I make a lot of sourdough bread, and I am constantly feeding my starter.  It's an ongoing process that takes planning and schedule coordination - which can be tricky while working and dealing with soccer practices and school projects in the evenings. Time can easily get away from you and then it is too late to get a loaf going. And so it goes...  SO sometimes I really just want to make a loaf of bread that is super yummy and doesn't take more than 24 hours. For me, that is now My Favorite Challah Bread recipe from Joan Nathan at New York Times Cooking.  Pointers that she gives with her recipe are: Several risings make a better loaf, and if you want an especially brioche-like texture, let the dough rise slowly in the refrigerator for one of the three risings. The secret to a glossy loaf is to brush it with an egg wash twice, once just after braiding and then again just before baking.

My Favorite Challah Bread
Yield: 2 challahs

INGREDIENTS:

• 1½ packages active dry yeast (about 3½ teaspoons)
• 1 Tablespoon plus ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup vegetable oil, more for greasing bowl
• 5 large eggs
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 8 to 8½cups all-purpose flour
• Poppy or sesame seeds for sprinkling

PREPARATION:
Step 1
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 Tablespoon sugar in 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water.

Step 2
Whisk oil into yeast, then beat in 4 eggs, one at a time, with remaining sugar and salt. Gradually add flour. When dough holds together, it is ready for kneading. (You can also use a mixer with a dough hook for both mixing and kneading.)
​
Step 3
Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Clean out bowl and grease it, then return dough to bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until almost doubled in size. Dough may also rise in an oven that has been warmed to 150 degrees then turned off. Punch down dough, cover and let rise again in a warm place for another half-hour.

Step 4
To make a 6-braid challah, either straight or circular, take half the dough and form it into 6 balls. With your hands, roll each ball into a strand about 12 inches long and 1½ inches wide. Place the 6 in a row, parallel to one another. Pinch the tops of the strands together. Move the outside right strand over 2 strands. Then take the second strand from the left and move it to the far right. Take the outside left strand and move it over 2. Move second strand from the right over to the far left. Start over with the outside right strand. Continue this until all strands are braided. For a straight loaf, tuck ends underneath. For a circular loaf, twist into a circle, pinching ends together. Make a second loaf the same way. Place braided loaves on a greased cookie sheet with at least 2 inches in between.

Step 5
Beat remaining egg and brush it on loaves. Either freeze breads or let rise another hour.

Step 6
If baking immediately, preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush loaves again. If freezing, remove from freezer 5 hours before baking. Then dip your index finger in the egg wash, then into poppy or sesame seeds and then onto a mound of bread. Continue until bread is decorated with seeds.

​Step 7
Bake in middle of oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden. Cool loaves on a rack.

Fall is a great time for Chili, slow cooker stews, or just a nice charcuterie plate.  All of which are yummy with some fresh French Bread.  I have had good luck with the Classic Baguette recipe from King Arthur Baking, so I tried it again.  I make the poolish the night before (around 5 or 6pm – before I get started on dinner) with the plan to cook it in time for an early dinner the next day. To do that, you need to get started at 7am the next day.
 
There are a lot of little steps to this one, so this is NOT ideal for a Saturday morning with a lot of activities. But if you know the next morning’s games are a washout, then game ON!
 
The only change I make to this recipe is for Step 12. I place the cast iron pan on the bottom rack of the oven while the oven heats in the bottom of the oven. And once I placed the bread in the oven, then I added 2 cups of ice cubes to the cast iron pan and shut the door quickly.
 
This recipe is a keeper, as long as you plan ahead of time for it and make your poolish.  Enjoy!

Classic Baguette recipe from King Arthur Baking
INGREDIENTS:Starter (poolish):

• 1/2 cup (113g) water, cool
• 1/16 teaspoon active dry yeast or instant yeast*
• 1 cup (120g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour*

*Substitute 1 tablespoon (25g) healthy sourdough starter (fed or unfed) for the yeast, if desired.
Dough:

• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast or instant yeast
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (255g) water, lukewarm
• all of the starter
• 3 1/2 cups (420g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour*
• 2 teaspoons (12g) salt

PREPARATION:

1. Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess.
   
2. To make the starter: Mix everything together to make a soft dough. Cover and let rest at room temperature for about 14 hours; overnight works well. The starter should have expanded and become bubbly.
   
3. To make the dough: Mix and knead everything together — by hand, mixer or bread machine set on the dough cycle — to make a soft, somewhat smooth dough; it should be cohesive, but the surface may still be a bit rough. If you're using a stand mixer, knead for about 4 minutes on medium-low speed (speed 2 on a KitchenAid); the finished dough should stick a bit at the bottom of the bowl.
   
4. Place the dough in a lightly greased medium-sized bowl, cover the bowl, and let the dough rest and rise for 45 minutes. Gently deflate the dough and fold its edges into the center, then turn it over in the bowl before letting it rise for an additional 45 minutes, until it's noticeably puffy.
   
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased work surface. Gently deflate it, and divide it into three equal pieces.
   
6. Round each piece of dough into a rough ball by pulling the edges into the center. Cover with greased plastic wrap, and let rest for 15 minutes; or for up to 1 hour, if that works better with your schedule.
   
7. Working with one piece at a time, flatten the dough slightly then fold it nearly (but not quite) in half, sealing the edges with the heel of your hand.
   
8. Turn the dough around 180° and repeat: fold, then flatten. Repeat this whole process again; the dough should have started to elongate itself.
   
9. With the seam side down, cup your fingers and gently roll the dough into a 16" log. Your goal is a 15" baguette, so 16" allows for the slight shrinkage you'll see once you're done rolling. Taper each end of the log slightly to create the baguette's typical "pointy" end.
   
10. Place the logs seam-side down onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined sheet pan or pans; or into the folds of a heavily floured cotton dish towel (or couche). Cover them with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the loaves to rise until they're slightly puffy ("marshmallow-y" is the term we use in our baking school). The loaves should certainly look lighter and less dense than when you first shaped them, but won't be anywhere near doubled in bulk. This should take about 45 minutes to an hour at room temperature (about 68°F).
    
11. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 450°F with a cast iron pan on the floor of the oven, or on the lowest rack. If you're using a baking stone, place it on a middle rack. Start to heat 1 1/2 cups water to boiling.
    
12. If your baguettes have risen in a dish towel or couche, gently roll them (seam side down) onto a lightly greased (or parchment-lined) baking sheet. If you plan on baking them on a baking stone, roll them onto a piece of parchment, and lift the parchment onto a baker's peel.
    
13. Using a baker's lame (a special curved blade) or a very sharp knife held at about a 45° angle, make three to five long lengthwise slashes in each baguette.
    
14. Load the baguettes into the oven. If you’re baking on a stone, use a baker’s peel to transfer the baguettes, parchment and all, onto the hot stone. Carefully pour the boiling water into the cast iron pan, and quickly shut the oven door. The billowing steam created by the boiling water will help the baguettes rise, and give them a lovely, shiny crust.
    
15. Bake the baguettes — on the pan, or on a stone — for 24 to 28 minutes, or until they're a very deep golden brown. Remove them from the oven and cool them on a rack. Or, for the very crispiest baguettes, turn off the oven, crack it open about 2", and allow the baguettes to cool completely in the oven, until both baguettes and oven are at room temperature.
    
16. Storage information: Store any leftover baguettes in a paper bag overnight; freeze for longer storage. Thaw and reheat just before serving.
    

I saw this adorable recipe in my Insta feed from Simply So Good and had to give it a try in the Delaney test kitchen.  Plus  - I love learning new French words. 

A Fougasse is a type of bread typically associated with Provence but found in other variations in other regions as well.  Some versions are sculpted to resemble an ear of wheat.
 



​
These ghosts are "souper" cute for Halloween, and for dipping into soups or with pasta.
 
I’m listing the recipe as posted on simplysogood.com, but I’d like to make a few recommendations:
 
The recipe says to break the dough into 8-12 pieces for the “ghosts.”  Maybe I let the dough sit in the fridge for tool long overnight, but I had a lot of dough.  So I would say that it could make closer to 20 ghosts. Mine were just too big and as a result were too puffy and took too long to bake.  They would have started to burn on the bottom before they were going to turn golden on top.
 
Also, the recipe doesn’t list a temperature for the oven.  Depending on how hot your oven runs, I think 350 – 400F works great.
 
 
No-knead Ghost Fougasse 
​
INGREDIENTS:
·                  3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
·                  2 teaspoons salt
·                  1 teaspoons yeast
·                  1 teaspoon sugar
·                  1 1/2 cups warm water
·                  2 tablespoons olive oil
·                  2 tablespoons butter melted
·                  Flakey sea salt optional
 
 
 
PREPARATION:
Part I:  the Fougasse Dough
1.    In a large mixing bowl combine flour, salt, yeast, and sugar. Stir to combine.
 
2.    Add water and olive oil. Stir just until all the flour has been mixed in and no dry spots appear. The mixture will look kind of shaggy, but not too lumpy.
 
3.    Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 2-3 hours or until the dough has risen to double the size. Do not punch the dough down. Place in refrigerator overnight or at least 4 hours.
Part II:  Shaping the Fougasse
1.    Remove dough from the refrigerator and pour it onto a floured surface.
 
2.    Divide the dough into 8-12 pieces depending on how large you'd like to fougasse. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes to make it easier to shape. Pull and shape the dough into an oval or round shapes.
 
3.    Using a pizza wheel or sharp knife make slits in the dough. Pull and stretch the dough to create fun ghost shapes and faces. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Cover and let rise for 10-20 minutes. Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes or until golden.
 
4.    Remove from oven and brush with melted butter and flakey sea salt.
 
Recipe Notes
·       Fougasse dough can be left to rise overnight and used without chilling.
·       Chilling the dough makes shaping the fougasse easier.

One of the first sourdough recipes I tried was for Sourdough Starter Discard crackers.  I make them often and my favorite recipe is from Little Spoon Farms.  I alternate making them with Herbs de Provence, or “Everything But the Bagel” seasoning, but this weekend I experimented a bit by added an additional tablespoon of butter which seemed to helped them to cook more evenly, and I used Savory Seasoning.  Savory is a dried mix from the supermarket that is fragrant and fresh tasting mix of garlic, black pepper, orange peel, carrot,  basil, oregano, parsley, fennel, thyme, marjoram, and cayenne.

This is my new favorite mix for my discard crackers.
 


Little Spoon Farms’
Sourdough Discard Crackers
 
INGREDIENTS:
·       ¾ cup (200 g) discarded sourdough starter (stirred down)
·       2 tablespoons (28 g) butter (melted)
·       ¼ teaspoon (1 g) fine sea salt
·       2 teaspoons dried herbs (Herbs de Provence)
·       ¼ teaspoon (1 g) salt for sprinkling on top
 
PREPARATION:
1.    Preheat your oven to 325°F (162°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt the butter in a mixing bowl and let cool.

2.    Weigh the sourdough discard, dried herbs and salt into the bowl of melted butter and mix thoroughly until well combined. Use an off-set spatula to spread the mixture in a thin, even layer onto the parchment paper. Sprinkle the top with salt.

3.    Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and score the crackers. Bake for an additional 20-50 minutes or until the crackers are golden brown. Let cool completely before breaking into squares. (Oven temperatures vary, check the crackers after 20 minutes into baking to make sure they do not over bake. See notes.)
 
NOTES:
·       Because these crackers are so thin, in some ovens they can brown quite quickly.
       I recommend checking them at the 20 minute mark the first time you bake them to make sure                they do not over bake and burn. Adjust your baking time accordingly!

·       The discard can be used either, cold, right out of the fridge or at room temperature.

·       Store in an air-tight container for up to one week at room temperature.

·       Fresh herbs and grated hard cheeses can be added to create different flavors.
​
·     Scoring the crackers is optional. The sheet can easily be broken into pieces after baking and cooling off.

I love all the pretty focaccias I see on IG on “Focaccia Friday”, but I had yet to find one that was super easy and yummy.  Plus I’d like to be able to use some of my sourdough starter with it. I also need to use some serious amounts of rosemary off of my rosemary bush. Thank you to @sourdough_enzo for sharing your focaccia recipe in your stories.  I followed it exactly and it came out amazing! I’ll definitely be making this one again.
 
In terms of timing, I mixed all the ingredients together at noon on Saturday, and then did the first stretch and fold at 12:45, let it sit until 1:30, and then did 3 coil folds over the next three hours (1:30, 2:30, and 3:30). I put it in the fridge at 3:30, then took it out at 10pm to sit at room temperature overnight. On Sunday morning I preheated the oven while making my morning tea, prepped it with my favorite toppings (rosemary, Kalamata olives, and sea salt) and put it in the oven at 7:30am.

You can see how pretty it turned out!  I will definitely be baking this one again.
 
Focaccia Recipe from @sourdough_enzo:

INGREDIENTS

• 100g active starter
• 530g bread flour
• 440g water
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 10 g salt
• Butter and 3 Tablespoons olive oil (to coat the tray)

 
PREPARATION
 
1.Mix all ingredients together and let sit for 30 - 45 minutes
 
2.Perform 1 stretch and fold
 
3.Let sit for 30 - 45 minutes
 
4.Perform 3-4 coil folds over 3 hours
 
5.Transfer dough with coil fold motion to buttered AND generously oiled baking sheet. Cover and put in the fridge.
 
6.Pull out of the fridge at 10pm and let sit covered at room temperature (65F) until around 7am the next day.
 
7.Preheat the oven to 425F.
 
8.Dock/dimple the dough with wet or oiled fingers and top with desired toppings.
 
9.Bake at 425F for 25-30 minutes.

When King Arthur Baking says that this is The Easiest Loaf of Bread You’ll Ever Bake, they aren’t kidding.  After some sourdough struggles, it is rewarding to return to this recipe that is easy, always a success, and always a crowd pleaser.  They say it is European-style crusty bread. I say it’s good that it makes two loaves because my crew can’t stop eating it. I can’t wait to make a serious BLT for lunch using this nice, fresh bread. I highly recommend this recipe if you are just starting out with your baking, or if you're a seasoned baker. It's just so easy.





The Easiest Loaf of Bread You’ll Ever Bake

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 1/2 to 5 cups (542g to 600g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour  
• 1 tablespoon (11g) sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast 
• 2 1/2 teaspoons (15g) table salt (not kosher)
• 1 2/3 cups (379g) water, lukewarm (90°F to 110°F)
• cornmeal, for coating the pan

PREPARATION:
1.  Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess.

2.  Stir together all of the ingredients (except the cornmeal) in a large bowl, starting with 4 1/2 cups of the flour. Use a sturdy spoon, or your stand mixer equipped with the beater paddle. Mix until everything comes together in a rough, shaggy mass of dough.

3.  If you’re kneading the dough by hand, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, using some of the additional 1/2 cup of flour called for. Fold the far edge of the dough back over on itself towards you, then press it away from you with the heels of your hands. Rotate the dough 90°. Repeat this fold-press-rotate process with a rhythmic, rocking motion for about 6 minutes. When fully kneaded, the dough will be bouncy and smooth.

OR

If you’re using your stand mixer, switch to the dough hook and knead the dough at medium speed for about 7 minutes, until it’s smooth, elastic, and feels a bit bouncy. If the dough doesn’t form a ball that clears the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in just enough of the additional flour to make this happen.

4. Place the dough in a bowl that’s been lightly greased with vegetable oil or cooking spray; the bowl you started with is fine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or another airtight cover, and let the dough rise at room temperature until it's doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours. If your kitchen is particularly cold (below 65°F), place the bowl of dough in your turned-off oven with the oven light on.

5. Gently deflate the dough and cut it in half. Pat each half into a rough 6” x 8” oval.

6. Working with one piece of dough at a time, grab a short side and fold the dough like a business letter (one short side into the center, the other short side over it). Use the heel of your hand to press the open edge of the “letter” closed. Gently pat and roll the dough into a log about 10” long. Repeat with the remaining piece of dough.

7. Place the loaves, seam-side down, on a baking sheet (lined with parchment if desired). Sprinkle the pan (or parchment) generously with cornmeal; this will keep the bread from sticking and give it a crunchy bottom crust.

8. Let the loaves rise, lightly covered with greased plastic wrap, for 45 minutes. They should become nicely puffy. Gently poke your index finger into the side of one of the loaves; if the indentation remains, your bread is ready to bake.

9. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 450°F.

10. For extra-crusty crust and a great rise, add steam to your oven as follows: While the oven is preheating, place an empty cast-iron frying pan on the lowest rack. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in the microwave or on the stovetop. (Note: For this I fill the cast iron pan with ice cubes and place it on the lower rack right before adding the bread to the oven. It works just as well and doesn't feel as dangerous.)

11. When your bread is risen, use a sieve to dust the loaves with a thin coat of flour. Then make three or four 1/2” deep diagonal slashes in each loaf; these slashes will help the bread rise evenly as it bakes. Place the bread in the oven and pour the boiling water into the frying pan below. Quickly shut the oven door. Wear good oven mitts during this process to shield your hands and arms from the steam. 

12. Bake the bread for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and a loaf sounds hollow to the touch when you tap it on the bottom. The interior temperature of the bread should register at least 190°F on a digital thermometer.
​
13. Turn the oven off, crack the door open, and allow the bread to remain inside for 5 additional minutes; this helps keep the crust crisp. Remove the bread from the oven and cool it on a rack. It’s best not to cut into the bread until it’s cooled down a bit; cutting into hot bread can negatively affect its texture.

​I saw this recipe for pretzel knots in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) a few weeks ago, and immediately clipped it.  Frozen hot pretzels are a popular evening snack for my boys, so I thought I could make them something even better.  This is a great activity with the little ones, even if they only join you for the shaping of the knots. Plus it is springtime - and it makes me think of baseball, the Braves, and stadium hot pretzels.
 
This recipe is from Kelly Senyei’s cookbook “The Secret Ingredient Cookbook.”  For this recipe, she says the secret ingredient is the everything bagel seasoning.  And while I don’t disagree, I only used that for half of them. I used coarse sea salt on the other half since not everyone in my house likes everything bagels (crazy, I know).
 
If you try this for yourself, please let me know how it goes! And if you're interested, check out Kelly's website for more great recipes:  www.justataste.com

​The Baguettes I made last time were yummy, but I’m testing lots of different recipes. This time I tried the Classic Baguettes from King Arthur Baking.
 
This recipe was relatively easy – you just have to plan ahead.  I made the starter/poolish at 5pm the night before to give it plenty of time to expand and become bubbly by the morning.
 
The next morning, I got started on the next step at 7am. For step 2, I used my KitchenAid and that worked great.
 
There are a lot of steps, so this is not an ideal undertaking if you have a lot of activities the next morning. The good thing is it'll be all done baking by lunchtime.
 
For Step 8 I used a baker’s couche and that worked better than I expected.
 
The only change to the recipe for me was for Step 12. I already had the cast iron pan heating in the bottom of the oven. Once I placed the bread in the oven, then I added 2 cups of ice cubes to the cast iron pan and shut the door quickly.
 
I cooked them for exactly 25 minutes, and they were as yummy as they were pretty. My son commented that I got the “cuts” right this time.  The difference is that I have more practice with the baker’s lame. Definitely my best try at baguettes so far. This recipe is a keeper, as long as you plan and schedule ahead of time for it.  (Not unlike any of other bread!)
 
If you try this one, let me know how it goes!

So now that I’m following all of these amazing bakers on IG, I’ve been inspired to try different sourdough recipes.  So I tried this recipe for Classic Sourdough that I found on the BBC. 
 
As you can tell from the picture, I did not get that classic, open crumb that sourdough is known for.  And I don’t know why. My starter was active, and I followed all of the instructions perfectly. It was very humid the day I made this, and the dough was very sticky. Was that it? I’d love any advice from my fellow bakers. Or even a reference to your favorite never-fail sourdough recipe.
 
That being said, it was super yummy, and the crust was perfectly crumbly.  It’s almost all gone and it’s still on the cooling rack. My taste testers approve.
 
If any of you want to try this recipe variation for yourselves, here is the link to the BBC’s Classic Sourdough. And let me know how it goes!

Being a Delaney (by marriage), and it being St. Patricks’ Day Week – I felt compelled to try Irish Soda Bread. In doing my research ahead of time, I learned a lot about its origins.
 
Soda Bread became popular in Ireland when bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) became available as a leavening agent.  Bread soda made it possible to work with the “soft” wheat grown in Ireland’s climate, versus the “hard” wheat flour like we have in the US today which needs yeast to rise properly. “Soft” wheat doesn’t work well with yeast but is great for quick breads, like soda bread.
 

There is also a Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread and on their website you can learn a lot more about the history of soda bread. But according to them, the earliest published soda bread recipe was in a London magazine in 1836.
 
Soda Bread’s popularity was easy to understand –the soda wasn’t perishable, it was relatively inexpensive, and the other two main ingredient – wheat flour and buttermilk (which is a by-product of making butter) were easily available.
 
Before baking, a cross is traditionally cut on the top of the soda bread.  It is said that this is done to bless the house and ward off the devil.  But it is also practical - it lets the heat get through to the thickest part of the bread so it can stretch and rise.  It also automatically separates the bread into 4 equal quadrants making it easy to break apart, hence both breaking bread and giving thanks.
 
My husband found the recipe for me to try – it is “Granny Reynold’s Soda Bread.”  According to the recipe, “Casements Bar in San Francisco serves this tender and tangy soda bread, based on a family recipe from co-owner Gillian Fitzgerald.” Gillian says its equally delicious topped with butter and jam for breakfast or dipped in stew for supper. I can say that it was delicious with butter and jam – I used my favorite local Atlanta Emily’s G’s Triple Berry Jam. And I'd recommend this bread not just for St. Patrick's Day, but any time. Yum!

My guys love French bread. If we get a loaf at the bakery, half of it is gone before dinner.  Since I knew it would be a crowd pleaser, I have been looking at lots of recipes for classic French baguettes, trying to decide which one to try first.  I decided to go with this recipe from Baker Bettie and it was a great success.

I learned a couple of things along the way as well:
1. Don't rush the process: You definitely want to let the poolish sit overnight.  It made for a very delicious bread.  
2. I easily adapted this recipe to use my new baguette pan and made 4  smaller loaves instead of two large ones. 
3. Since French bread doesn't have any fat, it needs to be wet. As a result, it can get stuck in the holes of a pan like this so you will want to use parchment paper as well.

After my great success with Sourdough Bread – all thanks to the virtual guidance of Patrick Ryan from Firehouse Bakery in Ireland and the website ilovecooking.ie – I knew I needed to try his recipe for scones. I used Ryan’s Apple & Berry Scones Recipe. This was easy to follow, and easy to be exact thanks to the digital kitchen scale. I am not sure that the final product looked the way he intended, especially since I chose to omit the sliced almonds, but they were really pretty. And perfectly crumbly.  I served it with Emily G’s Triple Berry Jam and it was the perfect addition.
 
I learned a lot about scones in general when I did my research to select a scone recipe. The website FoodCrumbles.com talked about the science of baking scones. I encourage you to read the article for yourself, but here’s the part I found most interesting: “In order to get that crumbliness, you need those fat pockets (from the butter). Not starting by mixing the flour and butter at the start can cause them to not form properly. However, there’s another thing to keep in mind. The butter has to remain solid while making the scones. If the butter melts completely those pockets are gone and it will become more bread like than scone like. Also, remember to not extensively knead the scone dough. Knead so that everything just comes together, but not anymore or again you will lose those air pockets.”

After my great success with Sourdough Bread – all thanks to the virtual guidance of Patrick Ryan from Firehouse Bakery in Ireland and the website ilovecooking.ie – I felt emboldened to try again. This time I made Ryan’s Olive Sourdough Loaf recipe. The steps were almost identical to the regular loaf, so I felt confident about that.  And it was beautiful when it came out of the oven, but that has happened before but without success.  The Olive Loaf was perfect!  It looked beautiful and tasted fantastic. Another Sourdough Win!
 
HINT: If you decide to try this one too, I recommend getting started with the dough around 2pm/2:30 in the afternoon.  That gives you plenty of time to let it proof before putting it in the fridge overnight for the second proofing.  Then you can cook it first thing in the morning.

​So if you are feeding your starter each day, then you are discarding quite a bit of starter each day.  Especially if you have a couple of starters going like I do. It definitely seems wasteful, especially when you are working so hard to keep it alive.  It turns out there are a ton of recipes out there with ideas of things to make with that discard.
 
So far, my favorite sourdough discard recipe is from Little Spoon Farms for Sourdough Discard Crackers.  Even when I couldn’t get my sourdough bread to work, I could always make good crackers thanks to this recipe. Plus it is SUPER EASY!!
 
This recipe also offers some room for creativity in terms of seasoning.  We prefer to use herbs de provence, but using everything but the bagel or Italian seasoning makes for yummy crackers as well.

           Cracker Mixture                                     Finished Crackers                                          Yum!

So I strongly suggest getting a bit of sourdough starter to get started. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got mine from the Georgia Sourdough Company, via a regular order from Garnish and Gather. Or if you know a crazy baker like me, we always have some starter to spare. So this post is NOT about getting your starter started, but keeping it alive. I’ve read some articles about this where the started has been passed along through the decades, so it can’t be too hard, right?
 




In the beginning I was afraid that keeping the starter alive would be very time consuming. Even though there are only two ingredients, there’s a bit of exacting measurements involved and it is a bit messy. But it has become very routine and much easier as time has gone on.
​
What is the Starter, exactly?  The sourdough starter is a combination of flour, water, wild yeast and bacteria that is used to make bread rise when baking. And you want the starter to be “strong” and very active and fluffy at the top before making bread. Bread made this way is referred to as “naturally leavened”.

And why exactly do I need to “feed” it?  Once the water and flour are initially combined, the wild yeast and bacteria that are found naturally on the flour and in the environment will start to multiply. As they multiply they "eat" the flour in the jar. So once they have “eaten” all of the flour available to them, they must be fed again to keep growing and multiplying.
 
So how do I feed it? Here you have two options – you can store your starter at room temperature, or you can store it in the fridge.  I keep one of each, just to hedge my bets.

If you are storing the starter at room temperature:

1. Stir the starter and discard all but 4 ounces, or approximately ½ cup at the bottom of the jar.
2. Add  1 cup of bread flour, and ½ cup of filtered, lukewarm water. (I get mine filtered from the fridge and then heat it in the microwave for 20 seconds.)
3. Mix until smooth and then cover. Some people like to use a piece of fabric and a rubber band to cover their starters, but I find mine to be much more active with a proper top.
4. I have seen instructions that say you should feed it every 12 hours, but I find that just once a day works fine.  I feed mine in the mornings while I wait for my teakettle to boil.
5. It needs to stay warm - at around 70 degrees F. Here is a previous post I did about how important that is.

If you are storing the starter in the fridge:

1. Take the starter out of the fridge. There may be a bit of clear/slightly yellowish liquid on top. You can either drain this off or stir it in – it’s your choice.  It is a byproduct from the fermenting yeast. I think it’s a bit yucky so I pour it off.
2. Stir the starter and discard all but 4 ounces, or approximately ½ cup at the bottom of the jar.
3. Add  1 cup of bread flour, and ½ cup of filtered, lukewarm water. (I get mine filtered from the fridge and then heat it in the microwave for 20 seconds.)
4. Mix until smooth and then cover. Some people like to use a piece of fabric and a rubber band to cover their starters, but I find mine to be much more active with a proper top.
5. Allow the starter to rest at room temperature (minimum 70°F) for at least 2 hours to give the yeast a chance to warm up and get feeding. After about 2 hours then you can put it back in the refrigerator.
6. With the refrigerator method, you only have to feed the starter once a week.

 
A few tips I've learned along the way:
1.    I have transitioned to using the wide mouth, 2 cup mason jars for my starters. They are the perfect size, easy to access with the wider mouth, and fit nicely in the fridge.

2.    Once every two weeks or so I will transition my starters into clean mason jars, and put the old ones in the dishwasher.  This is more about aesthetics than anything as the jars can get pretty messy.

3.    After feeding the starters but before covering them, I wipe down the outside of the jar, as well as the inside of the jar to keep it tidy and so I can easily see how the starter is doing.

4.    Once you are done feeding the starters, wash all spoons and the countertop immediately.  If you let the starter dry on them, it gets like concrete.  It’s just too hard to get it off once its dry, so take care of it asap.

5. One way to determine if your starter is ready is to do the float test. My starter did not pass the float test until I found a way to keep my starter warm, as I shared in a previous post. My house was just too chilly. The float test is easy - fill a jar or cup with room temperature water and gently add a tablespoon of the starter into the water. If it floats, you are ready to go. If not, then keep feeding it and trying to get it more active.

After diagnosing the issues I was having with my slow starter (my house was too cold) and then getting it to be bubbly and lively, I was ready to try to make sourdough again.  And I found the best teacher.  The website is www.ilovecooking.ie (yes - from Ireland!)  and the teacher of their Bread Masterclass was Patrick Ryan from Firehouse Bakery.  In addition to the recipe, he also filmed a youtube tutorial, which I found helpful as well. I followed the recipe exactly, and my bread came out perfectly.  I've never been so happy about bread!

You are supposed to let sourdough cool before slicing, and this is where I've always struggled.  My previous breads were all too dense.  But this one?  The wait was worth it. It was perfect! It looked and tasted as good as anything I've gotten in San Francisco. Thanks for the lesson, Ryan!  I'll be making your scones recipe next.....

When I first started with my bread making experiments, I realized that my kitchen need a serious gear update. Many of my tools were 20+ years old from when I first got married, and they were beat.  So I upgraded with new mixing bowls, baking sheets, silicone baking mats, a new rolling pin and measuring spoons. It feels great to have an overall kitchen facelift.

I also needed some additional tools for bread.  Let me save you the research and tell you what I ended up with:

1.  A good mixing bowl with a cover
It turns out that the batter bowl and cover that I got from Pampered Chef eons ago is perfect for letting dough rise. Of course if you have a good sized pyrex bowl that will work, too.  But this one really works great too. It's on their site for $20.

2.  Banneton Proofing Baskets
The longer bread proofs, the more the gluten breaks down. This makes the bread easier to digest and more flavorful. A banneton proofing basket helps the bread to keep it's shape and it outs very professional-looking ridges on the top of your loaves. And you don't want to get cheap banneton or it will start to flake.  I got mine on amazon from Bread Bosses for about $20 and it work great. Bonus - it comes with a dough scraper, which is another tool I didn't know I needed until I had it.

3.  Bowl Covers
Last year I made a commitment to eliminate as much plastic and disposable plastics items as I could from my kitchen.  So instead of covering my bowls with plastic, I am using fabric covers.  I found a set of 3 cute red-striped ones in various sizes from Earth Bunny for $30 and they work great. I also bought a set of silicone ones from Modfamily on Amazon for $15 that work great if I need to let something rise in a warm oven.

4. A Kitchen Scale
Many of the recipes are very exacting, especially for sourdough. And many of the recipes are in grams. In order to be that precise, I realized that I needed a kitchen scale.  I bought the Escali Primo P115C Precision Kitchen Scale from Amazon. It was $25 and it works great.

5. A Dutch Oven
I did not have a proper dutch oven to use for making bread.  After doing my research I shopped the sales at Christmas and got the enameled cast iron Staub 5.5QT Round Cocotte at Sur la Table. The cover is specially designs to baste as it cooks, so it helps to keep the crust of the bread moist. This prevents me from having to use a sheet pan full of boiling water in the bottom of the oven - which sounds like a disaster to me. Plus, having this beautiful pot in my kitchen makes me feel like Julia Child.
A more cost effective option is also a classic pyrex set of a bowl and cover. I found this one on Amazon for about $30.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, sourdough was testing my patience. And after all this work I really wanted something to show for it.  So I decided to switch to yeast based baking for a bit.

I had some great success with two recipes form the King Arthur Baking site. The first was the French Style Country Bread.  This was easy to follow, and delicious.

After this success, I decided to try another.  This was the Easiest Loaf of Bread You'll Ever Bake.  And it was.  This recipe makes two loaves, and it was delicious. I highly recommend this as a recipe to get started with, maybe before you even try the sourdough. It was easy, and a crowd pleaser.