#sourdough

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The write-ups are short and so are the recipes! You won't have to scroll far to reach what you're really after--the food. Thenfeedthem.com focuses on providing tasty, easy, simple recipes for time-crunched, hungry, frugal, cash-poor people. Or just about everyone at some point or another.

No, there's not a lot about me here. I'm a writer (of books), cook, and normal person, most of the time. I'll tell you a little about my life in my posts but not much (I'm kind of boring). After all, the filler is the food, not my life story! And if, "food is love," I hope you are filled to capacity. And cook to fill others, too!

Jan 19
2 min

How to Use Your Discard to Make Sourdough Focaccia Bread

This is a basic sourdough focaccia-style bread--a flat, chewy bread that's similar to pizza dough. You can top the focaccia with herbs, tomatoes, cheeses, or whatever you like. The focaccia recipe below yields a bread that bakes up fragrant with rosemary and garlic, slightly crispy on the outside, and chewy in the middle. The bread is great with Italian meals or alongside soup or a salad. Or use pieces for sandwiches. Enjoy! Sourdough Focaccia -- Makes a 10 x 15-inch Pan

Oct 17, 2022
2 min

Use Your Sourdough Sourdough Discard to Make Cheddar-Parmesan Biscuits

These are great, simple biscuits that you can make immediately after feeding your starter and for which you don't need a "mature" starter. If your starter is active, it will give the biscuits extra lift as well as flavor. The biscuits are light, nicely cheesy tasting, and go well with dinner or breakfast dishes. Dried minced chives enhance the cheese flavor, and fresh chives or chopped green onions are even better. The biscuits are easy to make. Rather than rolling out t

Jul 18, 2022
3 min

How to Use Your Discard to Make Sourdough Apple Rum Raisin Buns or Rolls

Once upon a time sourdough was used to raise most cakes. The sort of cakes we eat now--like Betty Crocker layer cakes--simply weren't available. What was more common were sweet yeast-bread-type creations more like hot cross buns or pannetone. The recipe I'm posting today is in that vein. Sourdough apple raisin rum buns are slightly sweet buns that feature moist apple pieces and rum-plumped raisins (or use dried cranberries if you're out of raisins or half of each, if you

Jun 30, 2022
2 min

Use Your Discard to Make Your Own Sourdough Hamburger Buns

Okay, I'm probably nuts, but, yes, I do make hamburger buns using the sourdough process. The soft buns are easy to make, taste good, and, besides being great with burgers, are easy to slice and pop in the toaster for breakfast in lieu of boring toast. I get the buns started early in the morning, feed them more flour at mid-day, and bake them in the evening. I think the texture is better when you feed them at mid-day, but if that's too much of a pain, no problem. Just mix

Apr 8, 2022
2 min

What to Make With Discard? Easy Whole-Wheat Sourdough Waffles

These waffles are one of my favorite ways to use the discard from my sourdough starters. I like to feed the starters on Saturday night (yeah, okay, I know, BIG Night! But, hey, I'm not exactly a party animal...) and use the discard to make a sponge that sits overnight at room temperature. The next morning, I add the remainder of ingredients and mix up and bake the batter in the waffle iron. The tangy waffles make a wonderful Sunday morning/weekend treat, and the extras (i

Apr 1, 2022
2 min

How to Make Quick Sourdough Golden Raisin Scones With Your Discard

When you need to feed your starter and also want a quick treat, opt for these easy sourdough scones. Making and baking them is a quick, rather than all-day project. The sourdough discard gives the scones lightness, moisture, and extra flavor. The scones turn out puffy, slightly sweet, and I think better than the traditional biscuit-type scones. The sourdough scones are subtly flavored with cinnamon and orange zest as well as golden raisins and need no jam or extra butter

Feb 28, 2022
2 min

Use Your Discard to Make Sourdough Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

This is another of my favorite ways to use sourdough discard! The cupcakes have been a bit hit in my husband's office. Think of a Reese's cup in cake format but with tang and depth. The cupcakes are sweet, but not cloyingly so. The frosting gives them a big sugar hit, but you can certainly omit it if you like. If you decide to add the frosting, keep in mind that it tastes like peanut butter fudge. Yumm. Nonetheless, if nuts aren't your thing, a simple vanilla or chocol

Feb 26, 2022
2 min

Use Your Discard to Make Sourdough Orange-Cinnamon Ripple Bread--No Baking Powder Needed

If you have a cup of discard, you have the base for a tasty, simple Sourdough Orange-Cinnamon Ripple Bread. It's similar to a cinnamon quick bread but full of yeasty taste and more like a slightly sweet bread than a cake. The ripple bread is easy to mix up in the morning and mostly forget about until afternoon/evening when it should be ready to go in the oven--no kneading required. Grated orange zest gives the bread extra tang, and cinnamon, sugar, and ground walnuts make

Dec 3, 2021
2 min

How to Make Sourdough Christmas Scones With Your Discard

Sourdough Christmas Scones are filled with all sorts of good things, and, because they use baking powder as the primary leavener, they don't require a rise time. Yes, the scones do use up some of your sourdough discard, and yes, they are a bit more "yeasty" and lighter than regular scones. Nonetheless, the Christmas scones are closer to traditional scones than to sourdough bread. The scones get texture from oats and are studded with dried cranberries, dried orange pieces,

Nov 26, 2021
3 min

How to Make Sourdough Cinnamon Buns

Traditional cinnamon buns rely on lots of butter, sugar, eggs, and sometimes oil or vegetable shortening for their texture and flavor. Sourdough Cinnamon Buns get their flavor and rise from the sourdough process. The buns take longer to make, admittedly, but most of the time is "hands off," rising time. Rather than loads of butter and other bad things, the buns come out soft and fluffy with a minimum of "healthy" fat from canola oil. The buns also are sweetened with a bi

Oct 1, 2021
2 min

How to Use Up a Lot of Sourdough Discard: Make Pancakes

The easiest way to use up a lot of discard is to make pancakes. I've posted many recipes for scones, breads, and other ways to use discard, and they are all good. Nonetheless, making pancakes will allow you to use up a lot of the discard without adding more flour to the mixture. The pancakes take minutes to mix up--no fancy steps--and have a nice sourdough tang. I usually add cinnamon to the pancakes for a little extra flavor, but it's not necessary. I've made the pancake

Jul 19, 2021
2 min

Have Discard? Make Sourdough Breakfast Buns or Rolls

This recipe is a version of one I use for hot cross buns at Easter and, instead of just raisins or currents, I add other dried fruits and nuts. I sometimes drizzle the baked buns with an orange icing and other times just dust them with powdered sugar. The buns are soft, just a bit sweet, and studded with dried fruit and nuts. Try the buns for a special breakfast or with coffee or tea. Enjoy! Sourdough Breakfast Buns or Rolls -- Makes 24+ 2 cups of sourdough starter 2 cups

May 1, 2019
3 min

Have a Lot of Sourdough Discard? Make Better Sourdough Cheese Biscuits/Scones

So, armed with an excess of sourdough discard, I decided to see if I could use up all of my discard while also making biscuits/scones that are light, full of flavor, and not too heavy on the butter or shortening. I wanted to achieve a biscuit better than the one my recipe from a famous flour company makes. The answer is, yes, I could build a better biscuit. Sourdough discard must have magical properties, because it makes fantastic biscuits--light, slightly tangy, high-risi

Jan 24, 2019
2 min

Have Sourdough Discard? Make Dark Rye Bread

I have a rye-based sourdough starter that I've been keeping fed regularly, and that means I have plenty of rye discard to use, particularly in whole grain breads like Dark Rye Bread. The bread is deep, dark, and delicious--really! It gets a touch of sweetness from brown sugar and molasses and extra depth of flavor from a little cocoa powder. The bread requires little attention and isn't a fussy project to make. I usually mix up the dough at breakfast time, leave it alone

Jan 23, 2019
2 min

Sourdough Everything Bagel Bread

The internet is awash with recipes for bagel breads, but I can't get excited about them, because they involve more steps and work than I want to invest in my bread and are generally a pain-in-in the butt (sorry, but they are!). I do like the idea--a soft but chewy yeast bread with nifty toppings. Nonetheless, I wanted to reduce the amount of steps required and omit the signature boiling of the bagel bread. Yes, the boiling produces a nice crust on the bagel bread, but no,

Jan 4, 2019
3 min

Healthier Breakfast Bread: Sourdough Cinnamon Buns

Traditional cinnamon buns rely on lots of butter, sugar, eggs, and sometimes oil or vegetable shortening for their texture and flavor. Sourdough Cinnamon Buns get their flavor and rise from the sourdough process. The buns take longer to make, admittedly, but most of the time is "hands off," rising time. Rather than loads of butter and other bad things, the buns come out soft and fluffy with a minimum of "healthy" fat from canola oil. The buns also are sweetened with a bi

Dec 20, 2018
2 min

Have Sourdough Discard? Make Christmas Scones

Sourdough Christmas Scones are filled with all sorts of good things, and, because they use baking powder as the primary leavener, they don't require a rise time. Yes, the scones do use up some of your sourdough discard, and yes, they are a bit more "yeasty" and lighter than regular scones. Nonetheless, the Christmas scones are closer to traditional scones than to sourdough bread. The scones get texture from oats and are studded with dried cranberries, dried orange pieces,

Nov 27, 2018
3 min

Sourdough Cinnamon Streusel Bread

This is a great bread to have as a special treat on a wintry morning--or any other morning, for that matter. The bread is crunchy on top and soft and squishy on the inside. It's also full of tangy dried cranberries that highlight the flavor of the sourdough starter. A brown sugar, cinnamon, and almond streusel twirls through the interior of the bread for extra appeal. I love the bread because it's easy. Just mix up the dough, let it park overnight or for about 12 hours,

Nov 9, 2018
3 min

Sourdough Discard Cheese Biscuits

If you like warm, tangy biscuits oozing with melting cheese, these biscuits are for you. The biscuits are worth making the sourdough starter, just to get the discard so you can whip them up. Sourdough cheese biscuits get their tang from the sourdough process and also from a little buttermilk in the dough. Two types of cheese--shredded and sharp cheddar chunks--provide a hit of real cheese flavor. Don't skip the chunks, they're one of the best parts of the recipe. The chu

Oct 25, 2018
3 min

Sourdough Pumpkin Bread Without Baking Powder

Many sourdough pumpkin bread recipes include baking powder, which, to me, defeats the purpose of the sourdough process--to make the bread rise. Admittedly, sometimes you want bread "right now" and don't have time for a long rising period. At other times, you may simply be looking for a way to use up discard. Been there, done that. Nonetheless, I like the idea of sourdough pumpkin bread that has risen without the assistance of baking powder. Yes, the bread requires a sub

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