Sourdough Discard Donuts Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between sourdough donuts and regular donuts? ›

Sourdough donuts taste extra tangy thanks to a sourdough starter, a leavener that requires a bit of extra care but rewards you with a soft and airy dough. Balance the starter's flavorful boost with a thin veil of buttery vanilla glaze.

These donuts are made with a traditional egg, milk, butter and flour mixture. The only difference is that they are leavened using a sourdough starter rather than commercial yeast. Sourdough donuts are not cakey like other baked donuts because they still have yeast - it's just a naturally occurring yeast.

How do you store sourdough donuts? If somehow you have a few leftover, you can store them in an airtight container (or bag), or wrap them in a napkin and place in a paper bag – fold over the top. I like to add a napkin to help absorb any extra oil and keep them fresh longer.

Sourdough discard is the unfed portion of your sourdough starter that you remove before you add fresh flour and water. Because of it's unfed state, it's not used to bake the delicious bread you know as sourdough, but more often than not, used in sourdough discard recipes.

What makes Dunkin's Sourdough bread so special? Dunkin's Sourdough Bread is one of the only mass-produced sourdoughs that uses a “true” sourdough starter. Many other companies that make sourdough bread on a large-scale use either a powdered substance as a base or use sourdough flavoring to flavor their bread.

They are light and airy, not overly sweet and you can decorate them any way you would like - so go nuts! Plus, these are easier to make than you may think, as with most things sourdough there is a lot of waiting, but the results are most definitely worth it.

While many prefer the light and crispy texture of a fried donut, leaving the deep fryer in the cabinet and baking your cake donuts instead makes for healthier, less oily donuts. It's also safer and easier to clean up, given that you don't have to deal with lots of hot oil.

As Josh Gomes (who created Dunkin's starter) explained to Bake Magazine, "Dunkin's Sourdough Bread is one of the only mass-produced sourdoughs that uses a 'true' sourdough starter.

Two eggs, five half slices of bacon and white cheddar on two pieces of sourdough toast.

To maximize the shelf life, keep in original packaging or linen based bread bag and store at room temperature. How long does sourdough bread last in the fridge? Sourdough bread should ideally not be refrigerated, as the bread will dry out and become stale faster than at room temperature.

Can you refrigerate sourdough discard to use later? ›

Store it for future baking: You can store sourdough discard in an airtight container in the refrigerator for future baking with sourdough discard recipes. When you're ready to use it, let the discard come to room temperature before using it to bake. I will keep sourdough discard in the fridge for about one week.

Any non-reactive container can hold sourdough starter. We have heard of bakers keeping sourdough in ziplock bags and plastic to-go containers. Mason jars and old sauerkraut jars are popular favorites. Crocks are very traditional.

Sourdough discard is rich in probiotics, which can help promote a healthy gut microbiome and improve digestion. It's also a good source of fiber, which can help regulate blood sugar levels, lower cholesterol, and promote feelings of fullness.

No, it's not advisable to eat raw sourdough starter. While some people claim to have healed their gut problems by eating probiotic rich sourdough starter, it's not really advisable. Raw sourdough starter contains uncooked flour which can harbor harmful bacteria among other things.

Sourdough discard is excess levain or sourdough starter that is not used in a recipe or for maintaining the starter. Only a small portion of the sourdough starter is reserved and fed during each feeding, the rest is referred to as discard, since typically it is thrown away.

Sourdough relies on a mix of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria, rather than baker's yeast, to leaven the dough. It's richer in nutrients, less likely to spike your blood sugar, contains lower amounts of gluten, and is generally easier to digest than bread made with baker's yeast.

The Obvious Difference

Yeast doughnuts, as the name clearly spells out, are made from dough leavened with yeast (think brioche), whereas cake doughnuts are traditionally made from a kind of cake batter that uses a chemical leavener (i.e. baking powder or baking soda).

While cake doughnuts and yeast doughnuts are both delicious, they are made with different ingredients and unique methods. It's helpful to understand how to make doughnuts to know just what makes them different.

The two most common types are the ring doughnut and the filled doughnut, which is injected with fruit preserves (the jelly doughnut), cream, custard, or other sweet fillings. Small pieces of dough are sometimes cooked as doughnut holes.