My Top 5 Sourdough Cookie Recipes by Make It Dough (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to good sourdough bread? ›

If you have too much starter compared to the additional flour and water you're adding, your hungry starter consumes all the nutrients and then it's not as bubbly.

Simplicity is a virtue, and a marker of good sourdough bread. The bread should only have Flour, Water, Salt, and Starter (also referred to as Culture on some labels). While the first three are the basic ingredients, the Starter or Culture should be the natural starter used to leaven (raise) the dough.

For more tang: Incorporate some rye flour and/or whole wheat flour early in the bread-making process, such as when feeding the mother culture and the preferment. Rye flour in particular will help your culture produce some acetic acid.

The best flour blend for creating a new sourdough starter is 50% whole-meal flour (whole wheat or whole rye) and 50% bread flour or all-purpose flour. I recommend a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and bread flour.

Compared to whole wheat flour, rye flour is said to be the most nutrient- and amylase-dense option for a sourdough starter. Overall, it has a lower gluten protein content than wheat flour, which means it produces slack, sticky, and dense doughs.

If you don't get rid of the excess, eventually you'll have more starter than your feedings can sustain. After a few days, your daily 1/4 cup flour and water won't be enough to sustain your entire jar of starter, and your starter will be slow and sluggish, not much better than discard itself.

If using a mason jar, I recommend a 32-ounce or 1-liter Mason jar to hold your sourdough starter. This sized jar will give your starter plenty of space to rise without the risk of overflowing.

How do you know if sourdough is overworked? Overworked sourdough can become tough and lose its ability to rise properly. If your dough feels tight and is difficult to shape, it might be overworked. Remember, sourdough requires a gentle touch and should not be kneaded as vigorously as other types of bread dough.

To achieve that crispy golden crust you want all that steam that comes out of the bread when it hits the hot oven to shoot up at the top of the dutch oven, hit the surface, and come right back down. It also helps your bread cook more evenly since you are essentially baking it in an oven, within an oven.

What is the perfect sourdough crumb? ›

Sourdough crumb should be even, meaning there won't be any areas that are super tight or with giant tunnels. The crumb should be light and fluffy - not wet and gummy. The holes inside the sourdough may seem shiny. This is a sign that the gluten is very well developed.

Customers can find square and round loaves for sale online and in-store. For consumers concerned about artificial ingredients in food, Aldi's sourdough is a solid choice. Per the label, this bread consists of just three main ingredients, which are salt, water, and flour.

Using flours with more ash, or mineral, content, will yield more sour taste. If you can't get enough ash, adding a bit of whole wheat flour to your recipe, which is what is done with the 20% Bran Flour, will boost the sour of a bread. Conversely, using a lower ash flour will tend to produce a milder bread.

You can always use this discard by directly mixing it into a dough for baking. Your discard, as long as it's in good shape, will leaven any bread dough just as well. The discard is just like a levain you would make for a recipe. The only difference is it's the same makeup as your starter.

Acetic acid, or vinegar, is the acid that gives sourdough much of its tang. Giving acetic acid-producing organisms optimal conditions to thrive and multiply will produce a more tangy finished product.

Generally a more mature and well established starter will produce a more flavorful, sour loaf. Hydration of the Dough - this affects how long your dough will take to ferment. A slightly lower hydration will take longer to ferment than a higher hydration loaf, leading to a bigger depth of flavor and sourness.

There are two main acids produced in a sourdough culture: lactic acid and acetic acid. Acetic acid, or vinegar, is the acid that gives sourdough much of its tang. Giving acetic acid-producing organisms optimal conditions to thrive and multiply will produce a more tangy finished product.

So don't leave your dough in a warm oven, on a radiator or in sunlight. It will likely be too warm and will dry out your dough too. Instead, find a cosy spot, with no drafts, for your dough to rise. And, if your sourdough starter is struggling to get going, consider finding it a warmer spot too.

Baking soda or bicarbonate of soda can be used in sourdough bread to create a less sour loaf. Added after bulk fermentation, but before shaping, it can help to create a lighter, more fluffy loaf of sourdough.