sourdough starter discard

Instead of wasting your discarded sourdough starter, come learn how to make herb whole wheat sourdough crackers. They&#x27;re crispy, savory, and delicious - perfect for holidays, parties, or just as a healthy snack. We love to pack ours full of fresh herbs from the garden, but dried herbs can be used instead too.

Herb Sourdough Crackers (How to Use Sourdough Starter Discard)

Cup Whole wheat flour

Unbleached bread flour flour

Cup Sourdough starter* (see notes below)

herbs

Cup Coconut oil

Tsp Sea salt

Olive oil

Tsp Optional: garlic powder

In a mixing bowl, thoroughly combine the sourdough starter, flour, chopped herbs, salt, and coconut oil.

Divide the large dough ball into two equal sized balls.

Next shape and squish each dough ball into a patty like rectangular shape until the dough thickness is about a half inch.

Place the rectangular dough patties on their own plates and cover with plastic wrap or parchment paper. Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to a couple hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place the patties of dough each on their own piece of floured parchment paper and roll out with a floured rolling pin until dough is nice and thin, about 1/16th of an inch thick.

Lightly brush the dough with extra virgin olive oil, and lightly sprinkle salt over the top.

Cut the dough using a pasta/pastry cutter (or pizza wheel) into 1 to 2 inch squares. Next, use a fork to poke each cracker square several times. 

Place the parchment paper and the cracker squares on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. 

Rotate the baking sheets halfway through to help the crackers bake evenly.

Once finished baking, quickly remove the crackers to a cooling rack.

Once cool, enjoy the crackers immediately or store them in an airtight container to enjoy later.

With a crunchy exterior and soft interior, these tangy, easy to make homemade English muffins made with sourdough starter discard will bring a smile to your face and your breakfast table!Adapted from King Arthur Baking

Sourdough Discard English Muffins

all-purpose flour

sourdough starter discard (unfed, at room temperature, see Recipe Notes)

milk (warmed between 100°F to 110°F)

unsalted butter (at room temperature)

sugar

instant yeast (or rapid rise, see Recipe Notes)

salt

cornmeal or semolina (for sprinkling)

Make the dough: Combine all the dough ingredients (except for the cornmeal or semolina) in a stand mixer bowl. Using the dough hook, knead to form a smooth dough. You can also knead the dough in a bread machine or by hand. The dough should be soft and elastic, but not sticky. If necessary, add more flour in 1 tablespoon increments until you get the desired consistency (this is especially necessary if you’re baking on a humid day).

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and place in a warm area to rise for about 1½ hours, or until it&#39;s noticeably puffy. You can also retard the dough by placing the covered bowl in the refrigerator and chill for 8 hours (or up to 2 days). This allows the sourdough to ferment slowly and develop a more pronounced sour flavor.

Gently deflate the dough, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface, cover it, and let it sit for a few minutes to relax the gluten. If you’ve retarded the dough in the refrigerator, allow the dough to rest for about an hour on the counter to warm to room temperature.

Shaping Option 1: Divide the dough in half. Working with one half at a time, roll the dough out to ½-inch thick, and cut in rounds using a 3-inch round cookie cutter. Re-roll and cut any remaining scraps. Repeat with the remaining half of dough.

Shaping Option 2: Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces (I weigh the dough using a kitchen scale and divided by 24, then cut pieces to that weight). Shape each piece into a round ball, then flatten each ball into a 3-inch round. For a somewhat more even rise as the muffins cook, flatten each ball slightly larger than 3 inches, and trim edges with a 3-inch round cookie cutter (or trim all around the edge with a pair of scissors). Muffins with cut (rather than flattened) sides will rise more evenly, and you can use the trimmings to get extra portions. Win!

Continuing: Place the rounds, evenly spaced, onto half sheet baking pan sprinkled with cornmeal or semolina, 12 per sheet. Sprinkle them with additional cornmeal or semolina, cover with plastic wrap, and let them rise on the counter until light and puffy, about 45 to 60 minutes. If the dough has been refrigerated overnight and you didn’t let it come to room temperature first, the rise time will be about 2 hours.

Cook the muffins: Carefully transfer the rounds, as many that will fit without crowding, to a large electric griddle preheated to 350 °F or an ungreased griddle or frying pan that has been preheated over medium-low heat.

Spray the bottom of a quarter sheet baking pan (or similarly flat but not overly heavy object) with baking spray, then set aside, sprayed side up. The baking pan helps keep muffins flat across the top (rather than domed) while they&#39;re cooking.

Cook the muffins for about 5 minutes on one side, then lay the quarter sheet baking pan on the puffed up muffins, sprayed side down. Continue cooking for 5 to 7 minutes, then remove the baking pan. Turn the muffins over and cook them, without the baking pan on top, for 10 to 12 minutes or until they&#39;re golden brown and the centers read 190 °F on a digital thermometer. The edges may feel a bit soft, but that&#39;s fine.

Remove the muffins from the griddle, and cool on a wire rack. English muffins can be cut in half with a bread knife or fork-split (to get a rougher surface), then toasted. Serve with butter and/or jam and enjoy!

Store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 or 5 days, and freeze for longer storage.

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/t_original/v1645150366/bf4szl2qavj73fmytob7.mp4

With their crunchy exterior and soft interior, these tangy, easy to make homemade English muffins made with sourdough starter discard will bring a smile to your face and your breakfast table!

Homemade sourdough pretzels are soft and chewy with just a hint of sourdough tang. Shape them into the traditional twists, hamburger buns, or sandwich rolls. Easy to make, they&#039;re a great way to use unfed sourdough starter!Adapted from King Arthur Baking

The Best Homemade Sourdough Pretzels

all-purpose flour (or

water (warmed between 100°F to 110°F, see Recipe Notes)

dry milk powder (see Recipe Notes)

sugar (or brown sugar)

unsalted butter (melted and cooled, or vegetable oil)

water

baking soda

egg white (plus 1 Tbsp water, for egg wash)

pretzel salt (or coarse Kosher salt, optional)

unsalted butter (melted, optional)

mustard

Make the dough: Using a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment (or a bread machine on the Manual setting), mix the dough ingredients together, then knead to make a cohesive, fairly smooth dough. It should be slightly sticky, so add in additional flour or water in one tablespoon increments to get the dough to the right consistency.

Cover the dough and let it rest for 45 minutes. This dough won&#39;t rise much, but that&#39;s fine.. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 400 °F.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased work surface, fold it over a few times to gently deflate it.

Shape the pretzels: You have several shaping options for pretzels: the traditional twist, a hamburger bun, or a sandwich roll.

For a traditional pretzel shape: Divide the dough into 10 to 12 pieces, each weighing about 2½ to 3½ ounces (70 to 100 grams). Roll each piece of dough into an 18-inch rope, then turn curve the rope into a U-shape. Loop the ends around each other twice, then flip the ends over. Press the ends down to seal them.

For hamburger buns: Divide the dough into 8 to 10 pieces, each weighing about 3 to 3½ ounces (85 to 100 grams). Roll each piece of dough into a ball, then flatten each ball into a disk about 3- to 3½-inches in diameter.

For sandwich rolls: Divide the dough into 6 to 8 pieces, each weighing about 3½ to 4½ ounces (100 to 135 grams). Roll each piece of dough into a ball, then flatten, fold, and roll each ball into a log.

Continuing: Set aside the shaped pretzels while you start the water bath.

Boil the pretzels: Dissolve the baking soda in the water and bring to a boil. Boil the pretzels in the baking soda bath for 20 to 30 seconds per side, drain them on a paper towel, and put them back on a half sheet baking pan lined with a Silpat silicone mat or parchment paper.

Brush with egg wash: Before baking, brush the boiled pretzels with an egg white mixed with 1 tablespoon of water to give them a glossy shine. Sprinkle them with pretzel salt, if desired. Deeply slash hamburger buns or sandwich rolls with a bread lame or sharp knife. There&#39;s no need to let the shaped pretzels rise before baking.

Bake the pretzels for 12 to 15 minutes (20 minutes for hamburger buns or sandwich rolls), until they&#39;re a light golden brown.

Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush with melted butter (if desired).

Serve with brown or yellow mustard for dipping (if desired), or use for your favorite burger or sandwich. Enjoy!

Homemade pretzels can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container (or individually wrapped with plastic wrap) for up to 3 days. For longer storage, pretzels can be frozen, then defrosted on the counter or overnight in the refrigerator.

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/t_original/v1646081559/za7insgccw6dit72uutf.mp4

Homemade sourdough pretzels are soft and chewy with just a hint of sourdough tang. Shape them into the traditional twists, or as hamburger buns and sandwich rolls. Easy to make, they're a great way to use unfed sourdough starter!

Sourdough Pretzels

Sourdough crumpets are at the intersection of pancakes and English muffins. The batter is easy to make, requiring only four ingredients. Best of all, you can use your weekly unfed sourdough starter discard straight from the refrigerator. Perfect for breakfast or snack with butter and jam, crumpets are a great use for discard and are delicious to boot!

Sourdough Discard Crumpets

unsalted butter (or butter substitute, divided, see Recipe Notes)

sourdough starter discard (unfed, cold or room temperature, see Recipe Notes)

⅜ teaspoon baking soda (see Recipe Notes)

¼ teaspoon kosher salt (see Recipe Notes)

Use a paper towel, a napkin, or your finger to grease the insides of 4 or 5 english muffin rings with some butter. Make sure that the butter is spread evenly, but not too heavily. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sourdough starter discard, sugar, baking soda, and salt. The batter will rise and bubble a bit, becoming almost billowy.

Heat an electric skillet or griddle over medium-low heat (around 300 °F if measuring with an infrared temperature gun). Spray the surface with a bit of canola oil spray, then add a pat of butter to melt and sizzle. 

Place 2 to 4 English muffin rings on the griddle close to the heat source. Use an extra large cookie scoop to portion out about ¼ cup of the batter. Don’t overfill the rings. Cook the crumpets until the tops look dry and pockmarked with small bubbles, about 5 minutes.

Carefully flip the crumpets over, then remove. Be careful - the rings are hot if you use your fingers. The rings should slide right off, but you might have to poke at the crumpets a bit to loosen them.

Cook the crumpets until the bottoms are golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove the crumpets to a plate.

Repeat with any remaining batter, re-greasing the rings and adding another pat of butter to the griddle if needed.

Serve the crumpets warm with butter and jam, or toast them to get even more crunch.

Storage instructions: Crumpets can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for several days, or frozen in an airtight bag for longer storage. Since they freeze well, you can make extra crumpets to have anytime!

These are really good!  My husband approves and I’ve made them a couple of times now.  Question though, they turn out more like English Muffins than crumpets and rise so very much in the few minutes cooking time.  Perhaps it’s because I’m using too active a starter (it’s still doubled in size when I discard)?  I’ve tried lowering the temp on the stove to barely there flame and they still get a little too dark on the bottom.  Cut the cooking time down by a minute or so for the initial cooking in the rings?  Don’t get me wrong, they’re delicious as is, just want to perfect them.

These were awesome!  And so easy.  I started doing sourdough recipes a couple of weeks ago.  This recipe is keeper.

Yes you can use mason jar rings! I just did successfully! Buttered large mouth rings well with butter, and placed them right side up (as they’d sit on jar) in pan. Removed them easily with a fork absolutely no sticking!

Loved this simple &amp; easy sourdough discard recipe!  It worked great as written &amp; tips were super helpful for my first attempt at crumpets to be a hit!  Trust the process… I was concerned, not having English muffin rings, &amp; used wide mouth canning rings… was afraid they would attach &amp; not pop out.  I removed them right before flipping &amp; they popped right off. 
 My only tip is to have everything ready to go, then mix the batter, mine went from billowy to flat pretty quick. Still tasted great, just seamed a bit flat &amp; may have been because of letting the batter sit too long, prior to cooking. 
Thanks for this easy recipe!

Roasted pecans, fresh blueberries, maple syrup.  Out the door!  On the plate, perfect, in less than 15 minutes.  Simpler than KA RECIPE and better. Thanks Tammy.

Why didn't I know this 40 years ago? Ridiculously easy and yummy! I made just one today while cooking breakfast. I will have to feed my sourdough more often now just to be able to make them more often! With my 100% wholemeal rye they look much darker. The consistency was almost like a white shop bought crumpet, only better. Thanks heaps for this lightbulb moment. 
Happy holidays from Aotearoa New Zealand
Sigi

The best thing we've found to make with the discard so far, they were so easy and perfect. Thank you Tammy for this wonderful recipe!

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/t_original/v1637857874/bxfxoce08qvzbieuxvwn.mp4

Sourdough crumpets are at the intersection of pancakes and English muffins. The batter is super easy to make, requiring only four ingredients. Best of all, you can use your weekly unfed sourdough starter discard straight from the refrigerator. Perfect for breakfast or snack with butter and jam, crumpets are a great use for discard and are delicious to boot!

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Herb Sourdough Crackers (How to Use...

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The Best Homemade Sourdough Pretzel...

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Top 4 sourdough starter discard recipes from across the web

The most viewed sourdough starter discard recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Herb Sourdough Crackers (How to Use...

Sourdough Discard English Muffins

The Best Homemade Sourdough Pretzel...

Sourdough Discard Crumpets

The most viewed sourdough starter discard recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine