Most people make sourdough starter with the intention of making bread. That was my intention as well, when I first started cultivating a starter. As it turns out, I use my sourdough nearly every day – and rarely for making bread.
However, if you’re main purpose is bread making, you may still be interested in finding alternate uses for this ferment.
If you’re using the discard method to keep your sourdough going, instead of throwing out your discarded starter, there are lots of ways you can cook with it.
One of the easiest is to make pancakes.
Check out my recipe for sourdough pancakes – it has only two ingredients, and is gluten-free – as long as your starter is too.
And those pancakes don’t have to be covered in maple syrup – you can make them into a savory affair.
A slightly more involved way to use your excess starter is in cobbler.
You can also use it to make cookies, muffins, biscuits, or fritters.
Really, sourdough starter is just flour and water, so think about recipes where you need flour and a liquid, and you can replace part of your flour and liquid with sourdough starter.
Here are the two sourdough starters I am currently using and recommend:
Both are gluten free and can be used for bread making, or making nearly any other baked good.