THE RECIPE JOURNAL

Laminating dough with an active starter instead of commercial yeast takes real patience, folds, chills, and a long proof, but it's what gives these croissants their tang along with the usual flake. My grandpa always kept a box of store-bought croissants in the kitchen growing up, and it wasn't until I started actually reading labels that I realized how many ingredients, most I couldn't even pronounce, were packed into something that's supposed to be just flour, butter, water,

An overnight cold ferment is what gives these ciabatta rolls their open, airy crumb and crackling crust, the kind of texture that's hard to get without the long fermentation. Servings Prep Time Cook Time Total Time 4 rolls 30 minutes + over night cold fermentation 25 minutes 8-24 hours (including rise & fermentation time) Ingredients: 315g water 70g active sourdough starter (at its peak) 7g salt 10g olive oil 350g bread flour Instructions: In a large mixing bowl, combine the

Sourdough starter goes straight into this pizza dough, and the topping combo, pesto, mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and a ranch drizzle at the end, is a departure from a standard red-sauce pie. Pizza night is a weekly or bi-weekly thing for us, a fun one for date night or a night in with the kids. This is one of our go-to topping combos. Servings Prep Time 2 pizzas (10-12 inches each) or 1 large 15 minutes Rest/Rising Time: 4-7 hours Cook Time Total Time 10-14 minutes 4-7 hours

Twine wrapped around proofed dough before baking is the trick that shapes these into little pumpkins, a fun way to dress up a basic sourdough loaf for fall. I love finding creative ways to shape sourdough, and back when I was teaching, I used to bring these into school for my students, they loved that their bread actually looked like a tiny pumpkin. Servings Prep Time Makes 4-5 mini loaves 2 hours 30 minutes Fermentation Time: 4~6 hours on counter, 8~24 hours in fridge Cook T

Same shaping method as the mini pumpkin loaves, sized up into bowls, bake them, hollow them out, and they're ready for soup or dip. I'm always looking for fun ways to feed my family, especially the kids, a soup bowl you can actually eat afterward tends to win them over. Links to Supplies You Will Need: Unbleached parchment paper Kitchen Twine Mini Bread Proofing Banneton Kitchen Scale Dutch Oven Servings Prep Time 5 bread bowls (weighing around 200g each) 2 hours 30 minutes F

Stale sourdough loaf ends don't need to go to waste, dried and pulsed into breadcrumbs, they add more flavor than anything from a can. Prep Time Cook Time Total Time 10 minutes 15 minutes 25 minutes Ingredients: 1/2 (preferably stale) sourdough loaf Optional Seasonings: 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon dried herbs (like oregano, thyme, or rosemary) Salt and pepper to taste Instructions: Slice the stale sourdough loaf into smaller chunks. Place the c

Small sourdough rolls shaped into pumpkins and baked around a cube of Brie, the cheese melts into the crumb as it bakes. Another one made to get the kids excited, anything shaped like a pumpkin is an easy way to add some holiday fun to the table. Servings Prep Time Cook Time Total Time 8-10 30 minutes (plus fermentation time) 25 minutes 24 hours (including overnight refrigeration) Ingredients: 200g active sourdough starter 300g warm filtered water 10g salt 500g bread flour 15

Four ingredients, starter included, make up this pizza dough, with the fermentation doing a lot of the flavor work that yeast alone can't. This is our base for pizza night, which happens weekly or every other week around here, good for date night or a fun one with the kids. Servings Prep Time 4 individual pizzas (6 inches each) or 2 larger pizzas (10-12 inches each) 15 minutes Rest/Rising Time: 4-7 hours Cook Time Total Time 10-14 minutes 4-7 hours 15 minutes Ingredients: 125

Whether you started your culture from scratch, bought one, or, like me, had a portion mailed to you by a family member, feeding it correctly is what keeps it alive and active. Here's how I do it. Understanding Sourdough Starter At its core, a sourdough starter is a living mixture of flour and water that cultivates natural yeast and beneficial bacteria. This dynamic culture is crucial for making a variety of delicious baked goods with that distinctive tangy flavor we love. Equ

Building a starter from nothing but flour and water takes about a week of daily feeding before it's ready to bake with, here's the process, one step at a time. You don't need to build one from scratch to get started, either, I got mine from my sister-in-law, who mailed me her dehydrated starter. But if you don't have someone to pass one along, here's exactly how to build your own from nothing but flour and water. What is Sourdough Starter? Sourdough starter is a living cultur