A friend of mine recently and graciously gifted me some of her sourdough starter. And yes, I have sourdough starter recipes at the ready, but it wasn’t bread that I first thought about making. I know this sounds a little crazy, because sourdough bread is awesome. But there is a LOT MORE to workign with sourdough starter recipes—and discard—that don’t involve bread.
See, I’m angling for waffles, donuts, pancakes, pizza dough, and pretzels. That’s because anywhere flour and water is involved, sourdough starter can be incorporated. If you’re wondering what to do with you starter and its discard, read on!
Sourdough Starter and Discard: The 411
If sourdough starter has become an essential part of your pantry, you’re probably well aware that it requires a fair amount of maintenance. Discarding part of the starter before feeding it is a big part of maintaining its health. This is because the older the starter gets, the less active and useable it becomes. Even if you were to never discard, the volume of starter would quickly grow to proportions that a non-professional kitchen can’t handle. And it would just become too much to deal with. It’s kind of almost like a pet: You need to keep feeding it in order for it to be healthy.
But it just hurts to watch part of that perfectly good sourdough starter go into the trash. If I absolutely can’t get to it before it’s no longer active enough to use (two days), I’ll compost it whenever possible, or I will give some away. But in most cases, I don’t have to throw it away at all, because it’s really not hard to use up in what I bake.
Tips for Using Sourdough Discard
It’s important to note that because sourdough discard isn’t as active as freshly fed starter, it’s not ideal for baking bread because it won’t rise properly. In general, you shouldn’t expect it to have any kind of leavening effect on what you’re baking, and should always make sure that whatever recipe you’re working with also calls for a leavening agent such as yeast, baking powder or soda.
What you can expect, however is the same depth of flavor you get in sourdough bread in whatever you make with the discard, whether that’s brownies, crackers, or chocolate chip cookies. In fact, you can make just about any baked recipe into one that accomodates sourdough starter, with a simple mathematical adjustment.
How to Make Sourdough Starter
Ok, so we are getting a little ahead of ourselves here! Here’s how you get started with your starter.
Starter is always half flour and half water. Weigh the amount that you have, divide that in half, and then subtract that amount from the flour and water the recipe calls for. For example, if a recipe requires 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water and you have 1 cup of discard, use 1/2 cup of flour and water instead to ensure the final dough isn’t overly hydrated. And then make sure you feed it on a regular basis. Keep it at room temperature if you can.
Once you get it going, you’ll have plenty of discard. Check out 11 of my favorite ways to use sourdough starter.
Crackers
Tangy and fresh, these crackers from Love and Oil really highlight the complexity of the flavors behind sourdough (and they’re great with pretty much any dip). Seal them up tight and they’ll last for weeks, if you don’t eat them all by then that is. Sourdough discard to the rescue!
Brownies
Yes, you can make a sourdough starter recipe that turns into brownies! Though the concept my be strange at first, rest assured it is delicious. Think of how we add sour ingredients, such as Greek yogurt and sour cream, to chocolate desserts all the time. That bit of tang is key for cutting through all the richness of these brownies from The Gingered Whisk!
Pizza Dough
Sourdough starter recipes often include pizza, and this dough from An Italian in My Kitchen is no exception. It’s easy to work with and bakes well even if you don’t have the best oven for making pizza. If you aren’t ready to cook with it right away, keep it wrapped tightly and refrigerated, but not for longer than a couple of days. Otherwise it may turn out to be more like flatbread than pizza.
English Muffins
I’d never felt inspired to make homemade English muffins until I realized I could do it with sourdough. It’s not hard, either! Light, fluffy, and moist, this recipe from Top With Cinnamon is a far cry from what I usually get at the supermarket. As you might imagine, they’re best when fresh from the oven, and topped with a smear of salted (yes, salted!) butter.
Banana Bread
You’ve never had a more moist banana bread than this sourdough version from The Clever Carrot. Save yourself some future trouble by baking a few loaves—you can freeze what you don’t eat for later and it will last for months.
Naan
Why make regular naan when you could easily make it with sourdough instead? While naan is normally a pretty quick process, this recipe from Zesty South Indian Kitchen does require the dough to rest and rise overnight, so be sure to factor that into your meal planning ahead of time.
Biscuits
Once again, the sourdough impact on these biscuits from Vanilla and Bean is entirely in the flavor. As they bake, they become the flakiest, most tender and slightly sour biscuits of your life.
Waffles
The nice thing about this recipe for sourdough waffle batter from Girl Versus Dough is that you can also use it to make other breakfast favorites, like pancakes and crepes. Score!
Pasta
Yes! You can make pasta with sourdough discard! This tasty dough from I Am Homesteader is ideal for whatever kind of pasta you want to make, whether that’s linguine or ravioli. It’s so good, you’ll probably want to use a super simple sauce that doesn’t distract from the flavor. I’m feeling olive oil and Parm or maybe even Pecorino Romano….some fresh herbs, just like it’s pictured here.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Deliciously Organic likes to refrigerate this sourdough cookie dough for 72 hours before using it because she finds that it really helps develop a tantalizing flavor. Add it to your meal plan and do the same! Tasters may not be able to identify what makes it different, but they’ll likely detect a depth of flavor they can’t pinpoint!
I hope you enjoyed these sourdough starter recipes using your discard. If you’re in the mood for something sweet? You can make these desserts without turning your oven on!
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