Since 2017, I’ve shared sourdough recipes every January, first on my Twice as Tasty blog and more recently in this column. I’m excited to expand the collection of slowly risen, deliciously fermented creations this month, including new recipes I’ve been developing over the last year.
If you have active sourdough starter in your refrigerator, dive straight into these recipes. If you’re still building the sourdough baking habit, a dormant starter lurking in the back of your refrigerator might not be a lost cause, despite all appearances. Wild yeast is incredibly resilient, and neglecting sourdough starter rarely kills it. Some generations-old strains, started before the invention of refrigerators and electric ovens, are still freely shared and baking lovely loaves today.
I was gifted my sourdough starter in 2014. Since then, I’ve taken it on road trips and across oceans, ignored it for months and shared it with hundreds of others, including many Flathead Beacon readers. Every time it’s sat unfed in the fridge’s back corner, until it devours the flour’s carbohydrates and sugars and develops a protective black surface liquid (dubbed hooch) or dries out, my starter wakes up with just a few fresh feedings.
So if you have a forlorn sourdough starter in your fridge, I encourage you to feed it a couple of times, no matter how ugly it looks, to see whether it bubbles and grows again. A revived starter will be far more resilient and flavorful than a newly made one. About the only reason to throw out a sourdough starter is if orange or pink streaks appear; these obvious color changes indicate unwanted mold or bacteria have moved in.
If you do need a replacement or are a first-time sourdough baker, a fully developed starter gives you a head start. Sourdough starter loves to be used and fed, so sharing it benefits both the giver and the recipient. I’ve teamed up with the organizers of the Sharing fermented starters Facebook group to help you find – and offer – active sourdough starter for just the cost of shipping and materials. I’ve also created guides for that group on how to dehydrate, mail, rehydrate and care for sourdough starter. When you join the group and request sourdough starter, I might even be the one who responds, offering to share my finest bubbly.
If you’re not a Facebook user, you can still reach me at TwiceAsTasty.com to request my sourdough starter. The blog’s recipe index or a quick search of the Flathead Beacon reveals all of the sourdough recipes I’ve shared in this column over the last three years, from Overnight Sourdough Pancakes to Herb-and-Salt Sourdough Focaccia.
This month, I’ll focus on sweet sourdough recipes that use two mother doughs created with eggs and butter for rich variations on brioche. With my favorite low-knead and long, cold fermentation techniques, the doughs become both flavorful and easy to shape. My recipes turn them into buns, loaves, crescents, cinnamon rolls and more.
Julie Laing is a Bigfork-based cookbook author and food blogger at TwiceAsTasty.com.