sourdough – Embracing Motherhood

Tag Archive for: sourdough

How to Make Whole Wheat Sourdough Muffins

Embracing Motherhood How to Make Sourdough Muffins

I have tried so many different recipes for sourdough bread, and I never found anything that really worked (or that I really liked) until I stumbled across this recipe and found the perfect solution! Who needs to make loaves of bread when you can have these perfect, single size, delicious little muffins? We love eating them toasted for breakfast with butter or cream cheese, as an “English muffin” for an egg sandwich, with lunch meat and cheese for a portable school lunch, or as a bun for hamburgers. Everyone who comes over LOVES these muffins!

The sourdough process is extremely beneficial for your health because it is the best way to get rid of the phytic acid in the grain. Phytic acid prevents us from absorbing phosphorus and it leaches valuable minerals from our bodies. (Read my blog: The Dangers of Phytic Acid and What to Do About It to learn more.) It also breaks down the sugars in the grain which makes it easier to digest.

Ingredients

1 c. Sourdough Starter (Blog Post: Sourdough Starter Recipe)
2 c. Raw Milk (Blog Post: Why We Drink Raw Milk)
4 c. Fresh Ground Flour (I get my wheat berries here, but you can find some similar here too. I use this grinder. You could also just buy some organic sprouted grain flour here.)
*2 T. Raw Honey (Optional: It helps to neutralize the sour flavor. Get some here.)
1 ½ t. Real Salt (I buy my Real Salt in bulk here, you can buy a shaker here, or a refill pouch here.)
2 t. Baking Soda (Optional too, I think it just helps them rise a bit better.)
Coconut Oil (To grease your hands and the pans. This coconut oil would be best, but on our budget, I buy this.)

Materials

Mixing bowl
Towel or saran wrap
Stirring utensil
Baking sheet (I use the standard baking sheets I’ve had forever, but in a perfect world where money was no option, I would love some stone baking ware like this.)

Directions

Part 1: Mix it Up and Let it Sit

Mix together the sourdough starter and the milk. I usually don’t mix it until it is completely dissolved, I just try to stir it up for a bit to make sure it mixes more evenly when the flour is added.
*Add the honey. If you are going to add the honey, now would be a good time. My raw honey is usually solid at room temperature, so I put it in a glass cup and microwave it until it melts. (I added this when I first started making these to cut down on the sour flavor, but now that my family is used to it, I don’t add this anymore!)
Add the flour until you achieve a solid, but pliable consistency. When you use freshly ground flour, it has plenty of phytase that will break down the phytic acid. (Read more about the dangers of phytic acid here.) If you don’t have the time to grind it fresh every time you use it, you can always leave your flour in a sealed container on your countertop at room temperature. Just don’t freeze it or it will kill the phytase.
Cover with a towel (or saran wrap) and leave in a warm undisturbed place for 8 hours. It is best if it can be slightly warm during this process (but not over 90°F). I usually just tuck mine away on the counter during the warmer days, but if it’s cold, I’ll put it on top of the stove and turn on the stove to like 200°F.
*Notes: If you’re just starting to get your family used to the taste of sourdough, I would start out only letting it sit for a few hours. This will still be enough time for the sourdough to break down some of the phytic acid. Then, you can gradually increase the time to 8 hours, and you can even leave it overnight if that’s more convenient. If you set it out and 8 hours later, you’re not ready to make your muffins, pop it into the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.

Part 2: Make Your Muffins

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
Get the dough ready. The dough mixture should have risen to almost double its size by this time, and you’ll need to use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to loosen the mixture before dumping it onto your countertop. (*If it didn’t rise, it probably wasn’t warm enough, or maybe the starter isn’t good anymore.)
Add dry ingredients and knead. Sprinkle your salt and baking soda on top of your lump, grease up your hands with some coconut oil, and knead the dough to mix everything in. *If your dough is too soupy, you can add a little bit of flour at a time until its more stiff and pliable. **It is very important that you don’t add the salt until the end because it hinders the fermentation process. You don’t want to skip it though because it tightens the gluten structure and prevents the dough from getting too sticky.
Sourdough Mixture Ready to Make Muffins
Grease the baking sheets. I like to use coconut oil.
Make dough blobs. Make sure your hands stay nice and greased up with coconut oil and then pull apart a little blobs of the dough, roll them in your hands until they are formed into nice little cookie dough balls, and place them on the baking sheets. (This recipe should make enough for two sheets of muffins.)

Rolling Dough Into Balls (Yes, my pans are atrocious!)
Flatten the blobs. Use the palm of your hand to press them down, and then even out with your fingers.

Flatten the Dough Balls
Place the muffins sheets on top of the warm oven. Cover with some towels and leave them to rise for about an hour. (If you don’t have an oven underneath your stove, you can turn your stove to warm and place them inside with the door open.)
Covered Sourdough Muffins
Bake at 350˚F for 10 minutes.
Place in Ziploc bags and store in the fridge or freezer. I like to cut them in half and toast them or use for sandwiches, English muffins, hamburgers, etc.
Sourdough Muffins Fresh Out of the Oven

*I adapted this recipe from The Fresh Loaf, which is a GREAT resource for all bread making.

Tips and Tricks

Cutting these little buggers in half can be a little tricky, but my husband came up with a way that works really well even on the thinnest of muffins. First of all, hold the muffin up on its side and insert just the tip of the knife all around the edges (almost like you’re scoring it). Then, gently saw back and forth while rotating the muffin in a circular motion until you get to the middle. Walla!

cutting technique for homemade sourdough muffins

How to Cut These Sourdough Muffins

These muffins are kind of little, so they can get stuck in a toaster. I prefer making them in my toaster oven.

Toasted Sourdough Muffins with Butter

These muffins taste great with an egg sandwich, with scrambled eggs, or my favorite…sunny side up eggs!

Check out my sourdough starter recipe here, or take a peek at some of my other sourdough recipes like these sourdough pancakes and sourdough pizza crust.

February 21, 2020/by Stacey Maaser

How to Make Your Own Sourdough Starter

General, Grain, Recipes

Using sourdough is one of the pillars of healthy eating in our family because it is the best way to get rid of phytic acid, which is in all grains (and basically anything that is a seed) and prevents us from accessing the much needed phosphorus located in grains and leaches minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, and magnesium. (Read more about phytic acid in my blog here.) Not only that, but the souring process breaks down all of the sugars in the flour and makes it much easier for the body to digest. Making sourdough can seem like a daunting task at first, but once you get the sourdough starter established, it can become a very easy part of your routine.

I got my first sourdough starter from a friend, and things didn’t turn out so well. The problem could have been any or all of the following: 1) the starter flour was different than the flour I was using to bake with, 2) my gallon size jars were too big, 3) my hard winter wheat grain was too dense, and/or 4) I didn’t feed it enough. So I scrapped the project and waited until I had more time to do it properly. Now, I have an excellent starter that’s nice and poofy, some great containers, the perfect grain, the time to feed it regularly, and some great sourdough recipes that I love using.

Materials Needed

Sourdough Starter Packet (I got mine from Breadtopia via Amazon)
Wide Mouth Mason Jars (I use 2 jars at a time. You can get some here or in the canning aisle at your local grocery store.)
Coffee Filters (To cover the mason jars. This keeps out the fruit flies and lets the sourdough “breathe”.)
Fresh Ground Grain – (I get my organic prairie gold wheat berries here, but you can find some similar here too. I use my Wondermill Grain Grinder to grind it up, but you can also get a hand operated grain mill if you’re looking for a cheaper option.*I’ve tried hard winter wheat berries, and they just didn’t work as well.)
Filtered Water (We have city water that fortunately has no flouride, and we bought a simple filter to get the chlorine and other chemicals out. You can also let water sit out for 24 hours to evaporate the chlorine.)

Sourdough Starter

Starting the Starter:

Put 1 t. of dried starter into your mason jar(s) and add 1 T of lukewarm filtered water. Stir until softened.
Add 1 T of freshly ground flour and stir. (You can grind a big batch of flour and keep it on your countertop, which is what I do, or you can get a little coffee grinder and grind some fresh every day. The more freshly ground the flour, the more phytase will be available to break down the mineral leeching phytic acid. Don’t freeze your flour, this will “kill” all of the phytase.)
Cover the mason jar with a coffee filter, screw the cap on to keep it in place (or place a rubber band around it), and let it sit for 24 hours.
For the first few days, you’ll just add tablespoons of water and flour, but once your starter is established (you will notice the bubbling action of the fermentation), you can increase the amounts to ¹⁄₃ c. of flour and ¹⁄₄ c. of water. *You want the consistency to be soft but not soupy, and you want to be able to mix it easily.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my sourdough established? After you feed your sourdough and let it sit for 24 hours, you should see it get poofy, double in size, and there should be little holes dotted throughout. Because of this, you never want to let your jar(s) get too full.
How should I maintain the starter? If you’re like me and want to use the starter as often as you can for things like sourdough muffins, sourdough pancakes, and sourdough pizza crust, you’ll want to leave it on the counter in warmish place (not near a drafty window) where it can be left undisturbed but remain within easy reach, and feed it ¹⁄₃ c. of flour and ¹⁄₄ c. of water every day. If you won’t be using it very often, you can keep it in your refrigerator. When you want to use it, take it out of the refrigerator, feed it, and let it sit out until it gets nice and poofy again, preferably 24 hours. Try not to let more than 2 weeks go by between feedings.
What if I need more? You can always double the amount of flour and water each time you feed your starter or feed it every 12 hours if you need a quick boost in volume.
What should I do if I forget to feed my starter every day? If you miss a day here and there, you should be fine. But if you miss more than a couple of days and the starter starts to turn black, you are getting near the point of no return. But still, try to feed it, stir it really well, and see if it will come back.
How do I know if my starter has gone bad? Make it a point to really stick your nose in your starter and smell it when it is first established. It should have a pleasantly sour smell. If it goes bad, it will have a rotten and putrid smell. When this happens, you just have to throw it away and start over.
When should I clean out my jars? When wet sourdough dries, it is VERY hard to clean! This is why I highly recommend cleaning any measuring cups with sourdough starter in them right away! If you notice that the inside sides of your jars are getting caked with lots of dry sourdough and especially if the dried sourdough is turning black, it’s time to clean your jars! Get a fresh clean mason jar(s), transfer as much of the wet starter as you can into the new jar, and soak the dirty jar in hot soapy water. Warning: It will not be easy or fun to clean! It will require a lot of scraping and perhaps even some more soaking, but you will be glad you did it when it’s over. 🙂
Why should I go to all of the trouble of using sourdough anyways? All grains (as well as seeds, nuts, corn, oats, tubers, and bean…even coffee beans) contain phytic acid. Phytic acid is found in the hull of the grain and protects it. If we eat phytic acid without breaking it down first, not only can we not access the phosphorus inside (which is needed by every cell in the body), but it leaches valuable minerals (such as calcium, iron, zinc, and magnesium) from our bodies. By making sourdough, we are releasing the phytase within the grain which is the only thing that can break down the phytic acid. I did an insane amount of research to learn more about this fascinating topic and you can read more about what I learned in my blog: The Dangers of Phytic Acid and What to Do About It.
Where can I find some good sourdough recipes? Well, I’m glad you asked! It just so happens that I have a collection of my favorite sourdough recipes here. I especially like my sourdough muffin recipe.
Sourdough Muffins

November 21, 2015/by Stacey Maaser

Pizza Toast: Your Kids’ New Favorite Food

General, Pizza, Recipes

When my sister Lisa was visiting recently from Oklahoma, I loved seeing how much my little two year old nephew Tristan loved his “pizza toast”, and it inspired me to make some pizza toast of my own! I went on a little pancake binge not too long ago and created every conceivable recipe for pancakes that I could imagine (I have since created several more, but I’m sick of writing recipes for pancakes!) Well, now I feel like everything is coming up pizza these days! And why not? Kids love pizza, it’s a great way to incorporate a mixture of foods and flavors, and there are many different ways to make it if you’re feeling creative!

Ingredients

Sourdough Muffins (or whatever kind of bread you have or like to use)
Butter
Organic Tomato Sauce (glass jars are best, but we make do)
Herbs and Spices (basil, oregano, garlic powder, and salt)
Mozzarella Cheese (shredded, or any cheese you like or have around)
Toppings (pepperoni, ground hamburger, lunch meat, green pepper, tomato, green olives, etc.)

Directions

Cut the sourdough muffins in half and top generously with butter. (I like putting my salt and garlic powder on at this point, but it can go on top of the sauce too.)
Sourdough Muffins Topped with Butter, Garlic Powder, and Salt
Place a spoonful of tomato sauce on top of each muffin and spread using the back of the spoon.
Sourdough Muffins Topped with Tomato Sauce
Top with herbs and spices.
Sprinkle generously with cheese.
Sourdough Muffins Topped with Mozzarella Cheese
Add any desired toppings.
Pop in the toaster oven for 10 minutes (or until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted and bubbly).
Pizza Toast with Pepperoni
Use a pizza cutter to cut into little pieces. (My kids always like eating bite sized things.)
Pizza Toast Cut Up Into Bite Sized Pieces

June 24, 2015/by Stacey Maaser

How to Make Paninis That Will Knock Your Socks Off!

General, Grain, Recipes

Finally, I have a reason to use my George Foreman grill again! Remember back in the day when everyone thought that high protein, low-fat diets were healthy? (You know that we were misguided then, right?) Well, when I learned the truth about fats and how good it was to eat fats with their attached proteins (thank you Sally Fallon), I put my George Foreman grill on the shelf. Well, now thanks to one of my lunchtime panini cravings, the Foreman is back!

It all started when my husband and I stopped at a little deli the other day, excited to try one of their advertised special paninis. At the mere mention of said panini, my mouth started watering in anticipation. The crisp bread, the melted cheese, the caccophony of flavors, I could hardly wait! But then, as I bit into the premade deli sandwich, I was crestfallen at the reality of the flavor, or the lack thereof.

So, I went on a mission t