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.
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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, 236 grams
- 1 tablespoon honey, 21 grams
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast, 9 grams
- 4 tablespons butter, softened (57 grams)
- 4 cups all purpose flour, 560 grams
- 1/2 tablespoon salt, 8 grams
- 1 cup sourdough discard, 285 grams
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.
Can I use instant dry yeast instead and if so what do I do differently to the process ? new to all of it , thanks !
I would not!
I keep a jar of discard in my fridge. If I want to use that for this recipe should I be bringing it to room temperature before I use it?
You don’t have to.
My loaf rather exploded! I’m an experienced bread baker and wanted to use up some discard. There’s only two of us so I don’t make bread all the time. I most recenly made an artisan SD boule and wanted to switch to a sandwich loaf. I have seen numerous positive reviews of your regular and discard SD bread so gave this recipe a whirl. The dough mixed up beautifully. I was skeptical of using 3 tsp yeast but I like to follow recipes as written first time. My dough a little more than doubled in about 50 minutes. Thought it seemed like a pretty hefty amount but went ahead and shaped it for a 9 x 5 pan. Second rise in about 28 minute, well above the pan. If I had only scored the top it might have been fine but, alas, I did not and I ended up with full length split on one side and a loaf that was a good 2 1/3″ above the rim of the pan! Baked weight was 2 lb, 3oz. And yes, I do use a scale to weigh all ingredients. All this is not to complain as the loaf is golden brown (depsite it’s mis-shaped, alien- looking top!), has a lovely crust, and when I cut into once cooled, it has a beautful crumb and tastes fabulous. Note to self–reduce yeast to a 2 1/4 oz (= to one pkt-I use bulk instant yeast) and reduce liquid and flour by maybe a 1/4. I guess I have overly happy yeast and discard!!! Overall, I love the recipe!!!
I had the same issue. My bread exploded.I have a Lodge loaf pan (8.5×4.5). The bread was about 5 inches out of the pan. I am going to try your basic sourdough loaf this week. Wondering if I need less flour or if this is due to the commercial yeast? Thanks!
So is it 1 cup of discard or 285 grams? Because 1 cup should be 226 grams…
According to my calculations, 1 cup discard is 285 g while 1 cup active starter is 226g
Can you store overnight in fridge or is that going to over ferment the loaf?
Also, what size is the loaf pan you use?
Thanks!
It may over ferment. It is a 1 pound 5×9″ pan
Can you used cold starter?
Like straight from the fridge? That should work.
I will probably not be making this one again. I almost burnt my kitchen aid mixer up. The stiffness of the dough was just too much for my mixer. I ended up kneading for 5 minutes. I’m not sure if I went wrong anywhere but I followed the recipe.
Oh bummer. Depending on the hydration of your starter and how you measure your flour, can influence the hydration of the dough. If you feel like the dough is too stiff, I would just add a little bit of water (maybe a teaspoon at a time) until a better consistency form.
Hi there! Can this sandwich bread be made without using yeast? If so, how much extra discard should I use? Thanks so much!
It cannot. You would need to use active starter rather than discard to get the rise needed.
Getting ready to try this recipe but where does the butter get added into the mixture?
I don’t see it in the directions…
Also no stand mixer so I’m doing it all by hand.
Thanks t
Hi there! It is included in step 2 when it says add all of the ingredients to the stand mixer! You can mix this by hand it may just take a bit longer.
Oh ! Gah I just reread it and saw that!!! Also, I have I stant yeast on hand ..about 6 grams is 8n am packet…would that be okay to use?
Tha KS again! Tiff
If I wanted to make this without the discard, would I need substitute with more flour or less water??
A little bit of both! I would sub 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup flour.