I’ve put together a collection of recipes that use sourdough discard. If you’re a sourdough baker, you know how painful it is to throw away that hard earned yeasty goodness each time you have to feed the starter.
If you love to bake bread but haven’t delved into the world of sourdough yet, I encourage you to dive-in head first.
If you don’t have a sourdough starter yet, jump right in. I’ll teach you how to make a sourdough starter from scratch.
You can also read how I feed and maintain my sourdough starter to keep my starters (I have 3!) active.
When you add unfed sourdough discard to a recipe, it’s not there to add extra leavening since it’s not really active. If the sourdough starter is not a leavener, why is it in there?
The sourdough discard imparts an interesting texture and lovely complex flavor even if it’s not adding a big rise.
Try my Sourdough Discard recipes or create your own. Each cup of sourdough discard can replace 4 oz of flour and 4 oz of liquid in almost any recipe.
Since you’ve got your starter fed, peruse the entire list of My Best Sourdough Recipes. Have fun!
Sourdough Discard Recipes
Here are all of my best recipes that use sourdough discard in one collection. Peruse the photos and click to view the entire post and recipe. Have fun!
Sourdough Shortbread Cookies! Buttery shortbread cookies are enhanced with powdered sourdough discard. These cookies have an absolutely haunting flavor.
Introducing a whole new way to store and use sourdough starter or sourdough discard. After you dry your sourdough starter, you can grind it into a powder and add it directly to a recipe for a flavor boost or rehydrate it to use in any sourdough recipe.
Buttery oatmeal cookie dough is enhanced with a cup of sourdough discard. The cookies are topped with a lemony glaze.
Sourdough Oatmeal Crispbread (Knäckebröd) is crispy, crunchy and lightly honey-sweetened. Fiber-rich with rolled oats and whole wheat flour, this could be your new favorite bread for a healthy snack or light lunch.
Sourdough Chocolate Cake is moist, super-dark and slightly tangy. Top it with buttercream, whipped cream or just a sprinkle of powdered sugar.
Sourdough Pancakes are started the night before so you can have a fresh stack for breakfast mere minutes after waking up. This is another great way to use that discard!
Crunchy almond cookies enriched with a cup of sourdough discard. These sourdough cookies are perfect for dunking into coffee, espresso or dessert wine.
Sourdough Irish Soda bread is an easy and delicious way to use sourdough discard. Homemade soda bread is so much better than what you’ll find in the grocery store.
Sourdough Discard Crumb Cake is a soft buttermilk cake enhanced with sourdough discard & crowned with lots of brown sugar crumb topping.
Sourdough Whole Wheat Crackers are crispy, crunchy and hearty. This recipe uses a whole cup of sourdough discard or active sourdough starter.
Sourdough Irish Brown Bread is hearty and savory because it’s made with whole wheat flour and a cup of sourdough discard. It's super easy to make and super tasty.
Sourdough Bundt Cake with Buttermilk Glaze is a perfect snack cake. The tangy-sweet buttermilk glaze forms an ultra-thin coating. A little sourdough discard transforms an ordinary cake into an extraordinary treat.
Sourdough Blondies! The perfect gooey blondie with a crackly crust is made even better with a dash of sourdough discard. These blondies have amazing butterscotch flavor.
The perfect fudgy brownie with a crackly top is made even better with a dash of sourdough discard. Can a brownie be both fudgy and airy at the same time? Yep!
Sourdough biscuits that are both fluffy and flaky. A little discard sourdough starter gives these biscuits a wonderful flavor.
A Perfect Pie Crust is a thing of beauty. The addition of a little sourdough discard adds an intriguing depth of flavor to a basic pie dough.
Super moist pumpkin bread has a wonderful background tang from "discard" sourdough starter. Fresh cranberries add another tangy pop to the flavor of the bread.
Start making Whole Grain Sourdough Waffles the night before and have hot fresh waffles for breakfast.
This classic buttermilk scone is given a little flavor boost with sourdough discard.
Karin
Friday 30th of September 2022
I never ever have sour dough to discard. What is left goes into the freezer. From there it needs to be revived after defrosting for 12 hours and it is perfectly fine. Or I add flour until it is a verydry dough. Then i make small rolls about 5 mm thick ore smaller and dry them in a warm space until it is completely dried out. Store it open or in a jar. For resuscitation add water, let it soak overnight and then add flour. Perfect sour dough starter again.
Eileen Gray
Saturday 1st of October 2022
Yes, there are endless ways to use "discard". Rather than freezing you can also try to dry your discard.
Jenny
Friday 24th of September 2021
Love many of your sour dough recipes including the discard use in Irish soda bread and biscotti. I would love some discard recipes for rye starter but am not having much luck finding any. Would love if you have any to direct me to or may develop. I use so many of your recipes I cannot list them all. I have made almost all of your ice cream recipes, sour dough bread and rye bread recipes. Thanks for any suggestions.
Eileen Gray
Saturday 25th of September 2021
Thanks for the feedback, Jenny. Do you have a all-rye starter? I may have to make one to play with it, but I think the discard from the rye starter could work in a lot of my discard recipes. Rye would add a very interesting flavor the to soda bread and even the biscotti.
Phu-My Gep
Saturday 30th of January 2021
Ii am enjoying. Treading these comments as these are all questions I have. I have made my starter and my first sourdough bread looked fine but did not have the tangy sourdough taste. Is the starter supposed to smell as my starter doesn’t smell very much. Should I use different flour to feed it to make it more tangy? The starter was started with whole wheat flour but then I have been feeding it with all purpose flour.
Eileen Gray
Saturday 30th of January 2021
Actually, a well-fed starter won't smell or taste very acidic. A well-fed starter has a sweet, yeasty smell. As the starter ages it becomes more acidic, which also makes it more difficult to use since an acidic starter compromises the gluten in the dough. If you notice, a starter that hasn't been fed in a while gradually becomes thinner and sharper in taste. I do like to use a very ripe sourdough discard for some of the discard recipes (like brownies & blondies).
Toni Cumming
Friday 8th of January 2021
Just recently found your page, Tried your muffin recipe, but as it was late at night left the dough in a bowl with towel over. the next morning it had risen three times, I was worried as I hadn’t rolled the dough, however went ahead gave it a light need then cut the muffin shapes leaving it for a while to hopefully rise again. not having a griddle used a very heavy flat pan cooked them in batches, they are AMAZING, risen beautifully lovely golden colour will definitely be making these again. Thank you for you valuable tips.
Eileen Gray
Friday 8th of January 2021
You're welcome. Sourdough is much more forgiving than we think. Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
MaryCarol
Thursday 28th of May 2020
I tried your fudgy brownies with leftover starter. They came out an odd texture. Is it correct to use 1 cup of starter and 1 tablespoon of vanilla? The taste was good but they were crumbly.
Eileen Gray
Thursday 28th of May 2020
Yes, that is correct. They are a little lighter than a regular brownie, but I wouldn't call them crumbly. Was your starter still pretty active? Maybe the brownies got a little too much lift from the starter. I used sourdough discard that hadn't been fed for about a week.