Ridiculously Simple Sourdough (Discard) Recipe

I love sourdough bread. But to be honest, I usually don't have the time (or patience) for folding and turning and folding and waiting. Something always happens or comes up and I miss one of the critical steps. Either that or I'm baking bread at 11:00 at night...one time I actually fell asleep while it was baking! But my tastebuds love the flavor of sourdough, and my stomach much prefers home-baked bread as compared to store-bought.

After a lot of experimenting, I found a way to get the sourdough taste without all the fuss and micro-managed baking schedule. Another bonus, you can adjust the proofing time to increase or decrease the sourness of the bread. I've found that just a hint of sourness is the best for our house. It's enough to make the adults happy, but not so intense that the kids won't eat it.

This recipe is adapted from Shaye Elliots "Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Bread" recipe in her From Scratch cookbook, which makes 2 boules (rustic round loaves). I will provide the original recipe and a link to the cookbook below. I have found that this adapted recipe has several bonus points:

It uses up sourdough discard.
You get the sourdough flavor without the fuss.
It can be used for rustic boule loaves, sandwich bread, rolls, buns, etc...
You can substitute some of the AP flour for whole wheat without sacrificing the softness.

Super Secret Trick - for these recipes that tell you to bake your bread in a Dutch oven...they use such a high temperature and for the longest time I could not get the bread to completely cook in the middle without burning the bottom. I saw a tik-tok video where a lady put uncooked rice in the bottom of her pan. This is a genius idea and it works every

time! Add 1 cup of uncooked rice (any kind) to the bottom of your pan or Dutch oven before putting your dough in. This only works if you use parchment paper, which I always do. You can use new rice each time or re-use it. I keep the same rice in my Dutch oven for several rounds of baking before I replace it.

RECIPES

Basic Boule

1&1/4 cups warm water 1/2 cup sourdough discard

1/2 tbsp active dry yeast 1/2 tbsp salt

1 tbsp honey 2&1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Combine water, honey, sourdough discard, and yeast in a bowl. Whisk to combine and let sit for a minute or so. Add salt and whisk in to combine.
Add in 2 CUPS of your flour and stir (I use this exact Danish dough whisk but a wooden spoon works great, too) until you get a shaggy dough and all the flour has been mixed in.
Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of flour onto the counter, dump out the dough, and knead/roll/pull it together into a tight round ball.
Spray bowl with oil (I like olive) and put dough back into oiled and covered bowl for 1-2 hours, until it's about doubled in size.
Pull dough away from sides of the bowl and dump it back out onto the counter. You can sprinkle some flour out, but it's not usually necessary.
Gently flatten the dough out by poking/pressing it with your fingers. Fold one side over to the middle, do the same with the other side so you have long rectangle-ish shape. Repeat with the short sides, then flip it over and start working it into a ball. You want to keep some of the air in the dough, but get it into a fairly tight ball.
Preheat your Dutch oven (or a pot with a lid) the oven at 450*F. Make sure your pot and lid are oven-safe...no plastic handles!
Put your dough ball in a proofing basket or on a sheet of parchment paper and cover while the oven pre-heats (about 30 minutes).
Slash the top of your loaf if you want and gently lower it on the parchment paper into the Dutch oven.
Bake for 30 minutes covered and an additional 15 minutes uncovered. Remove from oven; remove from pot to cooling rack and spray/coat with olive oil.
Let cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

Honey Wheat Sandwich Loaf

1&1/4 cups warm water 1/2 tbsp salt

1/2 tbsp active dry yeast 1&1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp honey 1 cup wheat flour

1/2 cup sourdough discard

Combine water, honey, sourdough discard, and yeast in a bowl. Whisk to combine and let sit for a minute or so. Add salt and whisk in to combine.
Add in all flour EXCEPT 1/2 CUP of the AP flour and stir (I use this exact Danish dough whisk but a wooden spoon works great, too) until you get a shaggy dough and all the flour has been mixed in.
Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of flour onto the counter, dump out the dough, and knead/roll/pull it together into a tight round ball.
Spray bowl with oil (I like olive) and put dough back into oiled and covered bowl for 1-2 hours, until it's about doubled in size.
Pull dough away from sides of the bowl and dump it back out onto the counter. You can sprinkle some flour out, but it's not usually necessary.
Gently flatten the dough out by poking/pressing it with your fingers. Take the short side and start rolling the dough up like you would cinnamon rolls. You want to keep some of the air in the dough but get it into a fairly tight roll. Tuck the ends under the roll and shape it into a basic loaf (long oval shape).
Preheat your oven to 350*F.
Put your dough loaf into a greased bread pan and cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel while the oven pre-heats (about 30 minutes).
Slash the top of your loaf if you want.
Fill a 9x13 pan with about 1 inch of water; carefully put it on the bottom rack of your oven and quickly shut the door.
Uncover bread and put in the middle rack of oven - bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes check water in the pan, add more if necessary but be quick...you don't want a lot of heat to escape. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the top of the loaf is golden brown and internal temperature is 200*F.
Remove from oven; remove from bread pan to cooling rack immediately so it doesn't get soggy as it cools; spray/coat with olive oil.
Let cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

Original Elliott Homestead Recipe

*makes 2 loaves

3 cups warm water 1 tsp active yeast

3 tsp salt 6 cups all-purpose flour

Combine the flour, salt, and yeast together in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Addin the water and mix to combine until the dough is shaggy.
Cover the bowl and let it sit out on the counter for 12-18 hours. No need to be precise.
When the bread is ready to bake preheat a Dutch oven (or some form of pot with a lid) in a 450* oven.
While the oven is preheating, divide the sticky dough into two round loaves. Place on a generously floured baking sheet, sprinkle with flour, an cover with plastic wrap. Let rest for 30 minutes.
When the oven is preheated, remove the Dutch oven. Gently pick up one of the loaves with your hands and drop into the hot Dutch oven., It's not going to be perfectly round - that's okay. Just be as gentle as possible. And don't burn yourself.
Put the lid on quickly and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from the pan, let cool on a wire rack and repeat with the remaining loaf.

From Scratch by Shaye Elliot Cookbook (Amazon link)

I also have this cookbook of hers, but the first one is my favorite. (Amazon link).

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