The easiest no fail, no-knead sourdough discard bread is mixed together the night before, fermented overnight, and baked in the morning. This recipe has a soft, chewy crumb with a crusty exterior, and that tangy sourdough taste – without all the work.
I know, I know, this recipe isn’t a true sourdough bread recipe. While it does contain sourdough discard, it also contains commercial yeast.
This does two things. It makes it a no-fail recipe as the yeast helps the bread rise whether or not your sourdough starter is active enough. Which then, in turn, allows you to forego the kneading (or stretch and folds) in this recipe.
Sourdough discard bread is the perfect way to use up that extra sourdough discard. Serve it alongside soup, your favorite pasta dish, or make a robust sandwich.
Why you will love this recipe:
Super easy: Mix it up, leave it overnight, shape and bake in the morning. About ten minutes of hands on time allows you to have the yummiest bread.
Delicious: That delicious sourdough tanginess, but without all the kneading and stretching.
Budget friendly: I’m always looking for healthy ways to stretch the grocery budget. This recipe is a great one, especially if you have a super busy schedule.
Tips For Making Sourdough Discard Bread:
- To make this bread fluffier and rise better, make sure not to skip adding tension to the dough when shaping. You can easily just plop it onto parchment paper and bake and still get a decent quality loaf, but taking an extra 2-3 minutes to pull the dough edges to the center and then cupping your hand and pulling the dough towards you on the countertop makes a huge difference.
- I like using active dry yeast for this recipe because it can have a slightly slower rise compared to instant yeast.When dissolving the yeast, make sure the water is around 110 degrees. Too hot and you run the risk of killing the yeast.
- To get that crusty exterior, you will need to bake the bread in a dutch oven.
Ingredients:
All-purpose flour: If using freshly milled flour, choose hard, white wheat berries.
Active dry yeast
Sourdough discard: This is 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.
Water: Preferably filtered.
Salt: I use sea salt.
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Tools you will need:
Large spoon or silicon spatula
Parchment paper
FAQ:
What can I use my sourdough discard for?
Sourdough discard is super versatile and can be used for so many recipes. Some options include muffins, quick breads (like pumpkin, banana, zucchini, etc.) pancakes, waffles, crackers, cakes, and more.
What is the difference between active sourdough and discard?
Active sourdough starter is starter that has been fed water and flour and allowed to sit until it is bubbly and about doubled in size. Sourdough discard is after the starter has peaked, and it has started to come down. It is the portion that you would typically throw away before feeding.
Although, at this point, I never throw away discard because it can be used in so many things.
How To Make Sourdough Discard Bread:
Warm water to about 110 degrees. Add active dry yeast and stir. Allow to sit for about five minutes until it gets nice and bubbly.
In a large bowl, whisk together salt and flour.
Add sourdough starter and yeast/water mixture.
Mix well with a large spoon or silicon spatula. It will be a shaggy dough.
Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for around 12 hours.
The next day, preheat the oven to 450. Place your dutch oven and lid into the oven to preheat.
Turn the dough on a lightly floured surface. The dough will be pretty sticky.
Shape into a ball by pulling the sides and bringing them into the center. I do this about 4-6 times. Flip the ball over, seam side down.
Taking your hands, grab the dough and pull it towards you a few times. This adds tension (as does the last step) to the dough, which helps the dough rise more during baking.
Place the dough on parchment paper. Cover with a towel and allow to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes to an hour. The stove top works wonderfully for this as your oven preheats.
Slash with a lame or knife (if desired) and place the parchment paper and dough into the dutch oven and cover with a lid.
Place the dutch oven into the oven and turn the heat down to 400 degrees. Bake with the lid on for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for about 20-30 minutes until golden brown.
Allow to cool completely before slicing. I usually just allow it to cool in the dutch oven.
Storage:
Store uncut bread in a paper or linen bag. Once cut, store cut side down on a cutting board lightly covered or in a storage bag. A zip-lock bag will also work.
Baker’s Schedule
8 PM: Mix up the dough and cover. Leave at room temperature.
8 AM the next day: Preheat oven with dutch oven and lid inside. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Shape. Place on parchment paper and cover with a towel for 30 minutes.
9 AM: Bake, then allow to cool before slicing.
Find More Sourdough Recipes:
- Bread Machine Sourdough Bread Recipe
- Spelt Sourdough Bread
- Sourdough Rye Bread
- Sourdough Pumpkin Bread
- Pumpkin Sourdough Bread
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you could come back and give it 5 stars!
Sourdough Discard Bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup water, 295g
- 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast or one packet, 7g
- 2 teaspoons salt, 10g
- 1 cup sourdough discard, 255g
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, 575g
Instructions
- Warm water to about 110 degrees. Add active dry yeast and stir. Allow to sit for about five minutes until it gets nice and bubbly.
- In a large bowl, whisk together salt and flour.
- Add sourdough starter and yeast/water mixture.
- Mix well with a large spoon or silicon spatula. It will be a shaggy dough.
- Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for around 12 hours.
- The next day, preheat the oven to 450. Place your dutch oven and lid into the oven to preheat.
- Turn the dough on a lightly floured surface. The dough will be pretty sticky.
- Shape into a ball by pulling the sides and bringing them into the center. I do this about 4-6 times. Flip the ball over, seam side down.
- Taking your hands, grab the dough and pull it towards you a few times rotating the dough after each pull. This adds tension (as does the last step) to the dough, which helps the dough rise more during baking.
- Place the dough on parchment paper. Cover with a towel and allow to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Slash with a lame or knife (if desired) and place the parchment paper and dough into the dutch oven and cover with a lid.
- Place the dutch oven into the oven and turn the heat down to 400 degrees. Bake with the lid on for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for about 20-30 minutes until golden brown.
- Allow to cool completely before slicing
Notes
- To make this bread fluffier and rise better, make sure not to skip adding tension to the dough when shaping. You can easily just plop it onto parchment paper and bake and still get a decent quality loaf, but taking an extra 2-3 minutes to pull the dough edges to the center and then cupping your hand and pulling the dough towards you on the countertop makes a huge difference.
- I like using active dry yeast for this recipe because it can have a slightly slower rise compared to instant yeast.
- When dissolving the yeast, make sure the water is around 110 degrees. Too hot and you run the risk of killing the yeast.
- To get that crusty exterior, you will need to bake the bread in a dutch oven.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love this bread. I do want to say though that it rises very quickly, and I can’t get it to last the 12 hrs on the counter. Most no knead breads that i have done call for much less yeast, so they dont rise so quickly, and I’m tempted to try that in this bread when i want it to rise slower. Thank you for another lovely recipe. My family loves it!
I let my dough rise on a heating pad to speed up the process… anyway I shaped the dough after only about 2 hours of rising because it had doubled in size. It turned out great!!! It is VERY crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside.
I’ve been working on making my sourdough starter stronger so I have sooo much extra discard. This was a great recipe, but I only let it proof for a few hours because I live in Texas and it’s still pretty warm. I’m going to try this again today and see if I can let it proof a little longer- maybe 4 or 5 hours without overproofing it because today is a cooler day.
Does adding yeast make you loose the benefits of the sourdough?
Sourdough benefits come from letting the dough ferment. This bread is mostly for the sourdough flavor.
Hi i ended up baking in 3 hours because the dough doubled in size. Is that okay to shape and bake? I added cinnamon, brown sugar, and raisins to one loaf and olives, sundried tomatoes and Italian seasoning to another.
Yes, that’s fine.
This is fantastic bread (my husband says it “looks professional”)! I did one round loaf yesterday and then I did 2 bread loaf pans today (I have so much discard!)… I referenced 2 other sandwich bread recipes on your site to come up with baking 2 loaves for 45 mins at 375. And it is all PERFECT! Thank you!
Could this be made with Einkorn flour by reducing the amount of water only or would I need to reduce the amount of discard as well? My discard is 100% Einkorn flour if that makes a difference. Thanks again for all your super recipes. Really love your blog.
Oh my, this is so soft and delicious!!
However, my dough had risen significantly within 3 hrs. So, I went ahead and shaped and baked it. I’m definitely keeping this recipe to use up my discard.
Lisa, can this recipe be made and baked in a loaf pan for sandwich bread??
Here’s a recipe that works for sandwich bread. 🙂
Not sure I’d call this recipe no-fail, but I think with some tweaking it could work. Here’s a recap of my experience – it’s long, but I’m posting in case it helps anyone else.
I’ve had a sourdough starter for a while, but I neglect it pretty badly. I recently decided to try to get it into baking condition, but as a result I ended up drowning in discard that I didn’t want to waste. I was happy to find this recipe, as most discard recipes only call for a small amount but this used an entire cup. Yay!
I mixed the dough at 5:30 pm. Because I don’t have central air my house doesn’t dip below 72 even at night this time of year, so I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and brought it into my bedroom, where I have a window unit AC programmed to 62-65 degrees, to ferment until my alarm went off at 5:30 am. I don’t know enough about cold-proofing to have put it into the fridge (and the comment section was less than helpful in this regard) so I was hoping the cooler, but not cold, temperature would keep it from over-fermenting while I slept.
When I woke up, I saw signs that over-fermenting had indeed happened. Not sure how, given the temperature and the fact that my sourdough starter isn’t the most vivacious. But this is supposed to be a no-fail recipe, so I went with it. I floured my countertop and dumped the dough out – and realized there was next to no elasticity in the dough. I would pull on it and pieces just snapped right off. I know this is advertised as a “no-knead” recipe, but I saw little evidence of gluten formation despite the 12-hour proof time. Pulling the dough up and over itself, as outlined in step 8, seemed to help, but I had to do it way more than 6-8 times to get it cohesive before I could shape it. Still, I kept going and once shaped let it rest on the counter (in my 75-degree kitchen) while I took a shower and got ready for work.
About 45 minutes later I put it into the oven. It rose a bit, but not much. I let it cool on a wire rack and then weighed it, where it came out to nearly 2.5 pounds. That is one heavy, dense loaf of bread – something I confirmed when I cut into it and it was tight and a little gummy. It’s edible, and the flavor is good, but texture-wise it’s definitely not what I was hoping for and not what’s reflected in the recipe photos.
So I’m disappointed, but I’ll try it again. I still have too much discard and I feel that with some adjustments, like mixing in a stand mixer with a dough hook to get a jump-start on gluten formation and fermenting during the day so I can keep an eye on it, I might be able to make it work.
I would try baking it early and not letting it ferment over night! If you see that your dough has doubled, you can proceed to the next step! Mine often ferments fast because I keep my home really warm too.
What can I do if I don’t have a dutch oven?
Here’s a post on how to bake without a dutch oven!
I don’t see a link to how to bake without a Dutch oven.
You can search the blog for how to bake bread without a dutch oven!
I accidently added organic instant yeast instead of dry active yeast. What will happen to the dough?
It will be ready quicker.