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22 Recipes that use Sourdough Discard

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 (about 8 oz) 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!

Kacy

Wednesday 29th of March 2023

I LOVE YOUR WEBSITE. THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH for all of your knowledge. Can't wait to try the discard recipes.

Mike Curry

Tuesday 28th of March 2023

You say "[e]ach cup of sourdough discard can replace 4 oz of flour and 4 oz of liquid in almost any recipe." Since stirred and unstirred discard volumes can vary dramatically, can you say what WEIGHT of discard can replace 4 oz of flour or liquid? Thanks.

Eileen Gray

Tuesday 28th of March 2023

Most of the time a cup of discard weighs very close to 8 oz. So 8 oz.

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).