Sourdough recipes

Sourdough is a traditional bread-baking technique that uses wild yeasts from the air to cause the flour to rise. All bakers used the method in the days before baker's yeast and baking soda.

As it turns out sourdough preparation methods are healthier as well. The act of soaking grains over hours or days in a lactic acid fermentation medium reduces anti-nutrients in the grain.The key anti-nutrient, phytic acid, is broken down as the flour sits rising in a warm spot. The phytic acid otherwise inhibits your absorption of iron, calcium, zinc, and magnesium in the bread. A sourdough preparation allows you to get more out of your food, making some of these recipes iron-rich foods.

The recipes here are basic sourdough beginner recipes and processes.

New bakers are often intimidated by the idea of using starter to make sourdough bread and other baked goods. It is true that it can be difficult to create a wild starter in your own kitchen. Some of us have yeasts and bacteria in our houses that compete with the bugs in a healthy starter but most kitchens will support a starter very well.

The video below shows the simplicity of capturing wild yeasts to make your starter. If you have problems making a starter in your own home, you have some simple options:

• Buy a starter online. There are websites dedicated to giving you access to a wide range of sourdough starters. They will ship you a mound of dough, usually frozen, that you can use as a start for your own starter.
• Add baker's yeast to your dough. I should add that this advice is near sacrilege because the baker's yeast takes the bread out of the category of traditional sourdough. If you add yeast, you will probably have a "starter" within hours as opposed to days. It is a very good option for beginners or poor planners.

Whichever method you use, add the starter to your recipes when it is bubbly as shown in the picture at right. The picture is a clip from the video below that walks you through making your own starter. Take a look at the second video for more bubbling action.

In the video below you can see how the starter progress over a four-hour period. Each frame of the video represents eight seconds of footage, for a total of four hours of rising in one minute.

When it reaches the bubbly stage at the end, it is ready to use in recipes. Handle it gently. Stir the starter only enough to fold into the recipe.

This cinnamon muffin is a hearty and yet sweet bread. The recipe itself is a simple sourdough and very forgiving. Re-purposed this recipe as a cake or cupcakes (with chocolate frosting) depending on your purpose and audience. It uses sourdough fermentation that increases your mineral absorption by reducing phytic acid. It contains magnesium-rich molasses. For a muffin, it does not get much more healthy than this.It does contain baking soda for a little extra leavening.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups sourdough starter
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil or softened butter
• 1/2 cup sucanat or brown sugar. You can cut the sugar in this recipe by as much as one half.
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups fresh ground spelt flour (all sorts of baking flours would work)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbs hot water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
   
2. Cream sugar and coconut oil / butter until well blended.
3. Add molasses and egg, beating continuously.
4. Mix together flour, spices, and salt. Add to mixer. Mix well.
5. Mix 2 tbs hot water with soda until soda is dissolved. Add to mixer and mix well.
6. Gently mix in sourdough starter.
7. Bake in greased muffin pans for about ten minutes. The muffins are done when you poke them with a fork and the fork comes out clean.

Yield: About 20 3-inch muffins

Most of us do not think about making our own pizza but in a homemade pizza, you can control the quality of all your ingredients, creating a nutritious pizza on a light crust. We use traditional toppings like sausage and mushrooms with an Italian red sauce. We have also had great success with seafood toppings over an Alfredo sauce on a pizza crust. A seafood pizza gives you a high Omega 3 dinner. Omega 3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory and may alleviate ailments associated with inflammation, such as heart disease and arthritis. Omega 3 is also used for depression.

Below is a nice video that shows you step-by-step how to make a sourdough pizza crust in an outdoor grill, no less.

These pancakes are so light that you can use 100% fresh ground whole flour. Of course, white flour will taste great too. The evening before, mix together the following and leave them in a warm place to rise. The rise time will reduce the phytic acid in the flour and add a lightness to your recipe.

• 2 cups starter
• 1 cup flour
• about 1 cup warm water

In the morning, stir up the batter a bit (do not over-stir) and add:

• 2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup melted butter or coconut oil
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1 tsp baking soda (Dissolve it in warm water and add it just before making the pancakes.)

Add 3-4 whipped egg whites for additional fluff and nutrition.

Cook the pancakes on a heated grill. Use a cooking oil with a high smoke point like coconut oil to fry them. Check the temperature on the grill by putting one small drop of pancake batter on the grill. When the grill is ready, cook your pancakes.