If you're a regular sourdough baker, you're familiar with it the feeding process YOUR starter – and dealing with THROW. But instead of just throwing it away, there are plenty of ways to bake with sourdough instead. You'd be surprised at the number of bread recipes that require you to throw them away (no food required!), but also at the amount of unexpected bakes you can make, like crumb cakes and English muffins. Here, we share our top 15 sourdough toss recipes.
1) Pain de Campagne (Bread of the country)
Ideal for the low-maintenance sourdough oven, this bread works on your schedule. It's made with unfed (throwaway) starter, which means you don't have to plan your days around when to feed your engine and make sure it's cooked in time to mix. (However, if you are using Delete, we recommend using a healthy starter that has been fed within a week.
Get the recipe: Pain de Campagne (Country Bread)
Buy the recipe: Artisanal Bread and Dutch Oven Bakeware
2) Lighter Sour Toss Crackers
Is there anything easier than a recipe that instructs you to toss, mix and then pour? There's no wheel (or mess to clean up) in this no-fuss recipe, which takes just five minutes of prep time. Use a sourdough base, melted butter and salt as a base, then make these crackers your own with your favorite spices and toppings – Za'atar and Pizza Spice are just the starting point for these crunchy, cracker-like creatures.
Get the recipe: Lighter Sour Toss Crackers
Buy the recipe: Zaatar AND Pizza seasoning
3) Herb pancakes with quick sourdough and onions
These light and crispy pancakes are the perfect recipe to clean out the fridge. They are made mostly from starters and a handful of herbs you find in your fresh drawer. Plus, you can whip them up in about 10 minutes for a quick weeknight dinner.
Get the recipe: Quick pancakes with sour cream and onions
Buy the recipe: Field no. 8 Tava
4) Dough popovers
The sourdough toss is an unexpected addition to a breakfast dessert that's light, airy, and hearty. These five-ingredient popovers maintain that crisp exterior and soft interior with the addition of sourdough's signature color.
Get the recipe: Dough popovers
Buy the recipe: Popover Pan
5) Sourdough pizza crust
The biggest flavor upgrade to your pizza crust? Sourdough! A dollop of instant yeast is added to give your dough some security, but the nuanced, tangy flavor of sourdough will really up your homemade pizza game.
Get the recipe: Sour Dough Pizza Crust
Buy the recipe: Casserole pizza
6) Waffles or classic sourdough pancakes
Breakfast classics like waffles and pancakes are one of our favorite ways to use sourdough tossing. An overnight sponge adds a richer, more nuanced flavor than just the hard sponge usually associated with sourdough. Whether you choose waffles or pancakes, a light and airy interior is guaranteed. If you're looking for a recipe for sourdough pancakes or waffles, this is it.
Get the recipe: Waffles or classic sourdough pancakes
Buy the recipe: Belgian maker of double sided waffles Cuisinart
7) Chocolate Sour Dough Cookies
If you think you've tried every chocolate chip cookie recipe, consider reaching down. Each ball of cookie dough is rolled in chopped chocolate to ensure molten puddles in every bite, and the baked cookies have an ideal texture, with crunchy edges and a soft center.
Get the recipe: Chocolate Sour Dough Cookies
Buy the recipe: Valrhona dark chocolate AND Valrhona milk chocolate
8) Granola with dough
Who knew you could use the wipes to bind your granola? Not only does the tossing ensure that the granola stays light and crunchy (no rock-hard lumps here!), but using tossing also means you can use less sweetener overall to bind the granola mixture together.
Get the recipe: Granola with dough
Buy the recipe: Half sheet pan
9) Sourdough bread
This recipe is low effort, high reward. The artisan-style bread is made with sourdough rolls that you can use straight from the fridge (though make sure your starter is healthy and ideally nourished within the past week) and requires no stirring and very little shaping. . If you're new to sourdough baking, start here.
Get the recipe: Do-nothing Sourdough bread
Buy the recipe: Brotform and Liner Set
10) Bread with sour pumpkin
What happens when you have a pile of zucchini and a pile of garbage to roast? Enter the sour pumpkin bread. Instead of the usual cinnamon flavor, this recipe opts for lemon zest and nutmeg for a refreshing take on the original.
Get the recipe: Sour pumpkin Bread
Buy the recipe: White whole wheat flour with stones AND Nutmeg
11) Cinnamon Crumb Cake with Sour Dough
There's no such thing as too much streusel, and this Sourdough Cinnamon Crumb Cake is a prime example of that. Discard makes a wonderful addition to this traditional breakfast cake, filling it with its own special color.
Get the recipe: Cinnamon Crumb Cake with Sour Dough
Buy the recipe: Pure vanilla extract
12) Sourdough English Muffins
It's hard to go back to store-bought after one taste of these wonderfully crunchy and chewy English muffins. The recipe yields two dozen English muffins, so these are ideal for large families or for making meals that will last for weeks when stored in the refrigerator.
Get the recipe: Sour Dough English Muffins
Buy the recipe: Baker's Special Milk Powder
13) Chocolate Sour Dough Cake
The batter (plus baking soda) gives this cake its clean, fluffy texture. If you're worried it'll make the cake too sour, fear not: The topping just enhances the deep chocolate flavor of the cake. There are copious amounts of chocolate and coffee here: cocoa in the cake batter, espresso powder in the cream, and chocolate chips melted in the drizzle. It's baked in a 9″ x 13″ pan and can feed a crowd, but you'd be surprised how quickly this sheet cake disappears.
Get the recipe: Chocolate Sour Dough Cake
Buy the recipe: Triple Cocoa Blend AND Espresso powder
14) The simplest sourdough cookies
Bake these sourdough cookies enough times, and you can remember this recipe: one part liquid, two parts butter, three parts sourdough starter, and four parts flour. They are salty, soft and quite sharp. Take YouTube host Martin Philip's word for it: “It's impossible to eat this fast, right?”
Get the recipe: The simplest sourdough cookies
Buy the recipe: Parlor knife
15) Sourdough Banana Bread
Make the most of two ingredients at the end of their lives: ripe bananas and sourdough tossing. Tossing not only improves the taste of the bread, but also increases its shelf life so you can eat this quick bread all week long.
Get the recipe: Sour Dough Banana Bread
Buy the recipe: Vietnamese cinnamon
Cover picture (Waffles or classic sourdough pancakes) by Rick Holbrook, food styling by Kaitlin Wayne.
Looking for more sour education? Visit our guide: How to bake sourdough.