwing it out? You have so many recipes I am dying to try out!
This recipe is calling for discard (which you would have in a separate jar) hence the reason why it calls for active dry yeast. There are so many discard recipes you can use to get rid of all your discard. But also you shouldn’t feed it unless you plan to use it. The day before baking feed your starter and when you are done and have starter left over you can put in the fridge until next time.
My dough is very sticky and I am not able to test the window pane. I checked at 8 mins of mixing with dough hook, 10 mins and 12 minutes they all did the same. Any idea what I did wrong?
It could need a little bit more flour or just some time to rest! Letting it rest helps absorb the water and become less sticky.
Hi E!
When I first started with sourdough, I know that I always had to add more flour to a lot of recipes because I didn’t take into consideration what hydration level my starter or discard was at. I use a one to one ratio of water and flour for my starter and therefore had a higher level of hydration than someone who uses a 1 to 1/2 ratio of flour to water. I always had sticky doughs that did not rise properly and I ended up overworking them. I would add more flour as you knead until the dough hits the right consistency. Sometimes I have to add a half cup or more of flour, and there has been a lot of trial and error.
Add a bit more flour and be careful not to overwork the dough, and it should hopefully come out the way you want it to!
This recipe works REALLY well with fresh milled flour. I used 75% hard white and 25% kamut. I held back on the salt until I let it autolyse for 30 minutes and then added the salt and proceeded to knead and knead and knead. It was delicious and had an amazing rise.
At what point would you freeze the dough to bake later? After the first rise?
Yes, after the first rise.