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If you’ve ever made your own sourdough starter from wild yeast for making homemade sourdough bread you’ve probably found yourself wondering what else you can use it for besides just bread. And if you’ve been maintaining a sourdough starter for any length of time, then you know that it can multiply pretty quickly when you feed it and you can end up with a lot of extra. But rather than just throwing away the extra sourdough starter, it’s nice to be able to use it to bake with, so I decided to gather up a big list of ideas for sourdough recipes to make with a sourdough starter.
These recipes all use homemade wild yeast for a sourdough flavor and for a rising agent. Some of the recipes use only sourdough yeast with no other types of yeast or rising agents like baking powder and soda and they are slowly fermented overnight. Some of the recipes use a mix of sourdough yeast and regular store bought yeast to give the sourdough flavor and to help give the dough a better rise. And a couple of the recipes use the sourdough starter mostly for the flavor and use primarily other rising agents. I’ve tried to indicate how the sourdough starter is used for each of the recipes listed below.
This list has a little bit of everything, including breakfast items like waffles and donuts, several different bread options, and other baked goods like rolls. There are also a couple of recipes for making different types of sourdough starters like rye and gluten free ones, too.
So if you’re like me and you’ve ever found yourself wondering what to make with your homemade sourdough starter, here’s a list of over 30 different recipes to make with your sourdough starter:
If you love sourdough baking, and you're looking for more recipes to try, here are some great ideas for recipes that you can make with a sourdough starter. Here are some great sourdough breakfast recipes to try: These vegan waffles are made with spelt flour and you can prepare the batter the night before so it's ready to go in the morning when you wake up. These overnight sourdough waffles use similar ingredients to traditional waffles, but they use a sourdough starter as the leavening agent rather than baking powder or soda. These waffles are made with buttermilk and plenty of blueberries and served with strawberries or other fresh berries. These sourdough yeast donuts are fermented with sourdough yeast rather than commercial yeast, and they have a delicious cinnamon sugar coating on them. Bread is what we often think of when we think of sourdough baking. Here are some great sourdough bread recipes to try: This old-fashioned sourdough bread recipe from 1869 is an easy recipe for beginner bakers because you only have to knead the dough once and you can let the dough rise in the same pan you bake the bread in. This honey whole grain sourdough bread uses heirloom and ancient grains, and it is naturally fermented and leavened. This sourdough rye bread uses enough rye flour to give the bread a nice flavor but not so much that it is difficult to bake with. It also uses a blend of sourdough yeast and standard yeast to help the bread rise. This simple sourdough bread recipe is easy to make and has just five basic ingredients. This simple and basic sourdough bread recipe can be made without having to knead the dough. These sourdough rye bread bowls are made with a blend of sourdough and standard yeast, and they are a fun way to serve homemade soups and stews. This sourdough focaccia recipe is made with olive oil and includes a drizzle of butter, garlic, and oregano on the top. This dark sourdough pumpernickle bread is made with rye flour, whole wheat flour, and other flavorful ingredients like coffee, cocoa, and molasses. This hokkaido milk sandwich loaf is made with a slow fermentation from sourdough yeast and the texture is very soft and pillowy. This sourdough rye bread recipe is made with a blend of rye and wheat flours and is traditionally fermented using a rye sourdough starter. This country sourdough bread recipe uses a blend of whole wheat and all purpose flour and it has a long fermentation with a traditional sourdough starter. This rustic sourdough bread recipe uses ancient einkorn flour for a nice depth of flavor and a soft texture in the crumb. This step by step recipe for sourdough focaccia gives detailed instructions with photos and a video to show the process of preparing and kneading the dough. This recipe uses a blend of whole wheat and white bread flour, and it uses both wild sourdough yeast and packaged yeast. There are also instructions for making your own wild yeast starter These non-bread baked goods are made with sourdough yeast. These crescent rolls have a slightly sweet flavor with a bit of a sourdough taste and they are leavened with a blend of sourdough yeast and standard yeast. These English muffins have a nice flavor from the sourdough starter but they rise quickly because of the addition of standard yeast. They are perfect for spreading with homemade jam or jellies. This old-fashioned 19th century recipe was once very popular to serve at elections. It is a spice cake with raisins and currents that is leavened with traditional sourdough yeast. This sweet and buttery sourdough pie crust recipe is made with a traditional slow fermentation with sourdough yeast and it is perfect for making pies and other recipes that call for pastry dough. These Japanese Hokkaido milk hot dog buns are soft and fluffy and made with a traditional slow fermentation with sourdough yeast. This vegan sourdough banana bread recipe has a nice flavor from the addition of the sourdough starter but it also has baking soda for additional leavening to allow it to still be a quickly made bread. These vegan sourdough biscuits are made with a mix of all-purpose four and whole wheat pastry flour and they use both sourdough yeast and baking powder for leavening so they are quickly made. This winter root vegetable pizza recipe has a spelt crust traditionally fermented with a sourdough starter and you can top it with root vegetables or with any toppings of your choice. These sourdough cheese crackers are made with whole wheat flour, olive oil, and nutritional yeast to give them a cheese flavor, and they are made with only sourdough yeast. This rye sourdough spaetzle recipe uses a rye sourdough starter, and it can be made quickly in just 30 minutes. These other sourdough recipes include a drink made with a sourdough culture and recipes for how to make your own sourdough starters. This traditional probiotic drink recipe is made with a sourdough starter and leftover bread to create a refreshing beverage. This recipe gives detailed instructions for how to make your own homemade sourdough yeast using just flour and water. This recipe explains how to make a sourdough starter using rye flour rather than using wheat flour and show the step by step process. This recipe describes how you can make a gluten-free sourdough starter to use in gluten-free baking, and there are options for making it grain-free too. This recipe shows the step by step process for how you can make your own sourdough starter from wild natural yeast.Over 30 Sourdough Recipes to Make with a Sourdough Starter
Breakfast Recipes
Overnight Sourdough Spelt Waffles
Overnight Sourdough Waffles
Red, White and Blueberry Sourdough Waffles
Sourdough Donuts with Cinnamon Sugar
Bread Recipes
Easy Homemade Sourdough Bread Recipe from 1869
Honey Whole Grain Sourdough Bread
Pain de Méteil ~ 45% Rye Sourdough Hearth Bread
Kaylen's Bread
No Knead Sourdough Bread
Sourdough Rye Bread Bowls
How to Make Sourdough Focaccia: a Step-by-Step Tutorial
Sourdough Pumpernickel Bread Recipe
Hokkaido Milk Sandwich Loaf
Sourdough Rye Bread
Country Sourdough Bread
Einkorn Sourdough Bread
How to Make Sourdough Focaccia
Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
Other Sourdough Baked Goods
Sourdough Crescent Rolls
Sourdough English Muffins
Old Hartford Election Cake
Sweet And Buttery Sourdough Pie Crust - Traditionally Fermented For A Nourished Diet
Japanese Hokkaido Milk Hotdog Buns
Vegan Sourdough Banana Bread
Vegan Fried Chicken and Sourdough Biscuits – Vegan Yack Attack
Winter Root Vegetable Pizza with Spelt Sourdough Crust
Sourdough Cheese Crackers - Taste Love and Nourish
Rye Sourdough Spaetzle with Caramelized Cipollini & Sautéed Mushrooms
Other Sourdough Recipes
How to Make Kvass
How to Make Homemade Yeast
Homemade Rye Sourdough Starter
Gluten-free Sourdough Starter--{Grain-free too!}
How To Make Sourdough Starter From Wild, Natural Yeast
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The information in this post is not to be taken as medical advice and is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease.
alice kimmerer
Tuesday 27th of September 2022
I had a starter given to me many years ago. It was for making Tea biscuits', I would use 2 cups of starter and add sugar, oil, bk.soda,bk pwd, flour. Then I would add milk, flour and sugar to starter and I could use it again next day. It got ruined and I would like to start another one. any ideas.
Lori Elliott
Tuesday 27th of September 2022
That sounds a lot like the starter for "friendship bread" that I remember being passed around years ago. It might not be exactly the same, and I'm afraid that I don't remember much about the "friendship bread" because I was just a child at the time and my mother was the one who had the recipe and did most of the work with the starter. The only sourdough starter that I use is one with just flour and water with no milk or sugar added to the starter. But if you searched online for "friendship bread" you might be able to find a recipe similar to the one you are remembering.
Adriana Esposito
Thursday 23rd of April 2020
Hello, didn't see a pizza crust recipe using your Sourdough recipe? As my family loves pizza and It will be my first time making a starter with your recipe for sourdough. I'm nervous and excited at the same time. Its real important to my family that I go ahead to give it a try as these are hard times for now.. Wish me luck.
Adriana
Lori Elliott
Friday 24th of April 2020
Hi Adriana, I don't usually use sourdough for making pizza crust, but I did find this recipe that looks like it might be a good one. https://www.butterforall.com/traditional-cooking-traditional-living/sourdough-pizza-crust/
Usually I use regular store bought yeast for pizza crust, but since stores are running out of yeast right now I think I'll probably be giving sourdough pizza crust a try too at some point. The recipe I linked to is one that looks pretty simple and it comes from someone who used to make pizza professionally. (And you could probably substitute regular sugar for the coconut sugar that the recipe suggests if you don't have that on hand too.)
I hope your sourdough starter goes well for you! :)