The beginning of my Sourdough bread Journey
This is my first post to discuss Starting my sourdough journey through bread and discard recipes for those who are interested in seeing my successes and failures. I would like to start by stating that I am not a photographer. I wouldn’t say my photos are bad necessarily, but they need quite a bit of improvement. Perhaps they are good enough, however, my mom is a photographer so I know they could be better. Anyway, please bear with me in my picture-taking and I know I will improve. I’m already seeing a difference in my baking pictures.
Sourdough Bread
I have been making bread since I was maybe eight or ten years old, but it was all yeast bread. I do vaguely recall being given a friendship bread starter, but I don’t remember what happened to it which means it probably didn’t survive. I’ve known about sourdough bread for a long time but for some reason, I just never officially tried it even though I have wanted to for years. When my husband officially convinced me to start selling the bread I make, I decided it was time to stop thinking about making sourdough and just actually making it. So, just in the last few weeks I got my first starter and began making simple loaves.
I think because I have made different kinds of bread for so long, the sourdough bread baking came naturally to me, but the hardest part was timing the initial preparation so that I could bake the loaf at a decent hour and not in the middle of the night. Because it was still somewhat new to me, I had not put it on my bakery page yet, but I think I’ve got a more consistent turnout with it now, so I plan on adding it to my bakery options. I have been selling the loaves to my family though because they all became very excited when I started. Here is a picture of one of the first loaves I did:
And here is a picture of one of the more recent loaves:
Blueberry Lemon Sourdough Loaf
Once I became a bit more comfortable, I decided to make my first inclusion loaf with blueberry and lemon. This one was such a big hit with most of my family (my husband is more excited about me trying a jalapeno cheese bread) that I’m sure the only reason I have a picture is that I made it super early in the morning and hid it from the family until dinner. I must admit, I had to practice a lot of self-control to not taste test more than one slice that morning. Here is the picture for the blueberry lemon loaf:
Discard Recipes
Blackberry Scones
After I tried one inclusion loaf and worked on building up my discard jar in the fridge, I decided I was ready to try some discard recipes, and wow were those fun! I started with some blackberry scones which tasted pretty good, but I think the second time I make them will be better. Here is a picture:
Italian Seasoning Crackers
I also tried making some crackers. Now, I’ve tried making crackers before, goldfish to be exact, and those were okay if you ate them within three or four hours of baking them. These crackers turned out a lot better, but I should have made them thinner. I was going for rosemary crackers but of course, I made the classic mistake of assuming I had rosemary when I in fact had less than a teaspoon. So, I decided to try Italian seasoning instead. It was a good decision, but if I make it again, I will go for a little less seasoning. It was almost too much and took away from that perfect flavor and crunch blend that I enjoy in crackers. Here is a picture of the crackers:
Strawberry Pop-tarts
The last discard item I made, and by far my most enjoyable experience, was strawberry pop-tarts. I wanted to try something that my dad would like because he really liked the sourdough loaves I was making, and pop-tarts are a childhood memory I have. I stopped buying Pop-Tarts from the store when I found out I couldn’t eat dairy anymore. Every once in a while, I would give in to my cravings and buy one and then regret it because I would get such a massive headache from eating even half of one. So, I guess I wanted to try making it for me and my dad.
I feel like I had the most fun making these, but I made them a bit too sweet and I’m pretty sure it’s from the jelly I used. So, the next time I make these, and I for sure will be making them again, I plan on making my own jelly and adding less sugar. I think that will fix that problem for me at least. I did bring these to my bible study I had the night I made them, and they were gone rather quickly. No one seemed to complain about them being too sweet so maybe they are perfect for everyone else. Here is a picture of the Pop-tarts:
Recipe Links
These recipes I used are not my own, but I will leave a link to each one here in case you would like to try them yourself. For the blueberry lemon loaf, I used the sourdough recipe I follow and just added in my inclusions right before I bulk-proofed it overnight. I didn’t follow a recipe for that and just added in blueberries until I felt I had enough. I also zested two lemons and added them and I think I might zest a third lemon and add it the next time I make it. Also, I did not use any of these recipes exactly how they were written. I changed a few things as I usually do, but I didn’t do anything too drastic.
If you enjoyed reading about my sourdough journey and would like to try some of my recipes please feel free to check out some of my other posts. I currently do not have any sourdough recipes up as I am still experimenting but I will update this post with some links once I have a few out. In the meantime, you are more then welcome to check out some of my other non sourdough recipes such as my Blackberry Banana Bread or my Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies.
Sourdough bread recipe by The Feathered Nester:
https://thefeatherednester.com/dutch-oven-sourdough-bread/
Blackberry Scones by FeedFeed:
https://thefeedfeed.com/ingridmbutler/lemon-glazed-blackberry-blueberry-sourdough-scones
Rosemary Discard sourdough Crackers by Butter & Air:
https://butterandair.com/rosemary-olive-oil-sourdough-crackers/
Strawberry discard sourdough pop-tarts by Little Spoon Farm:
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