Sourdough Sticky Buns {Or How to Adapt a Recipe to Sourdough} (2024)

Sourdough Sticky Buns {Or How to Adapt a Recipe to Sourdough} (1)

I'm often asked how to adapt a typical yeast-bread recipe to a sourdough recipe. I could make a guess, - decrease the water, substitute the yeast for sourdough starter, and extend the rising time, but I had not actually tried it.

But a few weeks ago, I ran out of yeast and didn't want to make a special trip to the store when I was hit with an urge to make sticky buns. I figured this was the perfect opportunity to try adapting my mom's sticky bun recipe to sourdough.

I can now say with assurance that it works to adapt a yeast bread recipe to sourdough. Works very well.


Sourdough Sticky Buns {Or How to Adapt a Recipe to Sourdough} (2)

When I mixed up the dough, I omitted the yeast, added some active sourdough starter, and cut back the water. I placed the dough in the bowl and began to wait. And wait. It took over four hours for the dough to nearly double in size. Sourdough is never mistaken for the fastest baking method.

Sourdough Sticky Buns {Or How to Adapt a Recipe to Sourdough} (3)

After rising, I divided the dough in half, rolled it out, and sprinkled the dough with brown sugar and cinnamon.


Sourdough Sticky Buns {Or How to Adapt a Recipe to Sourdough} (4)

I rolled the dough tightly and sliced the dough into fifteen slices and placed it into a 9x13 pan with prepared slurry.

Sourdough Sticky Buns {Or How to Adapt a Recipe to Sourdough} (5)

I could have cut them into fewer slices for larger buns, but I knew these will increase in size and be perfect for our family. I did the same with the second half of dough, resulting in two pans of buns.


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Again, these took a while to raise (2-3 hours) but eventually they filled the pan and were ready to bake.


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After baking, I turned them out onto a pan and let the syrup drip down into the buns.


Sourdough Sticky Buns {Or How to Adapt a Recipe to Sourdough} (8)

But the real question - what about the flavor? Do sourdough sticky buns taste sour?

If you have eaten a San Francisco-type sourdough, you know that sourdough can taste truly sour. But not all breads made with a sourdough starter has that distinctive flavor. I actually wish we would use "wild yeast" or some other term instead of "sourdough." Bread that is made with a large quantity of starter and risen in warm temperature won't have as strong a flavor, because it will rise quickly and not allow the "sour" flavors to develop. Bread that is made with less starter and risen cold and slow, will have a more developed flavor.

Your pleasure in more or less flavor will depend upon your goals or your tastes. Our family enjoys sourdough. While my children like if I occasionally make a typical yeast bread, Ed says that the typical yeast bread has no flavor.

(Warning: get your husband hooked on quality bread, and you'll spoil him for any other bread - for life. Last week, when he was traveling for work, I heard a litany of complaints about the horrid sandwich bun he was forced to eat. But doesn't every wife like to know that her husband likes her cooking best?)

But I wasn't sure if the combination of sour and sweet in these sticky buns would be complementary.

There IS an undercurrent of a sweet/sour tang in these buns. And we loved it. It reminded me of a citrus tang, like adding a lemon glaze to a sweet cake.

But of course just one attempt wasn't enough. I had to make these buns again to makes sure that the first try wasn't just a lucky success. And this time they were even better. I omitted the slurry or goo, instead making plain cinnamon buns. Then I added a peanut butter fudge frosting. I'm sorry. We were eating the last of the batch when I realized I had not taken a photo.

Want to try it? Here is the recipe for the sourdough sticky buns adapted from my mom's sticky bun recipe.

SourdoughSticky Buns

1cup warm potato water

1cup mashed potatoes

2cups active sourdough starter

2/3cup butter or oil

1/3cup honey (or 2/3 cup sugar)

2eggs

2tsp salt

3cups white flour

3cups whole wheat flour (more if needed)

Mixall ingredients together. Add more flour if needed to make a soft dough. Knead for five minutes. Place in greased bowl and raise untildoubled (at least 3-4 hours). Divide dough in half and roll half into 12 x18 inch rectangle. Sprinkle with cinnamon andbrown sugar. Roll up jelly-roll style from long side. Slice in 15pieces. Place in 9x13 pan. Repeat with the second half of dough.Raise for 2 (or more) hours until doubled. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.

Variation:Place slurry (or goo) in pan before placing rolls if you want sticky buns. My mom's recipe is 2 cups brown sugar, 1 cup water, 4 T molasses, 4 T butter. Stir together in pan and bring to boil. Simmer for one minute. Pour in baking pan before placing rolls. Remember to flip out of baking pan immediatelyafter baking.

Second Variation: After shaping buns, wrap pan tightly in plastic wrap and place in fridge. They will rise slowly. One or two days later, remove from fridge. Allow to warm up for 30 minutes then bake them for fresh buns.

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I'd love to hear your attempts in adapting recipes for sourdough.


Sourdough Sticky Buns {Or How to Adapt a Recipe to Sourdough} (2024)

FAQs

How do you fix sticky sourdough dough? ›

If your dough is too sticky and it's impossible to work with you can add some extra flour, just a little at a time. Make sure you weigh the extra flour you add and then you'll be able to adjust the recipe correctly the next time you bake.

How do you fix gummy sourdough bread? ›

Try less water with your flour. Uneven heat in your oven can be the culprit – if you loaf is nicely golden on the outside but gummy or moist in the inside, it's baking too quickly on the outside. Trying reducing the temperature you're baking at and bake for a bit longer.

How do you adjust sourdough flavor? ›

Keep the dough temperature higher: Lactobacillus perform well at the higher temperatures of 85-95ºF. Keeping the dough in that range will produce more acetic acid bacteria resulting in a more sour loaf. Be careful to watch for a quicker rise if you choose to use a higher temperature.

What is the secret to sourdough? ›

The secret to sourdough is simple: water. The more water you add to your dough will affect how open the crumb (bigger holes and softer texture) will be once it's baked.

Why is my bread sticky after baking? ›

Ive had with loafs that didnt ferment right, mostly underfermented and dense, that the bread wouldnt bake right and would end gummy in the center. You could also try leaving the bread in the oven after baking while the oven cools, that could help dry it out a bit more or try with smaller loafs.

What happens if you over ferment sourdough? ›

If you over-ferment the dough you run the risk of the gluten structure degrading and the loaf turning into a puddle of goo before your eyes, never to be retrieved and destined for the bin.

Why does my sourdough have a gummy texture? ›

Most likely when this happens, it's not you - it's your starter. If your loaf is dense, has uneven holes and a gummy texture, most likely there wasn't enough active wild yeast in your starter to make the bread develop and rise during baking. This can be the case even if your starter seems really happy and bubbly.

Will Overproofed dough be gummy? ›

The baked sourdough loaf is squat.

Properly proofed sourdough bread undergoes the oven spring, which is the final expression of the carbon dioxide gasses in the oven. An overproofed dough lacks the necessary carbon dioxide gas for the added boost. The result is a flat, squat loaf of bread with a tight, gummy crumb.

Should I add more flour if my sourdough is sticky? ›

If you've just completed autolyse and you feel that your dough is too wet, it is possible to add some more flour at that that stage. The flour will absorb water and become incorporated during the stretches and folds. However, if you are just about to shape your dough, adding flour is not an option.

Why is my sourdough dense and chewy? ›

Both too wet or too dry dough can result in dense bread. One mistake people make when using whole-grain flours is they add the flour and move on with the recipe. Yet, whole grain flours take awhile to absorb moisture, so it's better to add some of the flour and give it 15 minutes or so to absorb water.

How do you make sourdough bread lighter and fluffier? ›

There are several ways to make sourdough bread lighter and less dense, such as:
  1. Increasing the hydration level of your dough, which means adding more water or using less flour. ...
  2. Switching up the type of flour you use, or using a mixture of different flours.
Nov 15, 2015

What makes sourdough taste better? ›

The key taste compounds include salt, which is directly added to the dough, as well as acetic and lactic acid, produced during fermentation. After these experiments, they applied a technique called “unified flavor quantitation,” which was previously developed by Hofmann's team, to the sourdough bread.

Why do you put baking soda in sourdough bread? ›

Baking soda or bicarbonate of soda can be used in sourdough bread to create a less sour loaf. Added after bulk fermentation, but before shaping, it can help to create a lighter, more fluffy loaf of sourdough.

What makes the best sourdough? ›

Simplicity is a virtue, and a marker of good sourdough bread. The bread should only have Flour, Water, Salt, and Starter (also referred to as Culture on some labels). While the first three are the basic ingredients, the Starter or Culture should be the natural starter used to leaven (raise) the dough.

What does overproofed sourdough dough look like? ›

Overproofed is when the dough has rested too long and the yeast has continued making carbon dioxide while the strength of the dough (gluten bonds) have begun to wear out. The dough will look very puffy, but when you touch it or move it you may notice it deflate or sag.

Can you eat gummy sourdough bread? ›

It's not until you slice the sourdough and see the crumb structure that you realise it's under fermented. The great thing is that generally, unless it's completely raw inside, you can still eat an under fermented sourdough bread.

What happens if bread dough is too wet? ›

“Wet" dough will still bake. The final bread will be more dense but the trade-off is that bread from a wetter dough actually lasts longer before going stale. The test is when you touch the dough it should feel only just slightly sticky but not enough for the dough to come away with the finger tip.

How do you fix underproofed sourdough? ›

To fix underproofed bread, next time, give the dough more time to ferment before baking. This could mean additional time in bulk fermentation, proof, or a combination.

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