If you’re like me, you’ve been noticing the insane amount of sourdough in the food blogging community. The more I saw it among my peers, the more curious I became. Eventually, I was curious enough to give it a try!
With the help of Baker Bettie, I fell in love with the sourdough process! A sourdough starter is super easy and incredibly low maintenance. With only some flour and water, and about five minutes a day, you can get started too!
It’s really as easy as daily feedings! I can sometimes even fudge that to every other day now that my starter is more robust. Baker Bettie does an amazing job of breaking down the process in the link I provided above.
Using the Discard
My major issue with the process is that feeding the starter requires a decent amount of discard. I don’t want to just toss it! I’ve begun composting a good portion of it, but you can also use it in recipes. After exploring a few recipes using sourdough discard, I decided to try and make my own!
The most important thing I’ve learned about repurposing discard is that you have to consider what you’re adding. Sourdough starter is flour and water. So, when creating a sourdough discard recipe, you need to reduce the amount of flour and water from what you’d normally use. This helps to account for the contents of the discard.
Letting it Rise
Another thing I had to try a few times was letting the dough rise. The organisms that make up your discard need time to breathe, similar to when you’re dealing with yeast. In order to get that chewy pizza dough with delightful little air pockets, you need to set the dough aside after kneading and let it rise.
The best dough I got was after letting it rise for twelve hours. I know, that’s a long time!
Another attempt was decently successful after two hours. If you have the time, I seriously recommend letting the dough rise for at least four hours. It really enhances the flavor as well as the overall feel of the pizza dough. I’ve found that properly risen dough is significantly easier to handle.
I really hope you enjoy this recipe! I’ve had a ton of fun developing it and can’t wait to share more recipes with you. Do you have any recipe suggestions? What are your favorite egg free dishes? Let me know in the comments or reach out to me directly!