Sourdough Butter Cookes (like the ones in the blue tin!) – The Messy Homemaker (2024)

FAQs

What happens if I add sugar to my sourdough starter? ›

The sugar encourages the flourishing of yeast relative to lactobacillus bacteria. The sugar puts stress on both the yeast and the bacteria, but the stress is less severe for the yeast.

It adds a delicious flavor and imparts moisture to recipes which keeps bakes tasting fresher for much longer. You can also use sourdough discard to ferment recipes which makes them healthier and easier to digest.

If you have too much starter compared to the additional flour and water you're adding, your hungry starter consumes all the nutrients and then it's not as bubbly.

But, if you are wanting a more sour loaf of sourdough, you can wait until your starter is past its peak and starting to fall before you add it to your flour, water and salt. This will ensure that it takes longer to ferment your dough, making the loaf more sour (this is further explained below too).

The bottom line. Sourdough is a healthier alternative to regular white or whole wheat bread. Although it has comparable nutrients, the lower phytate levels mean it is more digestible and nutritious. The prebiotics also help to keep your gut bacteria happy, and it may be less likely to spike blood sugar levels.

There are two main acids produced in a sourdough culture: lactic acid and acetic acid. Acetic acid, or vinegar, is the acid that gives sourdough much of its tang. Giving acetic acid-producing organisms optimal conditions to thrive and multiply will produce a more tangy finished product.

The secret to sourdough is simple: water. The more water you add to your dough will affect how open the crumb (bigger holes and softer texture) will be once it's baked.

The Role of Sourdough Starter with Honey

The enzymes in honey aid in breaking down starches into simpler sugars, thereby fueling the growth of the microbial community. The result is a starter brimming with vitality and a delightful hint of sweetness.

Can you eat raw sourdough starter? ›

No, it's not advisable to eat raw sourdough starter. While some people claim to have healed their gut problems by eating probiotic rich sourdough starter, it's not really advisable. Raw sourdough starter contains uncooked flour which can harbor harmful bacteria among other things.

Do I have to discard my sourdough starter? It would be best if you discarded some portion of your starter each time you feed it unless you want to continue to let it grow. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.

If you didn't discard a portion of your starter each time you feed it, two things would happen: Your starter would grow to an enormous, unmanageable size. Your starter would likely become more and more inhospitable to the bacteria and yeast we want as the mixture would become ever more acidic.

If your recipe calls for more than 227g (about 1 cup) of starter, feed it without discarding until you've reached the amount you need (plus 113g to keep and feed again).

+ Chlorine in bleached flour and tap water will kill the yeast cultures and bacteria colonies quickly and your lovely bubbly airy starter will be no more. Or maybe it didn't get to that point and that's why the starter you're creating or maintaining isn't working. NO CHLORINE. Your starter will thank you.

Use More Wholegrain Flours In Your Sourdough Starter & Dough

Using wholegrain flour in your sourdough starter will make your sourdough bread more sour.

This is not always a bad thing, and sometimes extra flour is necessary to rectify a runny starter or make the starter peak at a later time. Feeding a sourdough starter too much water is worse as the starter won't have enough flour to feed on and it will be runny and less bubbly than it should be.