Sourdough Crackers from Discard

 

So tasty and simple!  

3/4 cup sourdough discard (stir it down, can be any temp)
1/8 tsp garlic salt  
2 TBS melted butter

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.   

Line a 15x10 baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Melt the butter. 
Put discard into a bowl.  Sprinkle with the garlic salt.  Slowly add the butter while mixing with a fork until well combined (no/very little dough should be sticking to the side of the bowl.) 

Pour mixture onto parchment paper and use a rubber spatula to spread evenly and thinly around most of the parchment paper (leaving 1-2" around the edges.)

Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and use a pizza cutter to trim the edges, then cut the dough into 1-1.5" square crackers.  

Bake for 10  more minutes, check if they are getting golden around the edges.  After that check every 5 min or so until done.  It could take up to 40-50 minutes total depending on the thickness of the crackers and your oven.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Store in a bag or container for up to a week. 

Blender Sourdough Oat Pancakes

Super easy sourdough pancakes, which are great when you don't have time to let it ferment or you do!  

Add to blender:  
1 cup milk 
1 1/2 cups oats 
1 cup sourdough discard, stirred down 
1 TBS maple syrup or honey 
1 tsp vanilla 

Blend for about a minute until smooth. 

At this point, you can let it sit overnight for 8-12 hours, or you can continue on with adding the rest of the ingredients.  

Add now or in the morning:  

2 eggs 
3 TBS melted butter or olive oil 

Blend in the blender until mixed in.  If needed, add a little more milk so the mixture is more like pancake batter.   

In a small bowl mix together: 

3 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp baking soda 
1/4 tsp fine sea salt  

Add to the pancake batter and blend briefly until combined.   

Let rest for 5-10 minutes as the batter rises. 

Fry on a hot griddle.   

Gluten Free Skillet Cornbread

This is a pretty good gluten free version of cornbread.  Much better if you cook it in a cast iron frying pan! 

1-1/2 c. cornmeal
3 TBS gluten free flour mix, any kind
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 T coconut oil or butter
1-1/2 c. milk
1 egg
2-3 T honey

Preheat oven to 425.  Put skillet on stovetop and add 2 TBS oil, heat on medium.  Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and wet in the other.  Pour wet into dry and mix just until moistened.  Pour batter into hot skillet and then place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until center is set.

Soaked Buttermilk Cornbread

This is even better than the regular buttermilk cornbread recipe I posted earlier.  And it's more digestible because the grains are soaked first.  

Mix together and soak for at least 7 hours:
2 cups cornmeal
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (Soft white wheat)
2 cups buttermilk

When you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 and mix in:
4 eggs,
2/3 to 1 c honey (depending on how sweet you want it)
1/2 c. olive, coconut oil or butter

When mixed, add:
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda

Spread in greased (or lined with parchment paper) 15x10x1 jelly roll pan or 9x13 glass pan. (You can also make 24 muffins, but who wants to wash muffin pans? Not me!)   Bake at 350 for 12-18 minutes in the jelly roll pan, or 22-28 minutes in the glass pan.  The center should be set and the top & edges should begin to be golden.

Serve with butter on top.  Can also drizzle honey over the top.

Buttermilk Cornbread

This is really, really good... 

2 c. cornmeal
2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt 
4 eggs
1-1/2 c buttermilk (or add 2 TBS vinegar to 1-1/2 c milk)
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. oil (olive, coconut, melted butter, etc) 

Mix together dry ingredients in large bowl, and wet ingredients in a medium bowl.  Add wet ingredients to dry and stir till just combined.

Prepare a 15x10x1 jelly roll pan by pouring 2 TBS oil on bottom and spreading it around.  (You could use a 9x13 pan, but I don't like to wait that long.  Or make 24 muffins.)  Pour batter onto pan and spread until it covers the whole pan.

Bake at 350 degrees 12-15 minutes.

Some time I'll plan ahead and trying this in a soaked version to make it more digestible!  

Gluten Free Skillet Cornbread

This good enough to eat even when you're not gluten free. 

1 TBS oil
1-1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/2 c tapioca starch (or other starch)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 TBS oil
1/2 c buttermilk (or any other kind of milk with 1 TBS vinegar or lemon juice to make 1/2 cup)
2 - 4 TBS honey (depending on how sweet you like it, can omit completely)

*For oil, I use olive oil.

Turn oven on to 425.  Pour 1 TBS oil in cast iron skillet.  Put the skillet in the oven.   If you don't have a cast iron skillet, you can grease a 8x8 pan with a stick of butter.  The cast iron skillet gives a nice crisp crust.

In a medium bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.  In a small bowl, mix wet ingredients.   Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until moistened.  Pour into preheated skillet or 8x8 pan.  Put into oven and bake 15-18 minutes until golden brown and crisp. 

Serve with honey butter. 

Whole Grain Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

I tried this muffin recipe out this morning. So I asked the kids if these muffins were a "keeper." They said, "No, let's eat them all."

1-3/4 c. Whole wheat pastry flour (soft white wheat)
1/3 c. Cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 c. honey
1/4 c. oil (melted coconut or olive)
1/4 c. applesauce
1 egg
1 c. yogurt
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 c. chocolate chips
1-1/2 c. - 2 c.shredded zucchini

Mix flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder in one bowl. Mix honey, oil, applesauce, egg yogurt and vanilla in another bowl. Add wet to dry. Stir till just mixed. Fold in chocolate chips & zucchini. Scoop in greased muffin tin. Each muffin hole should be just about full of batter. Bake 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Whole Grain Banana Bread Muffins

Great texture, yummy, non refined. And they have the added bonus that you don't have to throw out those black bananas that are too gross to even put in a fruit shake.

3-1/2 C. soft white wheat (aka whole wheat pastry flour)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2/3 c. good fat - olive oil, coconut oil, or softened butter (can also sub 1/3 c. applesauce)
3/4 c. honey
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 c. mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 c. hot water

Mix dry ingredients together in smaller bowl. Cream together honey & oil. Add eggs and beat well. Stir in vanilla and mashed bananas. Add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the wet and stir. Add 1/2 the water, stir. Repeat till it's all added. Don't over-stir.

Spoon batter into greased muffin pan. Makes 24 muffins. Bake at 325 for about 12-16 min. Test with a toothpick to make sure they are done.

Bonus treat: add 1 c. chocolate chips.

1 hour Whole Wheat Bread

Yes, it really does only take an hour from start to hot fresh bread! There are a few ingredients that I try to avoid (like commercial yeast and white flour) but I figure this is better (and cheaper) than store bought bread. Many thanks to my sister for showing me how to make this!

9 to 9-1/2 c. freshly ground whole wheat flour*
1 C. unbleached white flour
1 TBS sea salt
3 TBS soy lecithin
3 TBS yeast
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. applesauce
4 c. hot water

Put it all in a bosch machine, and knead for 6 to 7 minutes on low to medium. Dough should be stickier than normal bread dough, but not so sticky that it oozes off your fingers. While the bread is kneading, get out 4 bread pans and grease them. Grease an area about 18" square on your clean counter. When the dough is done, grease your hands really well (and remove rings). Split the dough into four equal sections. Pinch all the corners into the bottom to form a rectangle and then place pinched parts down into bread pan. Repeat for other 3 loaves. Put loaf pans in a warm place with a non-fuzzy towel on top. Next, set the oven to 350 degrees. Let rise for 15-20 minutes, or until doubled. That is the amazing part, it really does rise that fast! When done rising, put the pans in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

You can brush the tops with butter if you like. Let cool and store in plastic bag.

You can also make raisin bread. When you have the rectangle smashed out, spread some butter on it. Then sprinkle with honey or sucanat, cinnamon and raisins. Roll it up.

Makes delicious rolls, scones, buns, focaccia, pizza crust, etc. For some recipes, you may want to reduce the amount of sweetener.

*If you use hard winter wheat, include 4 TBS of gluten in the 8 cup measurement. Hard red winter wheat won't need this. You can make this 100% whole wheat, but I didn't like the texture quite as well. Still working on that.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits

Light and fluffy, my husband said these were like eating dessert! Serve 'em hot & fresh with butter.

2 c. whole wheat pastry flour (soft white wheat)
4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. cold butter
2 tsp. sucanat
2/3 c. buttermilk, sour milk, or thin plain yogurt with milk to buttermilk consistency

Mix together dry ingredients. Pour the buttermilk into a measuring cup, and add the sucanat. Stir occasionally until the sucanat "melts." Cut the butter up into chunks and add to to the dry ingredients. Mix in with pastry blender (or two knives or your hands.) Add the buttermilk to the main bowl and mix just until moistened.

Flour your counter. With floured hands, pat dough until rectangle about3/4" thick. Fold dough into thirds. Pat dough down again until 3/4" thick and repeat. Do it a third time! This folding process makes layers in the biscuits, kind of like croissants. Lastly, pat dough to be 1/2" thick. Cut out biscuits with a round cutter. Place them on a cookie sheet lined parchment paper (or sprayed with cooking spray.) You can put them pretty close together because they don't spread out, they rise up!

Bake in preheated 450 degree oven for about 10-12 minutes. Makes about 12-15.