These discard rock buns lend themselves so perfectly to be turned into a sourdough discard recipe. By adding that little bit of sourdough culture you will gain all those wonderful nutritional benefits found in sourdough.
This post includes affiliate link I earn a small commission from at no cost to you. See my full disclaimer.
Why use sourdough discard?
Anyone who makes sourdough know that there is usually some waste when it comes to the starter.
The starter culture needs to be fed daily when it is in use and to do this equal or greater amounts of flour and water need to be added to the existing culture.
This can add up quickly, so some may need to be discarded. I have always felt that this is quite wasteful and hated throwing it away. Then I discovered sourdough discard recipes.
You can use some of this extra starter in so many recipes. I have actually shared some of my favourite ways to use sourdough discard over on another post. I will link it here if you are interested in learning more.
What are Rock Buns?
Rock buns are a very simple scone like cake made from simple ingredients that most of us already have in our pantries. You can easily tailor them to your own personal tastes too.
They became popular in Britain back during world war two when sugar and eggs were rationed. But today rock buns are still very popular in Britain. I have another recipe for a basic rock bun here if you want to try these also.
The recipe lends itself so well to the added sourdough discard. Any sourdough discard will work well for the recipe. I have even used discard that was still cold from the fridge.
Tools and Ingredients for Discard Rock Buns
Tools:
- Mixing bowl
- Small bowl or jug with a fork or a small whisk if you have one
- Wooden spoon and a dessert spoon
- Cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking sheet
- Cooling rack. I love my stackable racks
Ingredients for discard rock buns
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Granulated sugar
- Butter. I use salted but you can use unsalted if you prefer
- Orange, you just need the rind from one medium to large fruit
- Currants, you can substitute these for raisins or sultanas if you would prefer
- Sourdough discard, this does not need to be an active starter.
- Milk, you can use any milk that you my have it doesn’t need to be cows milk either.
How to make Discard Rock Buns
Into a medium to large mixing bowl add in the flour, baking powder, salt and butter.
Using your fingers rub the butter into the flour until it resembles rough looking bread crumbs.
Add into the mixing bowl the orange rind, sugar and currants. Then using a spoon give it a good mix to evenly distribute the currants and orange zest.
Into a small bowl or cup add the egg, discard and milk. Using a fork or whisk beat it really well. Once the egg has been broken up and blended together make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture.
Using a spoon give all the ingredients a good mix to bring it all together and form a rough sticky dough ball (if it feels too dry you can add a little extra milk but use caution). You may need to use your hands at the end to bring the dough ball completely together.
Rest and Bake
Now you need to cover the bowl with a towel and leave the dough to sit for an hour. This lets the dough settle and also allows some small amount of the sourdough benefits to penetrate into the dough This is an optional step that you can choose to leave out instead just go ahead and bake the buns immediately.
After around 45 minutes I suggest preheating your oven to 375F, 190C
While the oven is preheating you can take a lined cookie sheet and spoon golf ball size blobs spaced an inch or two apart from each other.
Place the cookie sheet into the preheated oven and bake the rock buns for 20 minutes or until lightly golden and cooked through.
Once removed from the oven carefully place the cooked rock buns onto a cooling rack to fully cool.
Sourdough Discard Rock Buns with Orange and Currants
A beautiful lightly sweet and citrus rock bun cake. These rock buns also have the wonderful added benefits of sourdough because of the addition of sourdough discard.
Ingredients
- 250g (1 1/2 cups) All purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 115g (1/2 cup) Salted butter
- 75g (1/2 cup) Currants
- 75g (1/3 cup) Granulated sugar
- Rind from 1 Orange
- 1 Large egg
- 60g (1/4 cup) Sourdough discard
- 1 tbsp Milk (any kind is fine)
Instructions
- In a medium to large mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt and butter.
- Using your fingers rub the butter into the flour until it resembles rough looking bread crumbs
- Add into the bowl the orange rind, sugar and currants.
- Using a spoon give it a good mix to evenly distribute the currants and orange zest.
- In a small bowl or cup add the egg, discard and milk. Using a fork or whisk beat it well. Once the egg has been broken up and blended together
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture.
- Using a spoon give it a good mix bringing the ingredients together to form a rough dough ball. You may need to use your hands to do this at the end.
- Once you have a dough ball cover the bowl with a towel and leave it to stand for an hour. This is an optional step that you can choose to leave out and just bake the buns immediately.
- After around 45 minutes you can preheat your oven to 375F, 180C
- Take a lined cookie sheet and spoon golf ball size blobs spaced an inch or two apart from each other.
- Place into the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes
- Once removed from the oven carefully place the cooked rock buns onto a cooling rack to fully cool
Notes
- You can store your rock buns for up to a week in an airtight container
- Rock buns can also be frozen for up to a month
- You can use raisins in place of currants
- Any sourdough discard is fine it does not need to be active
Leave a Comment