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Sourdough recipes don’t just mean bread!  Learn how to make just about any baked good with sourdough, from crackers to cakes and cookies.  There are even a few old school preservation recipes that culture other foods with sourdough starters, from traditional brined apples to Russian kvass.

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Sourdough Recipes

It seems like 2020 was the year of sourdough.  Bread is the perfect comfort food, and everyone had plenty of time stuck at home to play with a new hobby.  Toss in a yeast shortage, and suddenly everyone’s a sourdough baker!

Sourdough bread is delicious, but it’s only the beginning. 

People started asking, “What can I make with a sourdough starter?” 

The answer?  Just about anything you want!

Bread, cakes, cookies, scones, biscuits, buns, and all manner of baked goods taste even better with the magic of sourdough. 

Beyond bread, you can also use the cultures in a sourdough starter to make other things, like traditionally carbonated sodas…who knew?

Sourdough is incredibly versatile, but don’t take my word for it, take a look at this gluten-free sourdough chocolate cake

Gluten-Free Sourdough Chocolate Cake from What the Fork Blog
Gluten-Free Sourdough Chocolate Cake from What the Fork Blog
Mature rye sourdough starter, ready for use.

Sourdough Bread Recipes

Unlike regular yeasted bread, sourdough relies on a long slow fermentation.  This allows natural enzymes within the flour time to work alongside the little microbes in the starter, converting starches to a more digestible form.

Often, sourdough bread is made using a “no-knead” method, where the dough is turned and stretched instead of kneaded.  This is easy on the hands, and perfect for novice bread bakers without the polished forearms of a lifelong baker.

Sourdough Rye Meteil
Sourdough Rye Hearth Bread from Adamant Kitchen

Sourdough Sweet Loaf Breads

Missing sweet loaf breads?  You can still make your favorite cinnamon raisin bread and more, naturally leavened with a sourdough starter.

Your toaster won’t know the difference, but I bet you’re going to love the extra flavor sourdough gives to the finished loaf.

Einkorn sourdough panettone from nourished kitchen
Einkorn sourdough panettone from Nourished Kitchen

Sourdough Bread Machine Recipes

Homemade bread not turning out right?  Using a bread machine is a more foolproof way of getting the perfect loaf.

Most bread machine recipes are “set it and forget it” meaning you can have your sourdough bread waiting for you at home even if you’re still commuting into the office.

(Keep in mind though, many sourdough bread machine recipes still use some commercial yeast, so you won’t be able to leaven these without at least some storebought yeast along with the sourdough culture.)

Sourdough Pizza Dough Recipes

Once you’ve made sourdough bread, pizza is the next logical step. 

If you’re a fan of traditional Sicilian thin crust, then sourdough is an excellent way to get that paper-thin (without breaking the dough during shaping). 

Don’t like thin crust?  Don’t worry, thick crust Chicago style works wonderfully too!

Sourdough Pizza Crust from Baked the Blog
Sourdough Pizza Crust from Baked the Blog

Sourdough Bagel Recipes

Traditional New York Style bagels are actually an overnight recipe, starting with very little yeast and then relying on a long slow ferment to develop flavor within the dough. 

The dough is made in the afternoon, and then bakers come in early the next morning to boil and bake them in time for your morning commute.

With that long overnight ferment, regular bagel recipes easily convert to sourdough for even more flavor!

My own homemade bagels
My own homemade bagels

Sourdough Pretzel Recipes

Similar to bagels, pretzels are first boiled and then baked to give them a chewy interior and crisp exterior.

Those same characteristics are exactly what sourdough fermentation is meant to produce.  Want even better homemade pretzels?  Sourdough’s your best bet!

Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Recipes

We’re all already making sourdough bread as a comfort food, why not take it up a notch? 

Cinnamon rolls are the coziest thing you can make this winter, and they’re even better with sourdough.

My own homemade cinnamon rolls
My own homemade cinnamon rolls

Cookies are a quick way to satisfy your sweet tooth, and they’re perfect for beginning bakers.

Adding sourdough improves their nutrition slightly, but let’s face it here, you’re making a buttery sugar bomb, and there’s no need to apologize for it. 

They’re just one more way to use up a sourdough discard.  What can I say, some days I just gotta bake cookies…waste not, want not.

Sourdough Pastries

Thinking beyond cake for your sourdough dessert?  There are so many more options.

Sweet flatbreads, danish, croissants, sourdough pie, and more!

Sourdough Toaster Pastries from Butter for All
Sourdough Toaster Pastries from Butter for All

Sourdough Crackers

Crackers are often unleavened breads, so the sourdough culture is included mostly to improve the nutritional content. 

They’re a great way to quickly put a sourdough discard to use, just mix and bake. 

Sourdough Parmesan Cheese Crackers from More than Meat and Potatoes
Sourdough Parmesan Cheese Crackers from More than Meat and Potatoes

Sourdough Muffin, Scone, Biscuit & Quick Bread Recipes

Sourdough culture does more than just leaven bread.  It pre-digests the starches, making them more gut-friendly.  The little beasties also convert some of the sugars in the grains into protein, further improving the nutrition of the finished baked goods.

These “quick loaf breads” are classics that we all know and love, like banana bread.  Baking powder and/or soda are used for leavening, and the sourdough is simply incorporated to improve the digestibility and nutritional content of an otherwise sweet treat.

Often these are actually formulated as sourdough discard recipes, and they just use up that tiny bit of sourdough that’s removed when you feed your starter.  No need to actually “discard” it when you can use it to make nutritious sourdough muffins in minutes!

Sourdough Muffins

Sourdough Blueberry Muffins from baked the blog
Sourdough Blueberry Muffins from baked the blog

Sourdough Quick Breads

Using sourdough improves the digestibility in quick tea bread, even though they’re not leavened with sourdough.

Sourdough banana bread, anyone?

Sourdough Biscuits

Similarly, biscuits get just a tiny bit of extra lift from the sourdough starter, but mostly it’s just added for nutrition.

It’s a great way to use up your sourdough discard!

Sourdough Scones

If you like biscuits, you’ll absolutely love scones!

They’re just as flaky, but with a bit of sweet too.

Sourdough Cheese Scones from Supergolden Bakes
Sourdough Cheese Scones from Supergolden Bakes

Sourdough English Muffins and Crumpets

So English muffins aren’t exactly “muffins” in the true sense of the word.  They’re yeast-leavened, so sourdough makes an excellent substitution.  A long slow ferment really brings out their flavor and results in a truly spectacular treat.

Once leavened, they’re cooked on a pan on the stovetop, meaning they’re a great sourdough recipe for when it’s too hot to turn on the oven.

Crumpets are made in a similar way, with a leavened batter cooked on the stovetop.

Sourdough English Muffins from Baking Sense
Sourdough English Muffins from Baking Sense

Sourdough Cake Recipes

Cakes, like sourdough quick breads and muffins, are often chemically leavened with baking powder.  When it comes to sourdough cakes though, these recipes vary widely.  Some use the sourdough microbes to ferment a loose batter into a soft fluffy cake.

Others just use a bit of sourdough discard for added nutrition, still leavening with baking powder or soda, and preparing in much the same way you would a traditional cake recipe.

Sourdough Blueberry Crumb Cake from Super golden bakes
Sourdough Blueberry Crumb Cake from Super golden bakes

Sourdough Pancake, Waffle & Crepe Recipes

Pancakes are the perfect way to use up a bit of a sourdough starter without turning on the oven.  Traditionally, sourdough pancakes are fermented overnight, allowing plenty of starches to convert a protein-rich breakfast.  When made this way, the sourdough acts as the leavening and no baking powder is added.

You can also just make quick, same-day sourdough discard pancakes that are cooked within minutes of mixing.  It’s a good way to use up a sourdough discard, but much of the dough remains uncultured. 

It’s quicker, but you’ll still need baking powder for leavening. 

Sourdough Pancakes

Overnight Sourdough Pancakes from Good things baking company
Overnight Sourdough Pancakes from Good things baking company

Sourdough Crepes

Pancakes aren’t the only place you can use sourdough!

Generally, crepes aren’t levened, but adding sourdough improves digestibility and helps the crepes hold together better when flipped.

Sourdough Waffles

Who doesn’t love homemade waffles!!?!?!

They’re still leavened with baking powder, but it’s a good way to use a sourdough discard none the less.

Sourdough Waffles from Baked the Blog
Sourdough Waffles from Baked the Blog

Sourdough Dinner Recipes

Want to turn sourdough into a whole dinner? 

You can turn any homemade pasta recipe into a sourdough recipe, or batter your fish in sourdough batter. 

Really, anytime you’re working with grains during dinner time there’s probably a way to incorporate sourdough recipes into the meal.

Sourdough pasta from snacking in sneakers
Sourdough pasta from snacking in sneakers

Gluten-Free Sourdough Recipes

Sourdough doesn’t have to be a gluten fest, and you can, in fact, make wonderfully flavorful sourdough recipes using gluten-free flours.

Keep in mind, if you’re baking for someone with a gluten allergy, you’ll also need to use a gluten-free sourdough starter.

Gluten Free Sourdough Cornbread from What the Fork Blog
Gluten Free Sourdough Cornbread from What the Fork Blog

Non-Bread Foods Cultured with Sourdough Starter

Sourdough culture doesn’t necessarily mean baking, believe it or not.  Sourdough is just a culture, and it can be used as a starter to culture all manner of foods.  Traditionally, it was used as a starter for a number of fermented foods, especially from Eastern Europe.

Traditional Bread Kvass is a fizzy drink that uses a sourdough starter for carbonation, and Russian brined apples are a unique way to preserve apples for months (or years) without refrigeration.

homemade kvass with slight carbonation
Homemade bread kvass made using a rye sourdough starter

Sourdough Discard Recipes

Still, need more sourdough love?  Check out these quick ways to use a sourdough discard…

100+ Sourdough Recipes ~ Make sourdough bread, cookies, cakes, scones, rolls and more!

About Ashley Adamant

I'm an off grid homesteader in rural Vermont and the author of Practical Self Reliance, a blog that helps people find practical ways to become more self reliant.

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7 Comments

  1. Shriya Singh says:

    Hi! I love how informative and great your articles are. Can you recommend any other blogs that share recipes of Vegan Macarons or vegan dessert recipes? Thanks a lot!

  2. Elizabeth says:

    Thanks for sharing these ideas.

    1. Administrator says:

      You’re very welcome.

  3. Lora says:

    Thank you for linking to my sourdough pumpkin quick bread (LOVE your blog!) XX Lora

  4. Julie says:

    How to I keep my raisin yeast starter or any yeast I start from getting too sour?

  5. Fran says:

    Thank you for this amazing collection

  6. Emillie says:

    Thanks for linking to my French sourdough bread recipe! I’ve been a fan for years. And will definitely share on social media. All the best!