Baking

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Chocolate Chip Sourdough Batter Bread

I had a bunch of starter to use up today.

This is about six cups of mixed starters including – quinoa, brown rice, whole wheat, spelt, and all purpose. Use whatever starter that you have.

At least six cups to be exact. What should I do with all of it? Invent a new batter bread of course! It uses up a lot of starter and it’s yummy!

The recipe below is for one loaf. You can easily double, triple, or in my case quadruple it depending on how much starter you have to use up.

Sourdough Chocolate Chip Batter Bread:

2 cups sourdough starter

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix all of the above together until well blended.

Then add…

1/2 cup of flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup+ chocolate chips

Mix well. Add more flour if needed until the batter resembles the texture of soft cream cheese.

Grease a loaf pan or 8×8 casserole dish, pour in your batter, let it rise 1-2 hours or until your batter is about 1/2 inch from the top of your pan if using a loaf pan, or about 1/2 way up if using an 8×8 pan.

Poured in the loaf pans. Ready to rise.

Bake at 400 for 35 minutes. If using a loaf pan or may need 10 minutes more. To ensure that the bread is done, check the center with a skewer as you would test a cake, or use an instant read thermometer. Internal temp should be between 190-200 degrees.

If the bread is already looking brown at the 35 minute mark, tent with foil and continue baking if more time is needed.

It’s tasty!

And if you want to learn more, check out Homesteading Family’s the Art of Homemade Bread course. It will teach you all you need to know about making healthy bread at home.

Note: This post contains affiliate links.

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Lemon Blueberry “Bunny” Cake – regular and sourdough versions!

Isn’t he cute?

This cake is not only cute, but delicious. He certainly brightened up our Easter table. And he’s allergy friendly too. This cake is free of eggs, nuts, and dairy. I made it with sourdough, but if you don’t have a sourdough starter, you can easily make it without. Modifications for the non-sourdough version are written below the picture of the recipe card.

Regular (not sourdough) Bunny Cake:

To make this cake without sourdough, simply omit the sourdough, and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Use 3 full cups of flour and use 2 tsp of baking powder instead of baking soda. Follow the rest of the recipe as written.

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Orange Spice Chocolate Cake

This is delicious and healthy. Try it!

Orange Spice Chocolate Cake:

This is an egg and dairy free recipe.

This recipe makes one large 9×13” casserole dish. For a square 8×8” dish, divide the recipe in half.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

4 tbls cocoa powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

Mix all the above ingredients well.

Next stir in….

2 cups finely grated carrot

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix these until the carrots are completely coated with flour.

Now add….

2/3 oil

2 cups water with 3 tbls frozen orange juice concentrate dissolved in the water

Combine all the ingredients and pour in your casserole or cake pans.

Bake on 350 for 35 minutes.

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Garlic Herb Sourdough Batter Bread

 

 

This batter bread is delicious, savory, and filling. Trying as a surprise side dish with dinner. It’s great way to use up your extra sourdough starter.

Garlic Herb Batter Bread:

3/4 cup sourdough starter

1 tsp. salt

1 cup water

1 tsp baking soda

1 tbls garlic powder or granulated garlic

1 tbls Italian seasoning

handful of sliced black olives

Add all purpose flour 1/2 cup at a time until the batter resembles a stiff buttercream frosting.

To bake, spray a casserole with oil. Pour in the batter and let it rise in a warm place for 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes.

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Banana Chocolate Chip Sourdough Batter Bread

Try this with your mature sourdough starter. (Note: If your starter is not mature yet, you can still make this. Double the starter and baking soda and decrease the water half.)

1 cup activated starter (this means starter that has been fed within the past 2 hours)

1 cup water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup oil

3 mashed bananas

Mix all these wet ingredients. Then add….

2 tbls cocoa powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp baking soda

Handful of chocolate chips

Add flour until the dough resembles a stiff buttercream frosting.

Pour into an oiled or buttered casserole. Let it rise, covered, in a warm place until it reaches the top of the pan, or about 2 hours.

Remove the cover and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Poured into casserole. Ready to rise.

Risen for two hours. Ready for the oven.

And if you want to learn more, check out Homesteading Family’s the Art of Homemade Bread course. It will teach you all you need to know about making healthy bread at home.

Note: This post contains affiliate links.

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Minimalist Pancakes

If you have someone in your household that can’t eat anything, then these pancakes are for you. Only five ingredients. My son will verify that they are quite tasty. Only prerequisite is that you need to be able to have a gluten based grain.

2 cups flour (For added nutrition use sprouted grain. I use sprouted spelt.)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbls baking powder

1/4 cup oil

2 cups water

If using whole grains mix and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. Stir vigorously to develop the gluten until it is a smooth, stretchy batter.

Cook at medium high heat on a lightly oiled skillet. Freeze excess or store in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Enjoy!

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Apple Cinnamon Sourdough Batter Bread

We’ve been playing with sourdough at my house lately. If you’d like to learn how to make your own, I highly recommend The Art of Homemade Bread Class (affiliate link) taught by Carolyn Thomas at Homesteading Family. She has a whole section on sourdough that is excellent. She breaks it down into simple steps that so that the follow through is easy.

My daughter even decided to do sourdough as her science experiment this year. We have had 10 different starters growing at our house. Which means we have been baking A LOT!

Here is my latest favorite.

Apple Cinnamon Sourdough Batter Bread:

Add 3 approximately 2.5-3 cups of immature (or mature) starter to your mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp salt, and about 1/2 cup flour. Stir to combine. Let this mixture sit and bubble while you butter your casserole and chop your apples.

Generously butter a glass casserole dish and set aside. Peel and chop 3 apples. Pour the chopped apples into the bowl with the batter, and add 1 tsp of cinnamon, dash of cloves, 2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 cup cream, 1/4 cup mild tasting oil, 1/4 cup brown sugar. Stir to combine. Then add flour 1/4 cup at a time until your batter is stiff like a cold buttercream frosting. It may not take much flour if your starter is thick. I added less than 1 cup to mine. Once you have achieved the right texture, pour into your prepared baking dish and sprinkle 1/4 cup of brown sugar over the top. Cover and let it rise for 30 minutes. Then back at 400 for 40-45 minutes.

About 3 cups of immature spelt starter.

Buttered casserole.

3 Opal apples. Use a sweet apple like Fuji, Gala or Braeburn, rather than tart.

Peeled and chopped.

Add to batter.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix. Be prepared. The baking soda will make the mixture foam and bubble.

All combined.

Poured into pan, covered and set to rise for 30 minutes.

Fresh out of the oven.

How to make batter bread with a mature starter:

You can also use a mature starter to bake batter bread with just a few modifications. Take 1 cup of your mature starter and add 1 cup of warm water, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 cup flour. Let this mixture sit and activate for 2-2.5 hours. While it sits peel and chop the apples. Add the apple, cinnamon, cloves, oil, and 1 tsp baking soda to the batter mixture. Stir and add flour until the dough is a stiff batter. Sprinkle brown sugar on top and let it rise 2-3 hours. Bake 400 for 40 minutes or until the dough temperature is 190 degrees.

August 29, 2020

Edited to add that this also comes out great in a loaf pan. I like to make it in loaves when I want to have extra to freeze.

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Sprouting Grains

Sprouted and ready to store in the freezer.

I’ve been sprouting spelt for the last 9 months to grind to make our bread each week. I was so intimidated by the idea when I started. And I really couldn’t find any reliable information or consistent techniques online. But, now that I have it figured out….. it’s so easy! There’s really nothing to it. Once you have it worked into your routine, you can easily sprout a batch ahead, and always benefit from the additional nutrition that sprouting makes accessible to your body in your breads and baked goods.

Easy Steps to Sprouting Grain:

(These steps work with any grain.)

  1. Soak your grain in a large bowl overnight, or for about 10-12 hours.
  2. Drain into a mesh colander and rinse.
  3. Return the drained grain to the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel.
  4. Rinse every 6-12 hours, depending on how fast it dries out until you see little tails at the tips of each seed.
  5. Spread on your dehydrator and dehydrate 110-120 degrees (I usually do 115) until the grain is hard and cannot be indented when pressed upon by the end of your fingernail.
  6. Store in sealed mason jars in the freezer if you don’t plan to grind your grain within 2 days.

That’s it! Give it a try. Sprouted grain makes a softer flour, is easier to grind than unsprouted, and I think makes lighter baked goods.

Unsprouted spelt berries.

Cover with water and soak for 12 hours.

 

Sprouted. See the tiny tails on the tip of each seed?

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Before dehydrating.

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After dehydrating.

Dehydrated and ready to go in the grain mill.

In the mill. About to become flour.

Compare: Left – after dehydrating, Right – before dehydrating.

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The Benefits of Baking Day

I have a page in the “Kitchen” on my blog called “Baking Day.” In it I wax poetic thinking of Ma Ingalls and my great-grandmother, Maggie, working in their kitchens. I imagine them in their vintage aprons, leaning over their wooden kitchen tables, kneading their bread. They have flour dust on their faces from swiping back the wisps of hair from their faces that have fallen down.

Not many people have a baking day anymore. Each day is much the same as another, running from one errand or activity to another. But, for the last 2 years or so, Saturday has become my baking day. I often will go grocery shopping in the morning, and spend the rest of the day cooking. It’s exhausting but rewarding. Sometimes it’s hectic. Especially when we have another activity that day that cuts into my baking time. But, I’m learning to guard my time on Saturdays as much as possible. That time in the kitchen is valuable to me. And it can be quite pleasant. If the kids are outside, I can sing, listen to music, listen to a podcast, or just get lost in my own thoughts. The kitchen is a good place for that. I’m finding that between technology, daily appointments, and the responsibility of teaching and caring for the kids (all of which have their place in life), I don’t have enough of that quiet time in my head.

Baking day helps me be well prepared for my week. On a typical baking day, I produce a lot of breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and sometimes dinner prep that help me survive Monday through Friday when I just don’t have the time to devote to the kitchen. Below are some photos of what I typically make. Would a baking day make your life easier? I’m finding that I really do need mine.

Sprouted Spelt Bread

Banana chocolate chip muffins.

Snacks for the week.

Sprouted spelt waffles for breakfast.

Granola for hubby’s breakfast.

Elderberry herbal syrup.

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Fresh Bread Out of the Oven

I’ve been honing my bread making skills this last year. Follow my bread making journey by reading the latest on the Baking Day page.

Just can’t beat freshly baked sprouted spelt bread and raspberry jam.

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57 Buckwheat Sourdough Pancackes

IMG_0915My friend gave me some sourdough starter so I’ve been experimenting. My favorite recipe so far are these buckwheat sourdough pancakes. If you don’t have any starter you follow the directions for making your own sourdough starter here. So make some starter or get some starter from a friend like I did and mix these up.

3 eggs
1/2 cup oil
2 cups milk
1 cup sourdough starter
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix these ingredients well.

To this add…
1 cup all purpose flour or white spelt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda

Heat your cast iron skillet up, add a little bit of oil and spoon in with a cookie scoop. Cook until you can see bubbles coming up from the bottom. Flip to the other side. We like ours with butter, black strap molasses and maple syrup.

These pancakes are light but hearty. If you want a more pronounced sourdough flavor then mix up the first four ingredients (eggs, oil, milk and starter) with one cup of flour and let it sit overnight. Then add the remaining flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda in the morning and fry them up.

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All buttered up and ready to eat. All buttered up and ready to eat.