One of the questions I often get asked is what can you do with discard starter other than throw it in the trash or compost bin. The quick answer is any recipe that calls for a commercial leavening agent, yeast, baking powder or baking soda in addition to sourdough. In most cases the sourdough is there for flavor and the yeast or other agent for the leavening. That includes many of King Arthur’s “sourdough” recipes that call for as much yeast as a non-sourdough recipe. Call me a bread snob but I don’t consider them sourdough. To me, sourdoughs are completely naturally leavened and those hybrid breads are sourdough flavored yeasted breads.
One of our favorite uses for discarded starter are overnight pancakes and waffles. These are yummy! We use the same batter for both but prefer the waffles to the pancakes. Something about the crispy outside of the waffle with the soft interior that delights us. Plus the recipe makes more waffles that we can eat in one sitting but they freeze well and reheat beautifully in the toaster. I should add our waffle maker makes conventional waffles, not Belgian waffles, so I can’t speak with authority on how they would come out.
I usually start saving my daily discard starter in a bowl in the fridge about 5 days before we plan on making waffles. I haven’t tested how long this will remain viable in the fridge but I imagine several weeks at least. I’ve had it there for 2 weeks with no deterioration. If it is being used on a regular basis then you can add discard each day and take some out a couple of times a week. I always stir the new addition into the batch but I’m not sure that is necessary.
I apologize in advance for the mixed units in the formula. Normally, that would drive me nuts, but for what ever reason, in this case it doesn’t.
The Formula
| *Ingredient | Amount | |
| Butter | 1/2 Cup | |
| Milk | 1 Cup | |
| Sourdough Starter * | 258 grams | |
| Salt | 1 teaspoon | |
| Brown Sugar | 1 tablespoon | |
| AP flour | 213 grams | |
| Eggs | 2 | |
| Baking Soda | 1/4 teaspoon |
*This is what one cup of my stirred down discard starter weighed. Yours may be different. I specified grams because I found it very messy a difficult to measure out one cup of starter and keep it from dripping everywhere in the kitchen.
The Process
- Place the butter and milk in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for one minute.
- Remove and stir until butter is dissolved. This may need an another 15 – 20 seconds in the microwave.
- Let cool slightly, then stir in the sourdough starter, salt, brown sugar and flour.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let ferment at room temperature overnight, 8 – 14 hours.
- The next morning add the eggs and baking soda to the batter and mix in.
- Preheat the waffle iron or griddle and cook the waffles or pancakes.
I like these with a good butter and pure New York State maple syrup like the dark syrup from Stoney Ridge Farms in Farmington, NY. We went past last Thursday and the steam was pouring from the sugar shack. Always a good sight to see in early Spring.
I plan on trying several other uses for discard sourdough in the future and reporting on them here. A couple of them are biscuits and flour tortillas. Keep watching.