Love your discard
I have got a confession to make: I am one of those people that made sourdough during the lockdown.
Actually, I became obsessed with it, and I tried to follow as many recipes as possible with my lovely starter: pizza, bread, pancakes, pretzel; you name it, I have probably done it (hundreds of times, with a decent amount of successes and some “interesting”, less successful, results).
I attempted several “miraculous recipes” for sourdough starters, that promised me everything: an unbelievably bubbly bread, the crunchiest pizza ever, the most amazing fluffy pancakes, a new shiny car (spoiler alert: I still have my super old car and all the entartaining noises it makes).
All of these recipes had one thing in common, something that I could never accept in my life: at some point of the development of my starter, I had to discard half of it. I know, I don’t make the rules, but there was no way that I was going to put perfectly good starter in the bin. NO. WAY.
I had to come up with something that would give my discard the glory it deserved: it was just a small piece in the world of sourdough, a world that doesn’t show any mercy or compassion towards my half starter, but I couldn’t be just a spectator or even worse the perpetrator of such a horrific action. I had to do something. (Yes I know I am such a drama queen).
So I started a very long research process on google, all the baking books in my flat, youtube, instagram, my mum, and I came up with a super tasty recipe that I promise you, won’t let you put your discard in the bin ever again. These little snacks dont last more than 24 hours in the house, so I warn you: if you have guests around and you are planning to serve them these crackers, have some backup snacks because I am sure they will be all gone by the time your friends arrive!
Ingredients for one tray of crackers:
-unfed sourdough starter, 130g
-white strong flour, 130g
-olive oil, 60g
-melted butter, 35g
Ingredients for the topping:
-sea salt
-red onion, 1/4
Equipment you need:
-rolling pin
-greaseproof paper
-a tray
Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 180° fan assisted
- Mix together the flour and sourdough starter
- In the meantime, melt the butter
- Mix the butter to your dough
- Add the oil and knead until you have a smooth texture
- Cut the onion finely
- Take the greaseproof paper you are going to use on the tray, cut as much as you need
- Put your dough in the centre of the paper and using a rolling pin, flatten your dough until you get a 3-4 mm width
- Spread the onion on your dough and gently push it
- Spread the salt evenly
- Cut the dough in squares
- Put in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden

Are you obsessed with sourdough as well? Did you come up with interesting recipes? Let me know!
#baking #food #recipes #sourdough crackers no egg onion vegetarian #baking #cooking #crackers #food #italianfood #italy #recipes #sourdough
I’ve scaled down my starter so that I never have more than 200 grams at a time. And since I bake fairly often (bread, pizza, ciabatta), the discard, if any, goes into the compost bin. Happy worms!
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200 grams sounds very very reasonable! I was ending up drowning in it ahaha!
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Delicious ideas! 🍃🍞
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Thank you!!☺️
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These look incredible! I usually just try to find folks to give the discard to, and with the yeast shortage still seriously here, I haven’t had that much trouble.
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That`s very kind of you! I am sure people really appreciate it, well done!
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This is perfect for a pandemic. Thanks!
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Thank you! ☺️
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Can I move to your house? Lol This looks delicious!!!!
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Ahahaha thank you! I am sure you don’t need to, the food in your blog is incredible!!!! 😍😍
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Awww thank you!
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Love this idea! They look great. Much better than waving goodbye to perfectly good starter (and I’m so adept at killing them that every bit is precious!!!)
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100%! Every time I read “now you have to discard half of it”, a little piece of my heart goes to bits!
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I haven’t made sourdough yet – but I’m up for the challenge!! 😊
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Definitely go for it!! Let me know how it goes!!!
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I will! But I’m going to bake something totally different this weekend 😊
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Interesting! What are you gonna bake??? So curious!
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It’ll be a surprise (to you and to me 😂😂)!!!
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😂😂😂😂
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Made this recipe and really like it. In fact I made 4x the amount as I had so much left over starter and didn’t want to make pancakes again. Really easy to make, I just put a lot less oil in otherwise it would have been too sloppy. Taste is great, going to try it with rosemary next time! These crackers don’t need any topping, all though a bit of cheese does taste good on it. Many thanks.
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Thanks for letting me know!!! I am glad you enjoyed them! The rosemary topping works amazing, good shout!
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Thanks for “like”ing my post and glad I found your blog! I’ve also found myself drowning in sourdough discard and always on the search for a good recipe to use them – so far have managed to convert them to crackers, waffles, tortillas, carrot cake, pizza crust, and even brownies! (Have shared some on my website 🙂 )
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Thanks for reading! You have so many great ideas to use your sourdough!
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such a cool idea. Love the point of no wastage.
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thank you for reading! I dont like to waste food, I always try to find ways to use it up!
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I’m definitely going to try this recipe! My current favorite cracker is a Parmesan version
https://bakingwithbeckyb.wordpress.com/2020/06/10/buttery-parmesan-sourdough-discard-crackers/
They are SO tasty!
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Thank you, let me know how it goes!! I will try the parmesan ones, I am sure they will be amazing!!!
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Your crackers look delicious! I’ll try them as I always have starter to use up. Have you tried sourdough waffles? They are really special and also a great way to use discard starter.
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thank you! no I didnt have the waffles yet but they are definitely on my list! do you have them sweet or savoury?
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Yes. Haha! I have made regular sourdough waffles to enjoy at breakfast with maple syrup, and also savory sourdough waffles that include green onions and leftover corn. What I love best about waffles made from sourdough is the exterior is perfectly crispy, but the interior remains airy and soft. Do try them!
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I will give it go thank you! I was thinking bacon and maple syrup!
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King Arthur Flour, now King Arthur Baking Company has several great recipes for discard on their site.
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Thank you, I will check their website!!
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Yes, yes! Julia is right about King Arthur. In fact it is their recipe for sourdough corn & scallion pancakes I use for my savory waffles. Follow the recipe, but triple the oil for waffling. So good!
Now I’m hungry. Hahaha
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thank you! I will definitely have a look!
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Thank you for this. I need something else to do with the discard than making crumpets!
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thank you for reading! let me know how it turns out!!
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