Unleash your inner baker and discover a collection of my favorite easy sourdough recipes for beginners. From crusty bread to mouthwatering pastries, you’ll want to start your sourdough journey today! In addition, we’ll delve into the history and benefits of sourdough and I’ll share my tips for mastering the art of creating and maintaining your sourdough starter.
My sourdough journey.
Like many others, I began my obsession with baking homemade sourdough bread during the pandemic. It took me several tries, but once I was finally able to create my active sourdough starter I became addicted to adding it to as many recipes as I could.
As with everything else that is beneficial to my family’s health, I dove into researching the benefits of sourdough, the history of sourdough, and of course, sourdough starter and discard recipes.
No need to reinvent the wheel, so I’ll be sharing the recipes that I found online as a beginner and that I make on repeat for my family even after over two years into this journey. Want to bypass the sourdough history and health benefits portion of the blog? Scroll down to view the links to MY TOP 10 EASY SOURDOUGH RECIPES FOR BEGINNERS.
What is sourdough starter?
Sourdough starter is a combination of flour and water that has fermented over time, harboring a colony of “wild yeast” and bacteria which produces carbon dioxide responsible for the rising of the dough. It can replace yeast in a recipe and is used as a leavening agent to cause the dough to rise. Sourdough comes from fermented grain, but several other fermented foods are believed to be beneficial to our gut health including yogurt, kefir, pickles, sauerkraut, and kimchi.
The history of sourdough.
Interestingly, sourdough has been around for thousands of years. It’s known to be the original form of leavening used throughout history and was discovered to have been the bread-making process in ancient Egypt as far back as 3000 BC. Sourdough took a back seat in the mid-1800s once commercial yeast was discovered. To read more about the history of sourdough bread, click here.
The benefits of sourdough.
Even before I began making my sourdough bread, it’s always been my favorite. I love the taste of sourdough bread and since learning that it’s more nutritious than conventional bread, it’s a win-win.
- Contains more nutrients and antioxidants.
- Easier to digest.
- Full of pre and probiotics, which feed the healthy bacteria in the gut.
- Contains a lower gluten content.
- Has a lower glycemic index, so less likely to spike blood sugar.
To read more about the benefits of sourdough, click here. Remember, even though sourdough has a lower gluten content, it’s still best to avoid sourdough bread made from wheat, barley, or rye flour if you have celiac or are gluten intolerant.
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How to make a sourdough starter from scratch.
I must admit that this was a challenge for me. It took me several tries and a lot of patience before my starter finally became “active” and usable. To be honest, I don’t remember which recipe I followed, but the process is the same. You need flour, water, time, patience, and sometimes, at least in my case, a little sugar. After several weeks and multiple feedings, my starter was not “growing” or becoming bubbly like the recipe said it should.
I eventually became tired of “wasting” flour and stuck my inactive starter in the fridge. I gave up on it. About two weeks later, I read that adding 1 teaspoon of sugar may help the yeast to become active. So instead of throwing out the starter completely, I fed it a teaspoon of sugar and it worked! So just be aware this may be an option if you’re struggling to get your starter to grow.
If you don’t have a sourdough starter, you can order it online or get some from a friend. Here are my favorite easy sourdough starter recipes for beginners.
The Clever Carrot’s Beginner Sourdough Starter Recipe
Mary’s Nest: Complete Sourdough Starter Guide
Farmhouse on Boone’s Sourdough Starter Recipe
I have sourdough starter, now what?
I’ve heard over and over from friends, “It’s too hard to keep sourdough starter. It’s like having a baby!”. While you do have to feed your starter before every use or at least every one to two weeks, it’s not that hard to keep it alive.
When you’re not using it, store your starter in a covered jar in the refrigerator.
As I mentioned above, be sure to feed your starter every week or two. I’ve known people who’ve let their starter go for months without feeding and their starter didn’t die, but I don’t recommend this.
You only need to keep about 25 – 50 grams (a few tablespoons) of starter on hand to always have some available when you’re ready to bake. This way it doesn’t take up a lot of room in your fridge.
A few days before you’re ready to bake…
When you plan to bake bread, you’ll need to remove your starter from the fridge and feed it a couple of days in advance. Keep it on your counter covered by a coffee filter or clean cloth so it can “breathe” and reactivate. When it’s in the fridge it’s considered to be asleep because the fermentation process is slowed down by the cold temperature.
If you’re only planning to make one loaf of bread, simply add (feed) your 50 grams of starter with 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water. Then you’ll have 100 grams of bubbly, active starter to use to make your loaf, plus an extra 50 grams to store in your fridge for the next time.
What to do if you want to make a lot of sourdough items.
If you plan to make a lot of loaves of bread and/or many baked goods, then you need to feed your starter twice a day for several days to grow it so that you have a large amount of starter for multiple recipes. Some sourdough experts say that you should only feed your starter an equal amount of flour and water to the amount of starter you have. For example, if you have 50 grams of starter, feed it 50 grams of water and 50 grams of flour. Then for the next feeding, you’ll have 150 grams of starter so feed 150 grams of water and 150 grams of flour to it, and so on. You’ll do this until you have the amount of starter you need to bake all of the amazing recipes you want.
To build up the amount of starter you have over several days (in a large jar of course), you can feed it twice a day as long as it’s doubling in size which usually takes four to six hours depending on the temperature in your home.
Why does it take so long to make the dough before I bake it?
Most experts recommend you do a “long bulk rise” to get the dough to be soft, chewy, and airy on the inside with a crispy outer crust. This means it takes several days to make the dough, but don’t let that deter you! It’s worth it, I promise!
Day One- feed your starter.
Day Two- make the dough and let it rise over night.
Day Three- bake the dough and enjoy eating your creation.
I have learned ways to shorten my processing time to two days, but I don’t recommend doing that until you become more experienced in making dough. I’ve been doing this long enough that I’m able to shorten the time it takes to make my dough. I feed my starter in the morning of day one then make my dough in the afternoon. I let it bulk risk overnight and bake it the next morning.
What do I do if I have a lot of starter on hand?
You can discard some by throwing it in the garbage. However, my preference is to give some away to friends and spread the sourdough love. Put 50 grams of your starter in a 12 – 16 oz mason jar, feed it 50 grams of water and 50 grams of flour, cover it with a coffee filter, and give it to your bestie to make their sourdough delicacies. Tell your friend to do their best to keep it alive and they can pass it down from generation to generation. So cool, right?
What is sourdough discard?
Sourdough discard is an inactive sourdough starter. It’s the starter you’ve had in the fridge that hasn’t been fed in a while. There are lots of delicious sourdough discard recipes online and I’ll link some below.
My TOP 10 easy sourdough recipes for beginners.
These are my favorite sourdough recipes that I’ve made for my family on REPEAT over the past couple of years. Enjoy!
Easy-to-follow Sourdough Bread For Beginners Video
Right every time, Easy Sourdough Bread- Makes two loaves
Brown Butter Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
Sourdough Discard “Everything Bagel” Crackers
Links to my favorite sourdough kitchen tools.
You don’t need any of these utensils besides a mason jar to store your starter in. I bake sourdough bread so frequently that I’ve collected these items over the past few years so I’m sharing them with you. If you decide to purchase from my links, THANK YOU! I appreciate your support of my small business.
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Unbleached Parchment Paper Sheets
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