Sourdough Starter Discard Pancakes with @roostercatkitchen

If you are into bread. You know that sourdough is top notch amazing! 

Flashback to sourdough bread gift from one of my composters last fall!
Thank you Emily!!! 

During our current lock-in state, I found myself drooling over the idea of making my very own sourdough starter...

Starter on my counter (check out those bubbles...swoon). I also strategically left my compost counter bin in the background for your viewing pleasure. 

Sourdough Starter Overview

First thing I learned is that every single recipe of sourdough starter out there is completely different. 

I started mine from some recipe I found on pinterest... that I didn't pin and can't seem to find again. Sound familiar?

Long and short of this process, I discovered the term "hooch". If you've made your own, you might be familiar with the brown gunk crusting at the top when you neglect your poor little yeast friends. 

I couldn't resist. Every time I say yeast in my head I think yeasty boys which leads to... you know the Beastie Boys?

Back to it. 

Here is a good recipe that I've been enjoying so far if you want to get started yourself.

Hint: Make sure you pin it or remember that you read it in this blog!

Throughout the sourdough starter process this week, I have learned...

it CAN be extremely wasteful.

1. Initial starter
   You DISCARD a portion daily and sometimes 2 times a day (for up to 5 days) in order to feed the yeast
   
   
2. Complete starter secure
   You DISCARD a portion weekly in order to feed the yeast

Honestly after learning how wasteful the discard portion of sourdough is I thought about giving it up all together.

Insert one of my best friends who happens to have the instagram @roostercatkitchen

Rooster Cat Kitchen Background

Marissa is one of my best friends from New York that got me into a beer app called untappd. We ate pasta, cookies and anything gluten together all of the time. 

She then found out 4 years ago that she is celiac aka gluten intolerant. Essentially if she eats gluten her body throws it back up, she gets headaches and is out for the rest of the day.

Remarkably when she found out she is celiac a lot of things started lining up for her and how she had been feeling.

Now she is feeling better than ever AND working to find alternative recipes with gluten substitutes.

I'm just going to focus on her sourdough starter but please check out her instagram for more recipes and ideas. 

Sourdough Starter Magic

The thing about sourdough is that there really are no rules.

You can be vegan, gluten free, carb heavy, really you name it!

Her instagram featured a shot of her sourdough starter discard pancakes and I was in love. I had no idea you could re-use the starter discard for anything, I thought it truthfully was just waste.

Low and behold I tried out her recipe this morning and they were AMAZING! 

----

Thanks to her sustainable warrior post on how to REUSE I now know that there are a TON of other recipes. I'm trying these crackers next...

Have you tried any other recipes? What are your takes on sourdough? 

xoxo,
M