Simple Honey Sourdough Starter Recipes

ARTISAN HONEY SOURDOUGH BREAD RECIPE

Steps:

• Feed Sourdough StarterRemove sourdough starter from fridge, bring to room temperature and feed. I feed a 1:1:1 ratio for my artisan sourdough bread recipe. For example, feed 100 grams sourdough starter, 100 grams water, 100 grams all purpose organic flour. Cover the starter, and allow to double in volume after feeding. A quick tip: every time the starter is fed, place a rubber band around the jar it is in to mark its height. This helps to see when the starter has doubled in volume and is therefore ready to be used. If you are still not sure if the starter is ready to be used, do a float test. Drop a small amount of starter, about 1 tsp, into a glass of water. If it floats to the top it's ready to use. If it sinks, your starter should be fed again, or left a bit longer to activate. Mix Water and FlourUsing a digital scale, measure 475g of flour and 300g of water into a large mixing bowl. Mix dough together with your hands, dough will be sticky. Cover with a damp linen towel and let rest for thirty minutes to one hour. Add Remaining IngredientsMeasure and add 100g sourdough starter, 25g honey and 10g salt. Using your hands, mix the dough together thoroughly and be sure to incorporate the salt into the dough. You should not be able to feel any granules of salt once it has been incorporated into the dough. Cover with a damp linen cloth and leave on the kitchen counter for one hour. Stretch and Fold the DoughAfter one hour, dip your fingers in water (to prevent dough from sticking), and begin the stretch and fold technique. Gently, lift and fold the dough. Grab a portion of the dough from one side of the bowl, lift it up and fold it over the dough to the other side of the bowl. Turn the bowl a one-quarter of the way and repeat the process and until you have come full circle. Do this about 20 times at the most until it is a smooth ball. Cover the bowl and leave on the kitchen counter. Perform the stretch and fold technique another three to four times, over the next three to four hours. Re-cover the bowl each time, leaving on the kitchen counter. Bulk FermentationAfter the last stretch and fold technique, cover the bowl with a damp linen towel and leave on the counter to ferment overnight, for eight to ten hours. At the end of fermentation period, the dough should have bubbles on the surface, and be slightly domed on the edges of the bowl. The dough should be springy, and almost doubled. If in doubt that the sourdough is ready, do the poke test. Carefully poke the dough with flour on your finger, about half an inch deep. Dough that is properly proofed will very slowly spring back, and leave a small indention, meaning that this is a good sign the dough has risen enough. If the dough springs back quickly, it is probably under-proofed and it needs to proof longer. Dough that does not spring back at all, is over proofed. Unfortunately, you can not go back and correct that stage, but it can still be baked. The bread will not rise as much in the oven, but will probably still taste good. Shape the DoughGet a banneton and liberally flour all sides, all the way up to the top. This provides a no stick surface for the dough. With wet hands, loosen the dough from the edges of a bowl. Gently, perform a single stretch and fold with the dough around the bowl. Do this no more than eight to ten times, just until the dough is in a loose ball again. Handling the dough carefully, remove from the bowl and place the dough, smooth side down into the banneton. Final ProofCover the dough and place it in the fridge for a minimum of three hours but no more than 24 hours. Placing the dough into the refrigerator allows for a slow and cold fermentation stage. This stage helps to develop flavor and the final crust texture. Pre-Heat Oven, Score and BakePre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Place a sheet of parchment paper over the top of the banneton, then carefully turn it over so that the dough releases onto the parchment paper. Sprinkle the dough lightly with flour and gently rub the surface with your hands to evenly spread the flour on top of the dough. Score the top of the dough with a lame or a clean razor blade. King Arthur shares some amazing Bread Scoring Techniques on their site. Carefully pick up the sides of the parchment paper and place the dough into a dutch oven. Put the lid on and bake it for 50 minutes. If a dark crust is preferred, remove the lid from dutch oven and bake another five to ten minutes. Remove Bread and CoolAfter 50 minutes, remove the bread from the oven. Carefully take the loaf from the pan and leave the loaf to cool on a rack. Wait at least one hour before slicing into the artisan honey sourdough bread. Then, enjoy slathered with homemade butter and a good dripping of honey!

SIMPLE HONEY SOURDOUGH STARTER

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Start with a clean, glass or ceramic bowl . Do not use metal bowls or utensils. Pour in water, yeast, and honey. Stir contents with wooden spoon until the yeast is dissolved.
• Begin adding the flour one-half cup at a time. Use a wooden spoon to stir in flour until all the limps are gone.
• Pour starter into a one-gallon plastic container. Cover with linen cloth and hold in place with rubber band. Set aside in a warm place for 5 days, mixing the contents each day. Store in the refrigerator.
• To replenish the starter, mix in equal amounts of water and flour. Sourdough Starter Tips: Keep yeast stored in an airtight container and in the refrigerator. Heat, moisture, and air kills the yeast and prevents bread dough from rising. Store flour properly to keep it from spoiling. When honey is added to bread dough, it helps protect the baked bread's moisture. To prevent the honey from sticking to your measuring spoon, coat the spoon in a tiny amount of cooking oil. Use bottled water instead of tap water to make your breads. Water softeners and chlorinated public water can sometimes kill the yeast needed to make your bread dough rise.

SOURDOUGH STARTER

Steps:

• In large non-metallic bowl, mix together dry yeast, 2 cups warm water, and 2 cups all purpose flour and cover loosely.
• Leave in a warm place to ferment, 4 to 8 days. Depending on temperature and humidity of kitchen, times may vary. Place on cookie sheet in case of overflow. Check on occasionally.
• When mixture is bubbly and has a pleasant sour smell, it is ready to use. If mixture has a pink, orange, or any other strange color tinge to it, THROW IT OUT! and start over. Keep it in the refrigerator, covered until ready to bake.
• When you use starter to bake, always replace with equal amounts of a flour and water mixture with a pinch of sugar. So, if you remove 1 cup starter, replace with 1 cup water and 1 cup flour. Mix well and leave out on the counter until bubbly again, then refrigerate. If a clear to light brown liquid has accumulated on top, don't worry, this is an alcohol base liquid that occurs with fermentation. Just stir this back into the starter, the alcohol bakes off and that wonderful sourdough flavor remains! Sourdough starters improve with age, they used to be passed down generation to generation!
• Use this starter to make the Sourdough Chocolate Cranberry Cake, and the Sourdough Chocolate Cake.

SOURDOUGH STARTER RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Day 1: Add 50 grams whole wheat flour, 50 grams bread flour, and 100 grams warm water to a clear lidded container with a capacity of 1 pint or more. Mix until there are no dry spots. Scrape down the sides of the container with a spatula. Cover with a lid.
• Use a rubber band or piece of tape to mark the mixture level. This will allow you to track any movement (eventually it will grow!) Set the starter in a warm spot. Let sit for 24 hours.
• Day 2: After 24 hours, open the container and look for signs of fermentation in the form of bubbles on top, volume growth, and/or a funky, slightly sweet acidic smell. If you see some of these signs, proceed to the next step. If not, cover the starter again and let sit for another 12-24 hours, until these signs appear. If the temperature in your house is cool, it may take a bit longer.
• Once the starter has gotten a bit bubbly and funky, it is time to discard and feed. Discard all but about 25 grams (2 tablespoons) of starter (see Note below on how to minimize waste!). Add another 100 grams warm water and stir to dissolve the remaining starter. Add 50 grams of bread flour and 50 grams of whole wheat flour and stir until there are no dry spots. Cover and let sit in a warm spot for another 24 hours.
• Days 3-15: Repeat the feeding process every day for 7-14 days. Eventually, a few hours after feeding, the starter will begin to grow, almost doubling in size, then deflate again. Once your starter is rising and falling regularly, it is in a good place.
• To test the readiness of the starter, do a float test: Fill a cup with cool water. Use a clean spoon to take a scoop of the starter (be careful not to stir the starter and deflate the air bubbles that make it float) and carefully plop it in the water. If it floats, it is gassy and alive and ready to make some bread! If not, don't despair, it can take a while to get going. Either wait longer if it has only been a few hours since feeding, or if it has been closer to 24 hours since feeding, discard and feed again.
• After passing the float test, the starter is ready to use for baking! You may find you like to use your starter when it is young, only a few hours after feeding when it just passes the float test. At this point it will smell sweet. If you want a more sour taste, use the starter 6-12 hours after feeding, when it will be more mature and smell a bit more vinegary and funky. This is up to you!
• Mold: If you see any fuzzy moldy spots on your starter that are black, red, or blue, unless it is very easy to scrape them off the top, unfortunately you need to start over. Sometimes, a while after feeding or being in the refrigerator, the starter will develop a dark, clear liquid on top. This is called hooch and is harmless. Just pour the liquid off!
• Flour: Use what you have. If you only have all-purpose flour, you can use that. If you only have bread flour, use that. If you only have whole wheat flour, you can use that, just know that you may need to feed more often because it gets funky more quickly.
• Discard: It may be tempting not to discard most of your starter every time you feed it because you don't want to waste, but we discard for a variety of reasons. We are giving the starter a lot of fresh food and water to eat. If we don't discard, the starter will retain a lot of that funkiness and also eventually grow to be huge if you just keep adding water and flour to it. I like to discard into another container and keep that container in the refrigerator until I need it for other baking projects. You can fold the discard into banana bread, pancakes, cookies, etc.
• Storage: Once your starter is up and running, you can either keep it at room temperature and feed it daily, or store it in the refrigerator. To store in the refrigerator, do a regular discard and feed, then place in the refrigerator. A day before you want to begin making bread, pull the starter out and let it come to room temperature. Then, discard and feed as usual.
• Scaling: This starter recipe calls for equal amounts of water and total flour by weight. You can scale this recipe up or down as needed, depending on how much starter the recipe you are going to make calls for.
• Enjoy!

HONEY WHEAT SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the butter, honey, molasses, Sourdough Starter, wheat germ, sugar, baking soda, salt, whole wheat flour and 2 cups all-purpose flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining all-purpose flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape into loaves. Place in 2 greased 8x4-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. , Brush with oil. Bake at 375° until browned, 25-30 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

SOURDOUGH STARTER

Steps:

• In a covered 4-qt. glass or ceramic container, mix flour and yeast. Gradually stir in warm water until smooth. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel; let stand in a warm place 2-4 days or until mixture is bubbly and sour smelling and a clear liquid has formed on top. (Starter may darken, but if starter turns another color or develops an offensive odor or mold, discard it and start over.) , Cover tightly and refrigerate starter until ready to use. Use and replenish starter, or nourish it, once every 1-2 weeks. To use and replenish starter:Stir to blend in any liquid on top. Remove amount of starter needed; bring to room temperature before using. For each 1/2 cup starter removed, add 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup warm water to the remaining starter and stir until smooth. Cover loosely and let stand in a warm place 1-2 days or until light and bubbly. Stir; cover tightly and refrigerate.To nourish starter:Remove half of the starter. Stir in equal parts of flour and warm water; cover loosely and let stand in a warm place 1-2 days or until light and bubbly. Stir; cover tightly and refrigerate.