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Simple Daily Dough Recipe Using Leftover Sourdough Starter


If you have a sourdough starter going at home (like this one), you are definitely producing excess starter on a daily basis. Instead of wasting that starter, the easiest thing I've found to do is to turn it into a simple, versatile dough - what I call my "Simple Daily Dough". This dough can then be used for all sorts of things. My two favorites are as pizza dough in my Cast Iron Pizza or in my Sourdough Loaf.

Most recipes call for a bit of sourdough starter mixed in with more water and flour to create a large amount of dough for bread or other purpose.

The trick I like is to add just enough flour and salt to the wet leftover starter to form a dough ball. Then you don't waste any unnecessary flour or water to bulk up the amount. Plus you get extra sour flavor in the dough because of the high concentration of starter.

If a recipe calls for more dough than what one day makes, I just store the dough in the fridge covered in a bowl and wait another day to make a second batch of dough. I then marry the two dough balls into one and now have more dough to work with.

Forming the dough could not be easier. If you follow my sourdough starter recipe, you will have 250g of starter each day. 50g of that is used for the next batch of starter, leaving 200g. You likely won't get all 200g out of the jar, but you should get at least 175g called for in this recipe.

Ingredients Option 1 - this makes about half a pound

  • 175g sourdough starter
  • 70g all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon (3g) kosher salt

Ingredients Option 2 - this makes one pound

  • 175g sourdough starter
  • 200g all purpose flour
  • 75g water
  • 6g kosher salt (1 tsp)

Directions

  • Combine ingredients in a mixing bowl.
  • Once loosely combined, dump directly onto a clean, smooth counter top or other surface that the dough can be easily scraped off of.
  • Bring the ingredients together until a ball is formed. Note the dough will be sticky. Use light fingers and light palms to work the ingredients together. The harder you press, the more it will stick.
  • Once the dough forms a ball, begin to feel how wet and sticky it is. You do want it slightly wet but not so wet that it sticks to everything and has a tough time holding a ball form.
  • If too wet, add a 1-2 teaspoons of flour at a time until the dough becomes more workable. However, you don't want the dough to get too dry. The sign to watch for is as you knead the dough, if the fold doesn't stick and hold right away and you can still see the fold, then it is now too dry. 
  • If it becomes too dry, you can add 1 teaspoon of water at a time and work that in until the dough ball is just right, not too sticky and not too dry.
  • Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. I like to use both palms for kneading to make it go faster - right palm push down and forward, left palm push down and forward. Start with soft and light presses and gently work into harder presses. This will help keep the dough from sticking to your palms
  • If any dough sticks to your palm or fingers, just rub it off as best you can back onto the counter to be picked up by the dough ball.
  • Once you have a smooth, elastic dough ball, put it in a clean, dry bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.
  • If you plan to use same day (within 3-6 hours), you can leave it out at room temperature for its first rise. Otherwise, put in the fridge for up to 48 hours until you are ready to use.
  • And if you find the taste of the finished product ends up too sour or yeast-y, then go back to a recipe that uses less sourdough starter by bulking it up with more water and flour.

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