Making sourdough rye crêpes is easy. And it's a great use of any extra sourdough starter you might have lingering around.

You blend all the ingredients together, swirl the batter in a hot crêpe pan and fill them with whatever you happen to love - savory or sweet.

This is one of those recipes you want on standby, like a good pizza dough or sourdough bread recipe. Something that you know works every time you make it, and is versatile enough that you can serve it a million different ways - with sautéed apples dusted with cinnamon for breakfast or maybe wrapped up in ham and cheese and greens for lunch.

You start with a blend of both all-purpose flour and rye flour (freshly ground means better flavor), then blend it all together with eggs, milk, butter and sourdough starter. It takes about 5 minutes to put all the ingredients together, then it's just a matter of heating up your pan and swirling your way through the batter until you have a plate of steaming crêpes ready to fill.

Ingredients + Substitutions

Whole-grain Rye Flour: Rye gives the crêpes texture and a rich, robust flavor. I typically grind my rye berries fresh, just before mixing the batter for the best flavor. Store-bought rye flour works just as well.

All-purpose Flour: All-purpose flour gives the crêpes body and helps hold them together. I often swap in all-purpose einkorn flour for greater depths of flavor.

Sourdough Starter: Plan to use sourdough discard (inactive) rather than proofed. It has a stronger sour flavor which contributes a beautiful richness and depth to the crêpes.

Eggs: Eggs provide protein that helps bind the batter together. The yolks also add a richness to the batter.

Milk and Water: Plan to use whole milk for the richest flavor. Both milk and water provide the liquid portion of the batter, helping to make it smooth and easy to pour. If you can't do dairy, then substitute a nut milk which will add a similar richness.

Melted Butter: Butter provides richness and it helps prevent the crêpes from sticking to the pan. You can swap in coconut oil or ghee (clarified butter) if you prefer.

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Recipe Tips

Use fresh flour. Whole-grain flours, like rye, can lose their flavor or absorb off-flavors if left too long on the shelf. I recommend grinding your own for the best flavor.

Allowing the batter to rest encourages the flour to absorb the liquid, as a result the batter's texture is smoother and creamier. That means a softer and more consistent texture for your crêpes.

A crêpe pan is a valuable tool due to its low sides and wide surface area. You can also use a ceramic nonstick pan or a wide cast iron skillet, but it will be more difficult to maneuver the pan, so you might find your crêpes come out thicker or in inconsistent shapes.

Use sourdough discard, not proofed and bubbly sourdough starter. If you use proofed (active) starter, you might find that the crêpe batter bubbles in the pan rather than flowing smoothly.

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Sourdough Rye Crêpe Recipe

Tangy sourdough rye crepes filled with fall apples and lightly sweetened with sorghum molasses makes a comforting fall dessert or breakfast. As breakfast I like to serve it alongside bacon or eggs and cinnamon-spiked milk kefir, as I would rye sourdough pancakes.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine French

Keyword rye

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Resting the batter 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Servings 16 crêpes

Author Jenny

Equipment

• High-Speed Blender
• crêpe pan

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole-grain rye flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup sourdough starter (discard)
• 4 medium eggs (or 3 large)
• 1 ½ cups milk
• ½ cup water
• 3 tablespoons salted butter (melted, plus additional butter for the pan)
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Let the batter rest for 20 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature.
• Heat a 10-inch crêpe pan over medium heat. Grease the pan with a little butter, and when it sizzles, pour in about 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter. Lift the pan off the heat and gently tilt it until the batter spreads evenly across the pan. Return the pan to the heat, and cook the crêpe for about 2 minutes or until slightly browned. Then flip it with a spatula and cook on the other side for an additional minute until cooked through.
• Place the crêpe on a serving plate, and continue cooking the remaining batter until no more remains. Serve the crêpes warm with any fillings you like. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

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With its rich flavor and deliciously crisp crust, this einkorn pizza is hard to resist. Fortunately, it's easy to make. All you need is a handful of ingredients and a few hours to let the dough rise.

I first learned to make this recipe for einkorn pizza when teaching a workshop outside of the Northern Italian town Lucca. It was a favorite then. We worked the dough, topping it with herbs and cheese and delicate little anchovies before baking it in a huge wood-fired oven.

It's now a weekly favorite in our house. We serve it with plenty of olive oil, fresh vegetables (cherry tomato salad in the summer, radicchio salad in the winter). It's so easy to make, it'll be a fast favorite in your house, too.

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Einkorn Pizza Recipe

Einkorn's rich flavor is a natural match for sourdough. The crust is thin, flavorful, and crisp on the outside. This recipe makes one pizza, but you could easily double it for more.

Course bread, Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword einkorn, herbs, olive oil, spices

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Rising 5 hours hours

Total Time 5 hours hours 25 minutes minutes

Servings 1 (14-inch) pizza

Calories 190kcal

Author Jenny

Equipment

• Stand Mixer
• Large Mixing Bowl
• Rolling Pin
• pizza stone

Ingredients

For the crust

• 50 grams sourdough starter (about ⅓ cup, active and bubbly)
• 115 grams lukewarm water (about ½ cup)
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 230 grams all-purpose einkorn flour (1 ¾ cups)
• extra virgin olive oil (for greasing the bowl)

For the toppings

• tomato sauce
• mozzarella cheese
• fresh herbs
• cured meats

Instructions

Mix the dough

• Add the sourdough starter, water, salt, and flour to the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with a dough hook. Mix on low speed for about 8 minutes until the dough comes together and separates cleanly from the sides of the bowl.

Bulk Fermentation

• Lightly dust your countertop with flour. Then, drizzle a little olive oil into a large mixing bowl
• Turn the dough out onto your countertop and form it into a ball. Set it in the oiled mixing bowl. Cover the bowl tightly and let the dough rise in a warm place for about 4 hours or until the dough doubles.

Proof

• Punch down the dough, form it into a ball, and return it to the mixing bowl. Cover the bowl tightly and then let the dough rise for about 1 hour or until puffy.

Shape

• Place the pizza stone, if using, on the middle rack of the oven. Then, preheat the oven to 425 F.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and then roll it out to form a disc about 14 inches in diameter and ¼ inch thick.

Assemble

• Gently place the dough onto a square of parchment paper. Then, assemble the pizza beginning with the sauce first, followed by cheese, herbs, cured meats, and any other toppings you like.

Bake

• Gently transfer the pizza to the preheated pizza stone and bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Store any leftovers in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 190kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 2g | Sodium: 292mg | Potassium: 50mg | Fiber: 1g | Vitamin A: 10IU | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 2.3mg

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Recipe Questions

Can I freeze it?

Yes. You can freeze einkorn pizza dough. Once the dough has completed the bulk fermentation, shape it and then transfer it to a freezer-safe resealable plastic bag. Freeze for up to 6 months.

Can I make this by hand instead of in a mixer?

To make the dough by hand, combine all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until well-mixed. Then, knead by hand for about 15 minutes.

Follow the recipe's instructions for bulk fermentation, proofing, shaping, and baking.

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Election Cake is a yeast-leavened spiced cake made famous in colonial America. Communities would make giant cakes to celebrate elections, but you can make a smaller version for your family. That way, no matter who wins, you still have cake.

Every November, we make election cake. It's a boozy, spiced sourdough cake studded with dried fruit.

It starts with a mix of flour, buttermilk, and sourdough starter that you allow to rise overnight before you beat the remaining ingredients into the batter. After adding eggs, sugar, molasses, spices, and plenty of booze, you let the cake rise again before baking.

It tastes a bit like a cross between cinnamon-raisin bread and spice cake. The crumb is tender and soft with a delicious touch of tartness thanks to the inclusion of sourdough starter.

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Election Cake Recipe

Amelia Simmons's original recipe for Election Cake, as published in American Cookery (1796), calls for massive quantities of ingredients: dozens of eggs, pounds of sugar and flour, and booze by the bottle. While her recipe fed entire townships, most home cooks need only to feed their family and a few friends. This adaptation of the original recipe shrinks the quantities and makes it easier to bake in a modern kitchen.

Election cakes were originally leavened with fresh yeast from breweries or sourdough starters. If you would like to substitute baker’s yeast for the sourdough starter, swap 1 packet of instant yeast for your sourdough starter and add 2 tablespoons water and 2 tablespoons flour to the batter.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Rise Time 14 hours hours

Total Time 14 hours hours 50 minutes minutes

Servings 1 cake (12 servings)

Calories 257kcal

Author Jenny

Equipment

• 9-inch Bundt Cake

Ingredients

The Sponge (Leavening)

• 2 ¼ cups whole-wheat pastry flour (or substitute all-purpose einkorn flour)
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• ¼ cup sourdough starter (active and bubbly)

For Finishing the Cake

• 4 ounces salted butter
• ½ cup unrefined cane sugar (such as rapadura or muscovado)
• 2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
• 2 tablespoons brandy
• 1 tablespoon white wine
• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground Ceylon cinnamon
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
• ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
• ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 cup dried currants

Instructions

Prepare the sponge.

• In the basin of a stand mixer equipped with a dough hook, beat the flour, buttermilk, and sourdough starter together until it forms a ball. Oil a large mixing bowl, plop the dough into the bowl, and cover it tightly. Allow the dough to rise for 8 to 12 hours (or 2 to 4 hours if using instant yeast).

Mixing the cake batter.

• After the dough has doubled in volume, grease a 9-inch Bundt pan.
• In the basin of a stand mixer equipped with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, molasses, brandy, and wine until fluffy, then beat in the eggs.
• Remove the ball of dough from the bowl, and tear it into ½-inch pieces. Drop them into the bowl with the butter. Add the salt, cinnamon, coriander, allspice, and nutmeg. Beat them all together, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed until they form a uniform batter. Fold in the currants.

Final rise.

• Spoon the batter into the prepared Bundt pan, and cover it tightly. Allow the batter to rise until it reaches ¾ up the sides of the bowl, about 2 hours.

Bake and serve.

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Bake the cakes for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack, and allow them to cool completely before unmolding.
• Slice and serve. Store any leftovers in a tightly sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 257kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 186mg | Potassium: 266mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 293IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 1mg

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Lardo pesto, or Pesto Modenese, is made by blending cured lard with rosemary and salt, and it makes a delicious addition to sourdough flatbread.

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Lardo Pesto (Pesto Modenese) on Sourdough Flatbread

A traditional pesto of Modena, Lardo Pesto combines creamy white lard with garlic and rosemary needles in an utterly rich, but deceptively light adornment to breads. Typically served with tigelle, a traditional Italian bread, we serve ours melted over a simple flatbread, and adorned with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Prep Time 4 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 4 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings 6 to 8 servings

Author Jenny

Ingredients

For the Bread

• 3 ½ cups all-purpose einkorn flour (plus extra to work the dough)
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons sourdough starter

For the Lardo Pesto

• 1 clove garlic
• 2 ounces lard
• 1 chopped fresh rosemary
• ¼ cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

• Pour the flour, water, salt, olive oil and sourdough starter together in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Continue working the dough until it develops a smooth elasticity, then form it into a ball. Drizzle a clean mixing bowl with olive oil, and then place the dough into the bowl. Cover it well with plastic wrap or a tight-fitting lid, and let it rise until doubled in bulk, about 6 hours.
• Place a baking stone in the oven, and heat the oven to 450 F.
• Roll out the dough into a disc about ¼-inch thick. Then place it into the oven, baking it until it puffs slightly and becomes golden brown at the edges - about 10 to 12 minutes.
• While the pizza bakes, crush the garlic with a mortar and pestle, then slowly work in the lardo by mashing it well into the garlic to form a smooth white paste. Take the rosemary in one hand, then pinch of its needles with the thumb and forefinger of your other hand, and work them into the paste of lardo and garlic.
• Remove the hot flatbread from the oven, and immediately spread the Lardo Pesto on the hot bread, allowing the breads heat to melt the lard. Sprinkle the parmesan over the lard-slathered bread. Return to the oven for 3 to 5 minutes. Slice and serve while still hot.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g

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For the perfect Thanksgiving stuffing recipe, combine homemade sourdough bread with plenty of butter, broth, and a good dose of fresh herbs.

It's simple to prepare, easy to make in advance, and the result is delicious. It's rich with butter, deeply savory thanks to good broth, and infused with sage, thyme, and rosemary.

Sourdough stuffing is a perennial favorite on our table during the holiday season. It's an easy way to use up leftover bread, and we love the way good broth and plenty of butter enrich the stuffing while fresh herbs lend a beautiful, vibrant flavor.

This stuffing recipe is easy to make in advance, so your Thanksgiving meal prep is much faster.

Ingredient Notes

Sourdough bread gives the stuffing its bulk. Homemade no-knead sourdough bread is a good option, but you can also purchase day-old bread from a local bakery. Sourdough bread, with its pleasant chewy texture, is perfect. You'll find it lends the best flavor and texture to the recipe.

Onions give sourdough stuffing a sweet, savory element. Yellow onions work the best, but you can also swap in red or white onions, depending on what you have in your pantry.

Celery lends a pleasant, vegetal note to the stuffing, and it works well with both onions and fresh herbs to give the stuffing its deep flavor.

Butter contributes richness to sourdough stuffing and also enhances browning. You'll use plenty of it, too, so pay attention to quality. Cultured grass-fed butter is optimal for this recipe because it has the richest flavor.

Broth provides the liquid element to the recipe, transforming stale sourdough bread into a luscious and moist stuffing. If you're serving sourdough stuffing with Thanksgiving turkey, plan to use a good turkey bone broth. Although both homemade chicken broth and vegetable broth work, too.

Fresh herbs include sage and thyme. These herbs help heighten the flavor of the stuffing, especially if you're also using the herbs in other dishes at the meal.

Recipe Tips

If you're planning a large holiday meal or have several dishes to make, you can prepare the bread up to 5 days in advance. And you can prepare the bulk of the stuffing up to 1 day in advance and finish it in the oven just before serving.

If you want a more uniform texture, consider slicing the crust off your bread before you make the stuffing. While the bread crust can give the stuffing a fantastic crisp texture, some people prefer a more uniform approach.

If you prefer a more rustic texture, consider tearing the bread apart instead of cutting it into 1-inch cubes.

Add fruit, nuts, and more herbs to make the recipe uniquely yours. Just keep the ratio of turkey broth, butter, and bread the same.

Gently press the stuffing into the baking dish with a wooden spoon instead of mashing it. Pressing the stuffing too hard into the dish before baking will produce a texture-less mass.

Consider baking it in individual portions. You can spoon the stuffing mixture into muffin cups, bake in individual portions, and freeze leftovers easily.

Covering the stuffing with aluminum foil helps to prevent it from drying out while it bakes. Remove the foil partway through cooking for a pleasantly crispy top without losing moisture. Ten minutes is usually sufficient to crisp the stuffing without drying it out.

Don't stuff the bird. While stuffing is traditionally cooked inside roasted turkey and chicken, it poses a food safety risk. Additionally, the stuffing risks becoming soggy.  You'll also lose out on that gorgeous golden-brown color and any crispy edges.

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Sourdough Stuffing Recipe

Thyme, sage, and rich broth give this sourdough stuffing a savory, herbal flavor perfect for any feast.

Course bread, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Drying the Bread 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings 12 servings

Calories 196kcal

Author Jenny McGruther

Equipment

• Rimmed Baking Sheet
• 10-inch skillet
• Large Mixing Bowl
• baking dish
• aluminum foil

Ingredients

• 18 ounces sourdough bread (cubed or torn into 1-inch pieces)
• ½ cup salted butter (divided, plus additional for preparing the pan)
• 2 yellow onions (coarsely chopped)
• 6 celery ribs (coarsely chopped)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh sage
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 ½ cups turkey bone broth
• 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

Preparing the bread.

• Heat the oven to 225F.
• Arrange the cubed bread on the baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour, stirring halfway through, until crisp and dry. Remove the tray from the oven and let the bread cool to room temperature. 

Mixing the stuffing.

• Turn the oven up to 375 F, then grease a 13-inch by 9-inch baking dish with a little butter.
• Warm ¼ cup butter in a wide skillet over medium heat until it melts. Stir in the onions, celery, sage, thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Allow them to cook in the hot butter until the onions soften and turn translucent - about 10 minutes. Stir them occasionally as they cook to prevent them from browning. Turn off the heat.
• Dump the dried bread cubes into a large mixing bowl, and then stir in the celery, herb, and onion mixture. Pour the broth into the bread mixture and gently fold to combine. Let it sit for about 10 minutes to allow the bread to fully absorb the broth, and then transfer the mixture to your prepared baking dish.
• Gently press the stuffing mixture into the pan, but do not pack it tightly.

Baking the stuffing.

• Dot the top of the stuffing with the remaining 4 tablespoons of the butter, and then cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.
• Bake the stuffing for 30 minutes. Uncover the stuffing, and continue baking for a further 10 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Serving and storage.

• Serve warm, and store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 196kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 792mg | Potassium: 102mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 304IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 2mg

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Recipe Questions

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One search continually brings viewers to this blog: the search for a sourdough noodle recipe. Perhaps they're curious about flavor, or about reducing phytates in their grains or just want to try their hands at one more new thing in the kitchen, but my blog until now always left them wanting for I never posted the sourdough noodle recipe until now.

I like my noodles rustic. Thick. Chewy. Hand-cut. If you've more refined tastes, you can always use a pasta machine.

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Rustic Sourdough Noodles

These rustic noodles, all thick and chewy and rich with sourdough flavor, are excellent when you serve them with brown butter and fresh herbs.  It's also a great way to use up extra sourdough starter.

Course pasta, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword sourdough

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 8 servings

Calories 50kcal

Author Jenny

Ingredients

• ¾ cup sourdough starter
• 3 cups all-purpose einkorn flour
• 4 egg yolks

Instructions

• Pour one cup of sourdough starter into your mixing bowl, and then add the flour and egg yolks.  Mix the ingredients together until it forms a ball.
• Place the ball on a floured work surface, pat it into a rectangle, and then roll it flat to a thickness of 1/16 of an inch.  Cut noodles to your desired shape. Allow them to dry on the counter or boil them for right away.

Nutrition

Calories: 50kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 97mg | Sodium: 4mg | Potassium: 9mg | Vitamin A: 130IU | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 0.3mg

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Unlike sourdough starter, wild yeast captured through this method requires no daily maintenance; rather, it's a one-step process, a few days of patience coupled with observation, and you're ready to bake.

What is wild yeast?

Wild yeasts are single-celled organisms that exist all around you. They feed on carbohydrates, and as they do so they release carbon dioxide, B vitamins, and alcohol. Because they release carbon dioxide, yeast can leaven bread, and because they convert carbohydrates to alcohol, brewers use yeast to make beer and wine, too.

Traditionally, all brewing and baking used wild yeast - or the yeast found in the natural environment on your skin, in flour, on grains, and in the home.

With time, brewers and bakers cultivated these wild yeasts and, in the 19th century, chemists were able to isolate and domesticate certain strains from the yeast species saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is what you find in packets of baking yeast today.

Where does it come from?

Like bacteria and other microorganisms, wild yeasts live all around you. They live on the surfaces of your home, on your skin, on your fruit and vegetables, in your flour.

Knowing this, you can create an environment that encourages their growth: one that is moist and carbohydrate-rich. Tossing a few pieces of unsulphured dried fruit into a jar and pouring in water does just that. In less than a week, that jar will fizz and bubble with activity, and your yeast water is ready for baking.

While capturing wild yeast for brewing and baking is an age-old practice that spans millennia across cultures, this particular technique of preparing a yeast water starter with fruit, herbs, and other plant matter is rooted in Japanese artisan baking, and popularized by Junko Mine who wrote about her method here.

How do you know it's ready?

Making a wild yeast water starter seems almost too easy. It feels like the process should be more complicated than tossing fruit in a jar of water and simply waiting. But that's it. That's all you need to do.

Within the first day, the dried fruit will plump as it absorbs the water. By the second day, the fruit will release its color into the water. Apricots release an amber color, raisins a reddish-brown, and Calimyrna figs turn the water a sandy straw yellow.

As each day progresses to the next, you'll see the water turn cloudy - a sure sign that the wild yeast are doing their work. And by day five or six, you'll see tiny bubbles appear at the surface of the water. Then you know your yeast water is ready.

Tips for making your yeast water

• Start with dried fruit. You can capture wild yeast easily from a variety of sources. I've used cherry tomatoes, fresh peaches, spruce tips, and plenty of dried fruit. But, for first-time success start with dried fruit.
• Use unsulfured fruit. Check the ingredients of your dried fruit to make sure it doesn't contain sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide is a chemical that helps preserve the color of dried fruit, but it's linked to asthma symptoms in susceptible people. It is also antimicrobial and may compromise yeast production.
• Seal the jar tightly. Sealing your jar tightly supports the growth of wild yeast.
• Watch for bubbles and other signs of readiness, as they'll let you know when it's safe to bake.
• Use it quickly once bubbles appear. If you continue to let it ferment after it's ready, the carbon dioxide in the jar may build up and cause an explosion which is decidedly messy and potentially dangerous.
• Try fresh fruit and herbs, once you've made a few starters using dried fruit.

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Wild Yeast Starter Recipe

Bubbly, fizzy, and just a bit murky, making a wild yeast starter can seem a little daunting, but it's one of the easiest kitchen projects you can undertake. There's only a single step: sealing fruit into a jar filled with water. And then you wait. In less than a week, you have a yeasty starter you can use to bake bread.

Fruits, vegetables, and even wild herbs are all sources for wild yeast, but dried fruit is one of the easiest for newcomers to use. Figs, apricots, and raisins work well.

Course Ferment

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Fermentation 5 days days

Total Time 5 days days 5 minutes minutes

Servings 3 cups

Author Jenny

Equipment

• Quart-sized Jar
• Fine-mesh Sieve

Ingredients

• 1 cup tightly packed dried fruit (unsulfured)
• warm water

Instructions

Capturing wild yeast.

• Drop the dried fruit into a quart-sized mason jar, and then fill the jar with water allowing 1 inch of headspace. Seal the jar tightly, and then let it rest away from direct light and heat until bubbles appear when you tip the jar and the lid begins to bulge.

Using the yeast.

• When ready, strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean jar or pitcher. Use in place of the liquid portion of your recipe, omitting the bakers yeast.

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What is a sourdough starter?

A sourdough starter is the natural leavening that gives sourdough bread its flavor and also makes it rise. Sourdough starter and wild yeast have served as the leavening agent for bread bakers throughout most of human history. That is, until commercial, packaged baker's yeast became available in the mid-19th century. However, it wasn't until much later that it became accessible for most home bakers.

Like yogurt, sourdough starter is rich in active, live cultures. These cultures include lactic- and acetic-acid-producing bacteria and various strains of wild yeast (2), but your environment, the type of flour you use, how much water you add, and other factors influence the microbial content of your starter (3). These tiny microorganisms work together to make amazing bread. The bacteria give bread a slightly sour flavor, while the wild yeasts in the starter help to make your it rise.

How does it work?

Sourdough starters work by capturing and activating the naturally occurring wild yeast and bacteria in the environment. These microbes are just about everywhere: in the flour, on your kitchen surfaces, and even on your hands (4). When you add water to the flour, you activate these tiny organisms and they begin to multiply.

With time, and consistently adding new water and new flour to the mix (a practice bakers call "feeding"), the bacteria and yeast in your starter will become super active. That's because a wet environment is perfect for their growth, and is essential for the fermentation process. As these microbes grow, they'll eat the carbohydrates in the flour, and release carbon dioxide, B vitamins, and natural acids. The principle is it at work in other fermented foods, too. It's why kombucha is bubbly and sauerkraut is sour.

So, when you mix a bit of your own starter into flour and other ingredients for making bread, they'll continue to eat those carbohydrates and release more carbon dioxide and more acids. The carbon dioxide makes the bread rise and the acids give sourdough bread its distinct tart flavor.

How to make a sourdough starter

Making your own sourdough starter is an exercise of patience and daily diligence. But it's also empowering. There's nothing quite like making your own homemade bread from a ripe starter that you created yourself from nothing but flour and water. After about a week (sometimes longer), your starter will be ready to use.

• Starting. You'll need to whisk a little bit of flour and water together in a jar. Seal the jar tightly, and then let it rest for a day.
• Daily feedings. On days 2 and 3, you'll need to feed your starter once a day. That means discarding half of the starter and then mixing in equal amounts of flour and water to replace what you discarded.
• Twice daily feedings. On days 4 and 5, you'll notice that your starter becomes active and starting to expand. You'll also need to feed the starter twice daily with about 12 hours between feedings.
• Knowing when your starter is ready. When your starter doubles in volume between feedings, it's ready for baking. It usually begins to double by day 6. Feed it once more, and then transfer it to the fridge. If your starter isn't doubling in volume by day 6, continue feeding it two times a day until it does double within a few hours of a feeding.

What's in it?

Sourdough starters are marvelously simple. You only need flour, water, and a little patience. But, with so few ingredients, you need to also pay attention to quality, too. Because a little deviation can make a big difference.

The easiest approach for beginning sourdough bakers is to use unbleached bread flour, warm water, and a bit of an heirloom culture. You can use a starter made from bread flour to leaven loaves of bread made with other flours like whole grains, spelt, emmer, einkorn, and rye.

• Starters made with bread flour rise with greater consistency and predictability than whole-grain flour starters.
• Filtered water without chlorine will help the good bugs establish themselves in your starter more easily.
• An heirloom starter gives a good boost to your new starter. While not strictly necessary, they're helpful for beginners to ensure that the bacteria and yeast maintain a proper balance.

Flour for your starter

Technically, any grain-based flour works for making a sourdough starter.  Flours made from rice, rye, spelt, einkorn and wheat all work. However, bread flour works the best and yields the most reliable starter. Even if you raise your starter on bread flour, you can still make bread with other types of flour.

• Use fresh flour. Fresh flour should have a pleasant sweet aroma. If your flour's been lingering in your pantry for months, it's best to buy a new bag.
• Whole-grain flours make tricky starters. They're high in vitamins minerals and food enzymes. While high nutritional content is generally a good thing, when it comes to sourdough starters, it means that they behave less predictably than white bread flour. Starters made from whole-grain flours typically need to be fed more often and are more difficult to maintain. They're also prone to false starts, where they bubble quickly, but lose all activity later.
• Unbleached bread flour works particularly well because, once it's established, it rises and falls predictably with little fuss or extra maintenance. That's why it's the best choice for beginning sourdough bakers.

Water for Sourdough Starter

Choose filtered water when establishing and feeding a sourdough starter. In most areas, water is chemically treated with chlorine to keep it safe and free from pathogens. But it can also damage the bacterial and yeast cultures in your starter, so if you're new to sourdough choose filtered water.

If you don't, let your tap water sit on the counter overnight to allow the chlorine to dissipate.

• Choose filtered or dechlorinated water for the best results. You can still make a starter with tap water, but it may take longer for the beneficial bacteria and wild yeasts to get established.
  Use warm water, about 100 F, when feeding your starter. Warm water can give the starter a little boost, but if the water is too hot it can damage the cultures.

Sourdough starter tips

While making your own homemade sourdough starter is easy (all you need to do is mix and measure), there are a few tips and tricks you need to keep in mind. Precision, patience, and diligence matter. In essence, you need to be precise in your measurements, patient in waiting for it to be ready, and diligent in caring for your starter - especially in the beginning.

• Use an heirloom starter, especially if it's your first time. A few tablespoons of heirloom starter from a friend or a packet of starter like this one can give your sourdough a boost. That means a lot less frustration for you.
• Mind your temperature. Cool room temperatures favor the production of yeast which gives your bread its rise. Warm room temperatures favor the production of lactobacillus which gives your bread its flavor. Find the middle ground (about 68 - 72 F) gives your bread excellent rise and great flavor.
• Use a digital scale. The sourdough (and most recipes that call for starter) relies on 100% hydration. That means you feed it equal parts water and flour. To make sure you're doing just that, use a digital scale for precision and consistency.
• Use a tightly-sealed jar. While you can make a sourdough starter in a jar with a loose lid or a cloth cover, a tight seal usually results in better yeast production - which means a better rise for your loaves of bread.

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Easy Sourdough Starter Recipe

This traditional sourdough starter recipe takes a little bit of patience, but yields big results. With consistency, time and intention, you can maintain your starter indefinitely.

Course bread

Cuisine American

Keyword fermentation, flour

Prep Time 6 days days

Total Time 6 days days

Author Jenny

Equipment

• Pint-Sized Mason Jar
• Digital Scale

Ingredients

• 450 grams bread flour
• 450 grams warm water
• heirloom sourdough starter (optional, but strongly recommended for new bakers)

Instructions

Day 1

• Measure 100 grams flour and 100 grams water into a jar with a tight-fitting lid, and then whisk them together using a fork. If using an established sourdough starter, whisk it into the flour and water now. Set the jar on the countertop away from direct light and heat.

Day 2

• Set a bowl on your kitchen scale, and then tare the scale. Measure 100 grams sourdough starter into the bowl, and then discard it.
• Set the jar containing your starter onto the scale, tare it again, and then measure in 50 grams water. Whisk the water into the starter in your jar, and then whisk in 50 grams flour. Clamp the jar tightly, and then set it on your countertop away from direct light and heat.

Day 3

• You should begin seeing bubbles appear on the surface of your starter, or the surface may appear slightly foamy. These are signs of microbial activity.
• Measure 100 grams sourdough starter into the bowl, and then discard it.
• After discarding the starter, whisk in 50 grams warm water and 50 grams flour. Seal the jar and store it away from direct light and heat.

Day 4

• The surface of your starter should appear slightly bubbly, and you may see evidence that your starter is beginning to expand in the jar. You should start feeding your starter twice a day today.
• In the morning, measure 100 grams sourdough starter and discard it.
• After discarding the starter, whisk in 50 grams water and 50 grams flour. Seal the jar and store it away from direct light and heat.
• In the evening about 12 hours after your first feeding, discard 100 grams starter, and then whisk in 50 grams water and 50 grams flour. Seal the jar tightly, and store it away from light and heat.

Day 5

• The surface of your starter should be very bubbly, and it may expel gas when you open the jar. You should also see evidence that your starter is expanding in its jar.
• In the morning, measure 100 grams sourdough starter and discard it. Whisk in 50 grams water and 50 grams flour, and store the jar away from direct light and heat.
• In the evening about 12 hours after your first feeding, feed the starter again by discarding 100 grams starter and replacing it with 50 grams water and 50 grams flour.

Day 6

• Your starter should be bubbly, and it should smell of yeast and bread with faint sour notes. It should also double within 12 hours of each feeding.
• Discard 100 grams of starter, and then whisk in 50 grams water and 50 grams flour.
• If you're planning to bake with the starter today, wait until it doubles in volume and then follow your recipe's instructions. If you're planning to bake with the starter later, transfer it to the fridge.

Weekly Maintenance (Feeding Schedule)

• To maintain the starter, remove it from the fridge at least once per week. Discard 100 grams starter, and then whisk in 50 grams water and 50 grams flour. Let it rise at room temperature up to 12 hours if you're planning to bake that day. If you're planning to bake later, transfer it to the fridge.

Proofing the Starter on Baking Day

• Remove the starter from the fridge approximately 8 to 12 hours before you plan to begin your recipe.
• Feed the starter by discarding 100 grams spent starter, and replacing it by whisking 50 grams flour and 50 grams into the jar. Seal the jar, and let it sit on the countertop until it doubles in volume.
• Remove the amount of starter that your recipe calls for, and then replace it with equal amounts of flour and water. Transfer the jar of starter to the fridge.

Common Questions

Use your sourdough starter in these recipes

References

1. Landis, Elizabeth A et al. "The diversity and function of sourdough starter microbiomes." eLife vol. 10 e61644. 26 Jan. 2021
2. Lhomme, Emilie et al. "Sourdough microbial community dynamics: An analysis during French organic bread-making processes." Food microbiology vol. 53,Pt A (2016): 41-50.
3. Reese, et al. "Influences of Ingredients and Bakers on the Bacteria and Fungi in Sourdough Starters and Bread." mShere. 15 Jan 2020.

The post Easy Sourdough Starter appeared first on Nourished Kitchen.

How to make kvass

Making kvass is a four-step process. While the fermentation process takes several days, you'll only spend a few minutes of active time in the kitchen. Instead, the bacteria and wild yeast responsible for transforming sourdough bread and water into a bubbly fermented beverage will do most of the work for you.

1. Preparing your ingredients. You'll toast stale bread, gather your spices (we use coriander and caraway), and whichever source of yeast you're planning to use.
2. Soaking the bread. After toasting the bread, you'll toss it into a jar, cover it with water, and let it soak or steep for up to 3 days. In hotter temperatures, you may only need to let it soak for a day, while colder temperatures require more time. A large (2-quart) mason jar works well for this purpose.
3. Fermentation. During the initial fermentation, you'll strain the liquid (called the wort) through a cheesecloth, discarding the bread. Combine the wort with other seasonings (such as mint or fruit), honey, and a source of wild yeast. Allow this yeast mixture to ferment for one to two days.
4. Bottling. After the initial fermentation, you'll strain the resulting kvass into bottles and let it ferment one more time. This technique, called bottle conditioning, is also used to brew beer or make kombucha. Sometimes, an additional source of sugar is added to the bottle, such as honey, to increase the fermentation which results in more bubbles.

Recipe Tips

Like just about any old-world fermented food, making kvass is simple and fuss-free. These recipes and techniques are uncomplicated. Remember, it comes from a time when homemakers didn't have time to make elaborate or fussy meals; rather, ingredients needed to be simple and affordable while techniques needed to be easy to follow and require minimal effort. That said, there are a few things you'll need to keep in mind when you brew your first batch.

• Toast your bread until it's dark. Those toasty, toffee-like notes come through and give the kvass body and flavor. They pair beautifully with honey, too.
• Use hot water, but it doesn't have to be boiling. Traditionally, the water for kvass was boiled first. Since you have (most likely) access to clean water, you only need to warm it up a bit. It should be about as hot as a cup of tea.
• Use clean equipment, but don't worry about sterilizing. Clean bottles and clean jars just out of the dishwasher work fine.
• Use a caloric sweetener. This recipe calls for honey to sweeten the kvass (and feed all the good microbes during fermentation); however, you can use another sweetener. Noncaloric sweeteners inhibit fermentation since they lack enough carbohydrates to feed bacteria and yeast.
• Pay attention to temperature. Kvass will ferment faster in warm temperatures and take more time in cold kitchens.
• Burp your jars and bottles if you're concerned about the build-up of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a natural byproduct of fermentation and it's what makes fermented drinks, such as kombucha, beer, and kvass, naturally fizzy.

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Homemade Kvass Recipe

Like a cross between a blonde beer and mead, kvass is a refreshing fermented drink. It's delicious served cold, with a sprig of fresh mint. This recipe is adapted from Mamushka: Recipes from Ukraine and Eastern Europe (Weldon Owen, 2015) by Olia Hercules.

Course Beverage, Ferment

Cuisine Russian

Keyword bread, herbs, spices

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Fermentation 5 days days

Total Time 5 days days 30 minutes minutes

Author Jenny

Equipment

• Quart-sized Jar
• Cheesecloth
• Fermentation Seal
• flip-top bottles

Ingredients

• 8 ounces sourdough rye bread (torn into 1-inch pieces)
• 8 cups hot water
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seed
• ½ cup chopped fresh mint (plus additional to serve)
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 tablespoons sourdough starter (see notes for additional options)

Instructions

Toasting the bread.

• Heat the oven to 400 F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Arrange the bread onto the parchment paper, and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until dark brown.

Initial fermentation.

• Drop the toasted rye bread into a jar with a tight-fitting lid, cover with water, and then dd the caraway and coriander seeds. Seal tightly. Allow the kvass to ferment for 3 days in a warm spot in your kitchen way from direct light.

Secondary fermentation.

• Strain through a fine-mesh sieve or square of cheesecloth, pressing the liquid from the bread to extract as much as possible. Return the liquid to the jar, discarding the spent bread. Add the mint, honey, and sourdough starter.
• Seal the jar and allow it to ferment for 2 days in a warm spot in your kitchen, away from light and direct heat.

Bottling.

• Transfer the kvass into flip-top bottles, and let them ferment 1 day more. Then transfer to the fridge where it will keep up to 5 days. Serve cold with a sprig of mint.

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Recipe Questions

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With a wonderfully soft and tender crumb, these sourdough pancakes make a lovely companion to lazy Saturday mornings, especially when you pair them with pats of salted butter, a drizzle of maple syrup, and a mug of strong tea.

Since I started baking sourdough bread nearly a decade ago, I've always needed a use for my leftover, discarded starter. And these pancakes, sweetened by the slightest trace of honey, are such a perfect use for it.  I've meddled and toiled with this recipe over the years, making small adjustments here or there: leaving out the honey, beating in whole eggs, soaking the batter overnight.

And I finally have a version I'm really happy with: Marvelously rich with the flavor of whole grain flour, but tender, too, with a soft light texture.

Pancakes Are Great for Spent Starter

To maintain a lively and active starter for sourdough bread baking, you must feed it a slurry of water and flour.  This carbohydrate-rich slurry nourishes and provides food for the bacteria that give good bread its characteristic tartness and it also feeds the yeast that give the bread a lofty rise. Bread needs lively and active yeast to give it a wonderful rise an airy crumb. And recently fed, bubbly starter does just that.

But, maintaining sourdough is all about timing. Once you feed your starter, and it bubbles up and doubles, those lively yeast will exhaust their food source and the starter will fall. This spent starter won't make for good bread, but it's perfect for making sourdough pancakes.

How to Make Tender Sourdough Pancakes

Tender pancakes achieve their loft through leavening.  When you make pancakes the leavening comes from the natural chemical reaction between acidic and alkaline ingredients.

Thanks to all its friendly lactobacillus bacteria, spent sourdough starter is very acidic (that's what makes it wonderfully tart!). When you combine the sourdough starter with baking soda, which is very alkaline, the pancake batter will bubble up beautifully - and a bubbly batter makes for airier pancakes with a tender crumb.

But that's not all you need to make fluffy pancakes. Whipped egg whites will lighten your pancakes when you gently fold them into the batter, and also give the batter enough structure to hold the air that will make your pancakes light and fluffy instead of dense or chewy.

Use a Whole Grain Flour

When baking and cooking for my family, I like to keep our grains (mostly!) whole. Not only do whole grains offer the clear benefit of higher dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals (when properly prepared), but they also offer incredible, complex, and rich flavor.

The problem is that many whole wheat flours are very high in protein and are flecked with dark bits of bran. That makes for great bread but not-so-great pancakes.

So, make your pancakes from white or ivory wheat instead of plain whole wheat flour. These flours are still 100% whole grain, but they're made from softer wheat with a lower protein and a much lighter color. That means lighter, softer pancakes that are still a whole grain.

If you want to make pancakes with an alternative flour, try einkorn pancakes instead.

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Sourdough Pancakes

Wonderfully fluffy and delicious with their rich whole grain flavor and mild tartness, these sourdough pancakes are a great way to use up leftover sourdough starter.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 4 minutes minutes

Overnight Rest 8 hours hours

Total Time 8 hours hours 24 minutes minutes

Servings 12 pancakes

Calories 175kcal

Author Jenny

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 ¼ cups whole milk
• ¾ cup sourdough starter
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3 eggs (separated)
• 3 tablespoons honey
• ¼ cup salted butter (plus additional butter for frying the pancakes)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

The Night Before

• Toss the flour, milk, sourdough starter and sea salt together in a blender, and blend until they form a smooth batter. Pour the batter into a mixing bowl, and cover it with cling film or with a tight-fitting lid.
• Let the batter sit, covered, at room temperature overnight, or 8 to 12 hours.

The Next Morning

• Beat the egg yolks together with honey and melted butter. When they're uniformly combined, beat the egg yolk mixture into the pancake batter you made the night before.
• In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites with the baking soda until they hold stiff peaks.
• Gently fold one third of the whipped egg whites into the pancake batter. Continue folding the remaining egg whites, one third at a time, until you've added them all. Incorporate the egg whites into the bowl slowly, carefully and gently, leaving some streaks of unbroken whites, until the batter is light and fluffy. The key to a light sourdough pancake is to avoid deflating the whites.
• Set your oven to warm, and place a baking sheet in the oven on the middle rack.
• Heat a cast iron skillet or pancake griddle over medium heat, and melt a touch of butter in the pan. When the butter foams, pour a ladleful (approximately ¼ to ⅓ cup) of pancake batter into the pan. Let it cook without disturbance until you see bubbles forming in the center of the pancake. Flip the pancake and continue cooking it 1 to 2 minutes further until cooked through. Transfer the pancake to the baking sheet in the oven to keep it warm.
• Continue cooking pancakes, one at a time, and adding more butter to the pan as needed until you've exhausted the batter.
• Serve with additional butter, maple syrup or homemade blueberry syrup.

Nutrition

Calories: 175kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 57mg | Sodium: 349mg | Potassium: 160mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 253IU | Vitamin C: 0.03mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 1mg

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