What is sourdough discard? And do you have to throw it away? Here’s how to use up your excess sourdough starter in baked goods like fluffy pancakes, English muffins, chocolate cake, pizza crust, and more!
If you’re up to your ears in sourdough starter, you’ve already baked and eaten all the homemade bread you can (is that possible? 😉 ), and you don’t want to put your sourdough starter in the fridge… what are you to do?
Make sourdough discard recipes like English muffins or pizza crust!
You won’t have to waste your sourdough starter, yet you’ll use it up so it’s back to a more manageable size.
Don’t have a sourdough starter yet? Learn 9 reasons to use sourdough and how to make a sourdough starter easily with these step-by-step instructions!
Table Of Contents
What is sourdough discard?
The life cycle of a sourdough starter begins with a feeding of (more or less) equal parts flour and water. The beneficial bacteria and yeasts in the sourdough starter feast on the simple sugars in the flour, giving off gases such as carbon dioxide and ethanol. As they feed, these beneficial microorganisms multiply.
The mixture builds up to a peak of activity within about 6 hours, what we call a fully active starter. The starter at this point is bubbly and domed, and it smells sour. A thick starter may also rise significantly — up to two or three times its original volume.
When the yeasts run out of food, their activity slows and the peak recedes. Liquid, called hooch, may separate out given enough time. At this point, about 12 hours after its feeding, the starter is called sourdough discard.
Do I have to throw my sourdough discard away?
No! Sourdough starter discard is typically not strong enough to make bread rise, but it can still be used in baked goods such as pancakes, waffles, English muffins, cakes, and pizza crust… all recipes that you’ll find below!
Easy Sourdough Discard Recipes
We carefully reviewed this collection of sourdough discard recipes to make sure each recipe meets our criteria of: 1) using whole foods and 2) calling for a sufficient souring time on the grain*.
*Why sufficient souring time? Combining the sourdough starter and flour and letting them sour together for 6 to 8 hours or more allows the sourdough starter to “work on” the rest of the flour and make it nutritious and digestible.
Savory Sourdough Discard Recipes
- The Best Sourdough English Muffins (Traditional Recipe)
- Sourdough Pizza Crust (thick or thin crust!)
- Einkorn Sourdough Chapatis {Indian Flatbread}
- Sourdough Lavash: A Traditional Armenian Flatbread
- Sourdough Soda Bread — The baking soda in this recipe helps create fluffy loaves even if your sourdough starter isn’t in its active state.
Sweet Sourdough Discard Recipes
- Sourdough Pumpkin Bread
- Sourdough Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Frosting
- Lemon Poppy Seed Sourdough Muffins
- Easy Applesauce Sourdough Muffins
- Sourdough Waffles With Fermented Strawberries & Yogurt Cheese
- Pumpkin Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls With Cream Cheese Frosting
No-Wait Sourdough Discard Recipes
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These recipes are “no-wait” because you can skip the whole sour-for-at-least-6-hours-thing!
How? Use leftover sourdough starter instead of flour. You’re keeping a sourdough starter alive and fed, right? Well, take a scoop or two, and create any one of these delicious recipes almost instantly. No planning involved!
Why does this work? The flour has already been soured in the starter. So, aim to feed your starter and use it 12 to 24 hours later in one of the following recipes.
I’ve demonstrated the first three recipes on video in the Sourdough eCourse.
- Fluffy Sourdough Pancakes — Fluffy and soft in the middle, golden brown and slightly crisp on the outside!
- Whole Grain Sourdough Waffles
- Sourdough Crepes
- Buttery Parmesan Sourdough Discard Crackers
- Sourdough Discard Crackers With Rosemary and Olive Oil
- Soft and Chewy Sourdough Crepes
- Homemade Sourdough Corn Tortillas
If you’re curious about sourdough or need help with your sourdough starter, check out our sourdough tips, troubleshooting and FAQs article for simple answers to all your burning questions! You can also browse our sourdough archive here at TCS or check out our Sourdough A to Z eBook (with free print book for a limited time) or the Sourdough A to Z eCourse in our Bible-based cooking program for our favorite, tried-and-true sourdough recipes!
This post was originally published and written by Wardee Harmon on 3/22/11. It was updated and republished on 3/6/22.
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I love these ideas. As I was trying to reactivate a new spelt starter, I had excess starter. Instead of tossing the less than vibrant excess, I made pancakes. Even though the yeasts weren’t fully established, I knew the baking powder would give me the lift I needed to create pancakes anyway.
I’m looking forward to trying the impossible pie as I continue my foray into spelt after being gluten free for about a year. Thanks for the ideas!
Pam
Pam — Baking soda and starter are a powerful combination. 🙂 I love that baking soda sweetens up the starter, making the dish not so sour. I’m really happy the spelt sourdough is working so well for you.
saved me…. just brought my grand kids home, what for dinner…. lets see if Wardee has an idea for me and there you had just the right thing. Some how I missed this one in the lessons. I’m making mine with left overs: black beans , some roast and cheese… Hope they like it:} Think I’ll add a spinach, orange, coconut milk smoothie and we are set:}
Ah, Erin, that’s wonderful! Did they like it?
hey!
not to get tooo picky – but on of the reasons -in fact, the MAIN reason for souring grains is to reduce the high content of mal-digested gluten, and to reduce the anti-nutrients in the grains (in all grains i’m afraid) that rob the meal and ultimately the body of essential minerals and nutrients –
skipping the souring is kinda like going to the gym but skipping the workout – grains really are not very healthy without soaking, souring or sprouting…
Ravi
Daiasolgaia
Ravi — I completely agree with you.
And actually, I would never suggest skipping soaking, sprouting or souring.
In these recipes, the grain is actually already and entirely soured because it’s been in the sourdough starter for about 12 hours already. I see I didn’t explain that very well up in the post, did I? 🙂
But that’s the whole point. You can skip the souring because it has already taken place within the starter.
aaahhh – gotcha – yes – of course if you use ONLY starter – then the 8 hours of souring HAS been done – sorry i didn’t pick up on that –
one of my biggest bugs about traditional souring is that there are no studies done on the actual reduction of all the baddies in grains by souring – how long, what cultures need to be used, etc etc – my hunch – especially with the gluten grains – is that it takes waaay more than 8 hours to completely negate the ill-effects of gluten (more than 8 hours for the souring to pre-digest the gluten) – but that said – the baddies are clearly substantially reduced by souring (a la Weston Price observations)
if you or anyone reading this knows of research studies done measuring the ACTUAL REDUCTION of gluten and phytates, i’d love to know of them (and i already know about that fairly recent one where a 30% gluten grain was soured for celiacs – not a very well designed study actually…)
thanks
Ravi
Ravi — The article(s) I know of are by Rami Negal at the WAPF website. He’s got one about phytates that quotes one source saying all phytates are removed in sourdough bread after 8 hours of souring at a fairly warm temperature (if I remember correctly).
http://westonaprice.org/food-features/1893-living-with-phytic-acid
I would agree that 8 hours doesn’t take care of all the gluten. My bread, after 12 to 15 hours of souring still has good gluten development. So while my method isn’t scientific, it still confirms for my purposes that the gluten is still there. And on the other hand, since my daughter can eat it with a good souring, I feel confident that it is partially broken down — else she’d have serious symptoms.
I LOVE this. I’m saving this recipe for when we are done doing GAPS.
Thanks for the ideas! I’ve just started working with sourdough, and it’s a very easy thing to end up with excess starter. Plus, this way I can use starter that’s been around long enough to make sure the gluten is well broken down.
I made German pancake/Dutch Baby/Puffed Oven Pancake this morning with 1-1/2 cups starter and 4 eggs, baked 20 minutes at 425. It didn’t puff up though. But it was tasty!
I was just thinking about dutch babies last night and wondering if you could pull that off with sourdough starter…I will have to play around with it and see what happens…we love dutch babies with buttery apples, but i want to convert to entirely soaked/soured grains so i haven’t been making them much.
Dawn,
Did you ever come up with a recipe for sourdough dutch baby pancakes with apples? I have been after this kind of recipe for ages!
Christie,
What else did you add to your recipe for the Dutch Baby pancake?
They liked it. I made it with some black beans chili that I had made and added some cheese. I think it would be good if I had put in some cornmeal… kind of like a tamale pie. I let them put some sour cream to the top and that is really their favorite part and good for them too.
Dip dip as they call it is their favorite. Wish I could find some cream that isn’t ultra cultured so I could make it myself. I am able to buy Tillamook with live culture and it is almost local for me:} and they say their cow aren’t treated with artificial growth hormone.
They liked it. I made it with some black beans chili that I had made and added some cheese. I think it would be good if I had put in some cornmeal… kind of like a tamale pie. I let them put some sour cream to the top and that is really their favorite part and good for them too.
Dip dip as they call it is their favorite. Wish I could find some cream that isn’t ultra cultured so I could make it myself. I am able to buy Tillamook with live culture and it is almost local for me:} and they say their cow aren’t treated with artificial growth hormone.
So, I just started a sourdough starter a few weeks ago and haven’t used it yet. How do I know if it’s ready to use in one of these recipes? It bubbles and gets bigger but not double. It’s only in the 60’s Fahrenheit in my kitchen most of the time (and I don’t have an oven light, we just bake in a mini-oven). And is there any reason I couldn’t just try my young starter in something like pancakes where rising isn’t too important?
Lori Ann — Yes, you can! If the starter is on the thinner side, it may not double in size. Being bubbly is a good sign. 🙂
I have been loving these quick sourdough recipes. I have been making a chili version with great success.
I have been experimenting with sweet versions of the “Bisquick” pie too. Has anyone perfected a brownie version they’d like to share? or maybe pumpkin?
Rhonda
This “Impossible Sourdough Pie” sounds delicious! I am trying to find the recipe on the Sourdough E-Course, is it the same recipe title, “Pot Pie” (Lesson 21)?
Thanks for all that you do, Wardeh, we value it so much!!
Emily, you’ll want to look at the Cheese Pie lesson. That’s the impossible pie. 🙂
I just started using sourdough and am experimenting. I’m confused about the reference to “leftover starter”. That makes it sound like I would make sourdough bread, then have some leftover starter to use up. I don’t want to use it up, right? I want to keep my starter perpetually, continue to feed it, and use it frequently. Is this correct?
Yes; usually the “leftover starter” refers to starter that some people would throw out as they are feeding and building up their starter. You get to the point where there is too much starter for its container. This is a way to use up the starter that may not be perfectly ready for bread, but works fine when yeast is supplemented with baking soda or a good rise isn’t so necessary.
How do you make the starter can you tell me that. For I would want to make some to do my bread and everything else. Think you
Hi Kathy,
This article has a video with instructions on making your own starter. You can even get a sample of the Sourdough A – Z eBook with the link in the post.
Millie
GNOWFGLINS Support Team
I just poured half of my sourdough starter out. It is only less than 1/2 cup. What can I do with it, as not to waste it, until I have enough to make one of the discard recipes?
Hi, Jeanetta: When you are just getting your starter established and building up the beneficial bacteria (the first few days/weeks), it’s not really strong enough to use in recipes yet. How old is your starter? If it’s pretty new, you might need to just get comfortable with truly discarding small amounts. 🙂 You can try to keep adding to your discard until you have enough to use in a recipe (keep it in the fridge), but it might spoil if the culture isn’t quite developed enough. —Sonya, TCS Customer Success Team