Leftover sourdough starter bread is delicious loaf with a hint of sourdough tang that’s quick to bake. Using mature sourdough starter cuts down on food waste too!
Jump To
Leftover Sourdough Starter Loaf
Leftover sourdough starter bread is a winner on three counts: it’s a great tasting bread, with a hint of sourdough tartness but without the longer wait of normal sourdough, and it’s also cutting down on food waste by using excess mature sourdough starter that’s been kept in the fridge.
I only bake sourdough occasionally, so most of the time my starter lives in the fridge. When I want to use it, I take about 50 g out and refresh it twice. I discard the remaining mature starter.
But if this starter is not too sour, I add it to a yeast-raised loaf to add some sourdough tang. My starter is equal quantities of water and rye flour, and I add 180g of starter to 400g of flour.
I mostly bake my slow fridge risen no knead sourdough.
Why You’ll Love this Leftover Sourdough Starter Recipe
- It has a hint of sourdough tang without the wait associated with sourdough raised bread.
- Cut down on food waste by not throwing away older, sour leaven.
How to Make Leftover Sourdough Loaf
Collect and measure out the ingredients. This loaf is baked in the same way as a plain yeasted loaf.
Step one – if using activated yeast, mix the yeast and water in a large bowl and stir until dissolved. Then add the sourdough leaven and mix in. Finally, add the flour, salt and oil and bring together to a rough dough. Turn out onto the work surface and knead until smooth, pliable and springy. This will take about ten minutes kneading.
If using a stand mixer, add yeast and water to the mixer bowl and stir with a fork or whisk until dissolved. Add the sourdough starter and mix in, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix on a medium to low setting until the dough is smooth. This will take about five to eight minutes.
Fuss Free Tip
Yeast choice – you can use quick yeast or activated yeast in this recipe. Activated yeast needs to be dissolved in water, while quick yeast can be mixed with the flour. The instructions are for activated yeast – if using quick yeast add it along with the flour.
Step two – return the dough to the bowl, cover with a cloth (I use a plastic shower cap), and leave in a warm place for about an hour until doubled in volume.
Step three – coat a (900g/1lb) loaf tin with butter. Turn the risen dough out of the bowl, fold into thirds and then roll up and place in the loaf tin. Cover again, and place back in the warm place for about 45 minutes until the dough just springs back when pressed. After about 30 minutes of raising time, heat your oven to 180°C fan / 350°F (fan) / Gas mark 6.
Step four – bake for 40 minutes. Test to see if it’s done by taking the loaf out of the tin and tapping the bottom. If the loaf sounds hollow, it’s done. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
Hints and Tips for Leftover Sourdough Starter Bread
- Don’t use sourdough starter that’s too old. If it smells very sour and vinegary, and has a layer of liquid on top when you take it out the fridge, then it’s too sour to use. Refresh as normal and bake a couple of sourdough loaves!
- For best results and a lighter loaf, use more white flour. I use about 50% strong white bread flour in all yeasted loaves.
- The olive oil is added to give the loaf a longer shelf life.
Leftover Sourdough Starter Bread
Ingredients
- 180 g sourdough starter
- 400 g bread flour (60% white and 40% wholemeal)
- 250 ml water (lukewarm )
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 7 g yeast (quick yeast or activated yeast)
Instructions
This recipe follows the technique of a plain yeasted loaf.
- If using activated yeast, dissolve it in the water.
- Bring the ingredients together and then knead the dough thoroughly until smooth and pliable, either by hand or with a stand mixer and dough hook.
- Return the dough to the bowl, cover and place somewhere warm to rise until it’s about doubled in volume, and feels springy to the touch. This will take about an hour.
- Butter a 900g loaf tin.
- Turn the dough out onto the work surface , knock back and form into a loaf, and place in a buttered baking tin. Cover or place in a plastic bag tied shut. Place in the warm location used in step two.
- Allow to rise again for about 45 minutes, until the dough just springs back when pressed.
- Bake at 180°C (fan) / 350°F (fan) / GM 6 for about 40 minutes
- The loaf is done when it sounds hollow on the bottom when tapped. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- Use up leftover leaven in our leftover sourdough leaven loaf
Sally - My Custard Pie
How timely. The person taking care of my sour dough starter only fed it every two weeks. Have poured off the vile grey liquid and scooped out some to try and revive. A mass of slightly bubbly, thick starter remains. Will try this out.
Helen
Let me know how it goes Sally.
Camilla
Looks lovely – wish my hubby baked me bread! A fab #CreditCrunchMunch recipe;-)
Helen
Ed was sent on a bread course and always does the baking now.
Emily
That looks like a loaf that Paul would be approving of. Nice work! x
Helen
Ed is the expert baker, I cannot remember the last time I did anything with yeast or sourdough.
nazima
I must get my sourdough baking back on track. I like the idea of adding levain to a yeasted dough to add a nicer flavour and boost the yeast factor!
Helen
It is a great way not to waste the leaven, we are experimenting with adding to all sorts of bakes.
Jeanne Horak-Druiff
Mmm, I do love the tang of sourdough – intrigued by this hybrid loaf! Very envious of bread-baking Ed – does he make house-calls? ;)
Helen
I can send him over Jeanne!
Elizabeth
I went through a spell of making sourdough and then I stopped and I’m pretty sure my starter was a biohazard! I really ought to get back into it. This recipe looks amazing, and thank you for sharing it with the No Waste Food Challenge!
Helen
Make more sourdough ELizabeth. Although I am very fortunate that Ed does it.
Laura @ KneadWhine
Ooh – I really failed with sourdough last time I tried – looks like Ed is making good use of all of the product here! Yum!
Helen
I think to make good sourdough you really need to do a course Laura. You can make it from books, but it is such a tactile skill and the leaven behaves so differently in different temperatures and humidity that judgement is really important.
Jacqueline Meldrum
It looks like a great loaf of bread Helen. I really need to get back into breadmaking.
Helen
There is nothing like good homemade bread
Bob
That’s a good looking loaf, & I like the idea of not throwing away any leaven. Too good to waste!
Helen
thanks Bob. We hate food waste and the use of the leaven makes a massive difference to the flavour of the loaf.
Sarah Hernande
I think that German bakers make yeast assisted sourdough loaves.
Helen
That is really interesting Sarah. We do it to stop the food waste, and it makes the loaf faster.
Rachel Anderson
Baking bread shows such dedication! Sourdough even more so. Wish I really had the time, because this looks so much better than a packet from the supermarket.
Helen
The actual hands on time is not that much. It is a good project for the weekend when you are at home to “tend” to it.
Andy
Hi there,
Thanks for sharing this! I had a question about the baking. Can you tell me what this means:
Allow to rise again and then bake at 180 fan/Gas mark 6 for 40 minutes.
180 degrees? Fan/gas mark 6? I’ve been baking loaves recently at 450 deg. recently and just wanted to sure about the temp. Wasn’t sure what fan/gas mark 6 meant too. I’m new so I’m sorry if this is a silly question.
Ed
Not a silly question at all! We have a UK gas oven, which is graduated from gas mark 1 to 9. Gas mark 6 equates to 180°C (Fan oven) or 350°F (Fan oven). Typically, most conversion charts go 20°C/40°F higher for non-fan ovens, but you know your oven best!
Thorunn Sleight
How funny – I NEVER throw away any of my starter. I keep it in the refrigerator and feed it about once a week. I bake all sorts of things with it regularly: lovely light sourdough loaves in a Dutch oven, rye loaves in a bread tin, English muffins, crumpets, and now today the recipe for blini for an up-and-coming New Year’s brunch! If I haven’t been baking and my starter builds up too much, I fry some in butter for a lovely lunch topped with smoked ham. Going to try making your interesting Swedish Limpa loaf next week!