hello hello and welcome to ‘september is for sourdough’!
new on bbs
Sourdough Scones
Flaky, buttery with crispy edges and soft middles - made with discard with lots of customization options.
also in scones
Banana Scones
The scone version of banana bread, lots of lovely banana and cinnamon flavors wrapped up in a moist (but not soft!) brown butter, crumbly scone.
that sourdough scone recipe is based off..
Sourdough Biscuits
Homemade sourdough buttermilk biscuits with crispy edges and an incredibly tender, fluffy center. Sourdough, fed or unfed adds wonderful flavor and texture.
popular this week
Oat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
The CHEWIEST because that’s what oat flour does and that’s why I love it. If your oat flour is gluten free (and your chocolate) these can be too!
reader review
“Just made this! I added a little lemon zest and cardamom to the dough for extra flavor. This came out super tasty and good! I would definitely make this again, maybe next time I’d add some sliced almonds on top for more crunch! I don’t have a stand mixer so I just kneaded the dough by hand, which is possible but very sticky! What a lovely recipe, thank you for sharing!” - SK on Banana Babka
weekly reads & notes
“Sarah Bond discusses in her book [groups] comparable to modern labor unions [including] ship operators who threatened to withhold shipments of wheat if their working condition demands weren’t met, bakers withholding bread as leverage to have their demands met, ordinary Roman citizens boycotting being conscripted into the Roman military due to the negative economic impacts and debts they often accrued from being forced to do so, slave and gladiator rebellions”. Gladiator rebellions and bread strikes: ancient Rome’s labor unions revealed, The Guardian.
As of this week ‘buttermilk weekly’ is now 1 year old! Last summer I told myself I would give it a year and hope by then I’d reach 100 subscribers interested in the member-only recipes. If not, I’d just stop. Happily, I reached that goal well before summer and still feel there’s so much I want to share with this group of people who are interested in recipes that are off the beaten path.
P.S. if your membership renewed this week and you didn’t realize it/didn’t want to continue let me know and I can try to fix that - I want to make sure everyone is here by choice!
I mentioned I was in a temp location for the time being and working with a ‘new’ oven (to me anyway). It’s been a few years since I’ve baked in an oven that wasn’t my own and it has made me so much more sympathetic to people who find my listed bake times off. I baked a loaf of sourdough last week and when the timer went off at 30 mins, I noticed it wasn’t nearly as brown or done as I’m used to by then so I decided to leave it in another 5 minutes. I then got busy with the girls and forgot about it. Left it in a full 20 more minutes than usual and when I hastily took it out.. it was exactly as if I had baked it the usual 30!! Another example, I made some chocolate chip cookies and also had to bake them about 7 mins longer than usual. I also totally messed up some meringues which usually spend the night in the oven. The oven temp is the same (I check it through two additional thermometers I have inside) but the oven is just working differently than what I’m used to. It makes me realize more and more how listed baking times are just a very loose guide and we should always - always be looking for visual cues: are the cookies browned on the edges and set in the middle? Does the cake spring back when pressed? In the case of bread you can use a thermometer; 190 F means it’s done. When you see a listed baking time, take it as a “maybe this”, hopefully there’s a range so you can check it at the lesser time and for doneness look and check for the right signals.
Turns out I am not alone in pairing autumn’s first month with sourdough! #sourdoughseptember was started back in 2013 by The Real Bread Company to get people to bake, showcase and share their sourdough creations.
Did you see or read about the lady who made a sourdough loaf dough on an airplane then got schooled by tiktok? ;p
I saw this line awhile back and and it rang so true to me (as you’ll see over the next few weeks!): “…that’s the main thing I like about sourdough discard recipes, as opposed to bread: bread takes so much precision, whereas discard is more about playing in the kitchen, something I have always enjoyed.” From, What do I do with sourdough discard? Eater.
and for members
Sourdough Conchas
Soft and buttery brioche rolls topped with a crispy cinnamon and sugar topping. These are made with sourdough discard which gives the enriched dough a deeper, bakery-style flavor.