Sourdough Starter (and Sourdough Crackers and Sourdogh Pancakes)

It's Ann's fault. She posted a lovely picture of a sourdough bread she baked, and I wanted to make one. And since I had no starter, I started one (named Herbert for now). But Herbert-the-starter is very young, so as I feed him and wait for him to mature, I use his castoffs for baking crackers and pancakes so far.

  



The starter uses 50% flour, 50% water, and time - I mostly followed this recipe http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-starter-recipe except initially I used 1/4 semolina flour and 3/4 all purpose flour.
   
Herbert looks like this now:
     

   

 Parmesan Sourdough Crackers

Ingredients:

• 120 grams all purpose flour
• 240 grams ‘unfed’ sourdough starter  (1 cup, what I removed before feeding my starter)
• 2 ounces butter, room temperature (or olive oil)
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese (or other herbs)
• 1/2 teaspoon powdered garlic
   
• Baking spray (or olive oil for brushing)
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt (or so, for sprinkling)

   

Instructions:

1. Mix together the flour, sourdough starter, butter, Parmesan & garlic powder to make a smooth but not sticky dough.
2. Divide the dough in half, and shape each half into a small ball.
   (I put them back in the bowl I used for mixing.)
3. Cover with clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Let sit for at room temperature for a couple of hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
   (Wait 15 minutes or so for your oven to come up to temperature.)
5. Lightly flour a piece of parchment and a rolling pin.
6. Working with one piece at a time, pat the dough flat on the parchment paper, and flour the top as needed.
7. Roll the dough out to about 1/16" thick, or as thin as possible.
   (You are trying to spread it out over most of the parchment paper sheet.)
8. Although the dough will have uneven edges, try to make it as even as possible.
   (Try to make the thickness as even as possible as well.)
9. Roll out the second dough piece on a separate piece of parchment paper.
10. Lightly brush the dough with oil (or spray with cooking spray)
11. Sprinkle the salt over the top of the crackers, and about 1 tablespoons additional Parmesan cheese per parchment paper.
12. Cut the dough into about 1 1/4" squares - perhaps using a rolling pizza wheel
    (I have a plastic Ulu-like knife I used)
13. Prick each square with the tines of a fork (this is to keep the crackers flatter.)
14. Slide the dough covered parchment papers onto two baking sheets.
15. Bake the crackers for about 10 minutes, turn pans.
16. Bake another 8 or so minutes until the squares are starting to brown around the edges.
17. Watch carefully - they should NOT get brown all over. 
18. When the edges are browned, remove the crackers from the oven, and transfer them to a cooling rack.
    (You make want to remove the edge ones, and let the center ones cook another couple of minutes.)
19. Store airtight at room temperature for up to a week - or just eat them.

Carole's Notes on the Parmesan Sourdough Crackers:

The sourdough crackers recipe is lightly adapted from http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-crackers-recipe. I thought these were very tasty - one batch did not last 24 hours in my household. You can experiment with other herbs instead of the Parmesan cheese.

Sourdough Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sourdough starter, room temperature (what I removed before feeding my starter)
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 tablespoon water

Instructions:

1. Mix sourdough starter, sugar, egg, oil, and salt in a medium bowl.
2. In a small cup, mix 1/2 teaspoon baking soda in the 1/2 tablespoon of warm water 
   (wait to mix this in until the griddle is hot and you are ready to cook the pancakes.)
3. Heat griddle to medium-low (or whatever temperature you typically use for pancakes)
4. Lightly butter the hot grill.
5. Gently fold the baking soda/water into the prepared pancake batter.
   (This should cause a gentle foaming and rising action in the batter.) 
6. Let the batter  foam a minute or two before using.)
7. Pour the sourdough pancake batter onto the griddle
   (I make 12 smallish ones using about 1/4 cup batter, but you may choose to make larger ones)
8. Cook the pancakes 1 to 2 minute on each side until golden brown.
9. Remove from heat and serve.

Carole's Notes on the Sourdough Pancakes:

The sourdough pancakes recipe is lightly adapted to serve 2 from http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/SourdoughPancakes.htm. I made them with 1/2 cup sour dough starter which I refreshed and let sit for 1/2 hour or so. I thought these were too thick looking before I added the egg, so I added another 1/4 cup water. Then they were too thin, so I added in some more flour. I thought they were fine, but Doug likes thicker pancakes. Next time, I will simply follow the instructions above for thicker ones.

Mixed Berry Syrup

I made a simple berry syrup by heating 1 cup of mixed frozen berries, 5 frozen strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup water on the stove for a few minutes. I let the syrup simmer while prepping and cooking the pancakes.