A sourdough starter contains living organisms. It requires constant discards and feedings to replenish its nutrients and to stay alive. You can read more about starters and why it is important to discard and re-feed here.
Arguably the best way to discard and feed is by using a portion of your starter to make sourdough bread and then re-feeding the remaining of your starter. A discard recipe is also a great way to discard your starter so you can re-feed again. A bonus of these recipes is that you do not have to active your starter, so you can use your starter in any state.
Here are my top 4 beginner friendly recipes to help you maintain a healthy starter and get some tasty treats along the way.
Simple Sourdough Loaf
A basic sourdough loaf just needs flour, water and salt (and of course starter). It takes some time and practice but is super tasty.
When it comes to making a basic sourdough loaf, there are many different variations, predominately in the hydration of the dough. A higher hydration dough can be more difficult for beginner bakers to work with as the dough is extra wet and sticky.
My simple sourdough bread recipe is 75% hydration. This could seem high for some but I started making sourdough with 75% hydration and it has always worked out great.
Sourdough Sandwich Bread
My sourdough sandwich bread is really soft and fluffy. It is like a perfect mix between a classic sourdough and a white bread. It is enriched with some oil which tenderizes the crumb and is flavoured with some honey or brown sugar.
This bread has a softer crust and is great for sandwiches, grilled cheese, or French toast.
Sourdough Discard Yellow Loaf Cake
This sourdough discard yellow loaf cake is a simple and delicious quick bread.
Although this is a quick bread, it does not require active starter. This recipe contains baking powder and soda with givers the loaf plenty of rise.
Because this recipe is a plain cake (which is good on its own), it can take a lot of inclusions like chocolate chips, nuts, and seeds.
Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies
What’s better than fresh baked chocolate chip cookies? Chocolate chip cookies that use up some discard. These sourdough discard chocolate chip cookies are super delicious. They’ve got it all, browned butter, overnight chilling, vanilla, and chocolate.
Comment bellow which of these recipes you’ve tried!
Happy baking!