A non-baker's tale of trial and error in baking bread

In times of crisis this family turns to carbs. Lots and lots of carbs. I have never made bread, thought about making bread, had the desire to make bread. Up until recently, I had not really even been eating bread…or gluten for that matter.

I started seeing more and more posts about people making bread, about the lack of yeast in stores, about the shortage of flour. Then, like most of you I am sure, I started seeing posts about sourdough starters. So, as any inquisitive mind wants to do, I started reading up on sour dough starters, and the benefits of eating sourdough made from a starter rather than traditional bread.

As posts from our blog suggest, we like to eat as clean as possible. I try to eat as clean as I can…when that is possible. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Working full time, watching a toddler, and trying to feed a family just did not afford me the time, or energy, to make awesome meals. I relied on my husband…who is an amazing cook, but I attached my caboose to the carb train real fast. Choo, Choo!

But I digress… the sour dough starter.

There are a ton of benefits to eating sourdough bread over traditional white or wheat bread. Sourdough is a better option for many because it does not spike your blood sugar as many other breads do. It also is easier to digest due to the prebiotic and probiotic nature of the starter used in sourdough bread. We already are diehard probiotic fans in this house. We know a happy gut makes a healthy body. We also love fermented food. We own the Art of Fermentation and agree with its teachings. We even make our own sauerkraut (it’s delicious with bratwurst).

Then, my friend posted pictures of their sourdough starter online and added the link to the recipe. I figured that since I had flour and nothing but time, I was going to give it a try. I got out my giant glass bowl, a wooden spoon, my whole wheat flour, and added equal parts flour and water, mixed, covered the bowl and called it a day. My toddler even got in on the fun.

The sourdough starter soon became a daily lesson in science. I would wake up, pull my toddler into the kitchen, we would discuss, what does the starter look like today? Smell like? What do you observe? Is it different than yesterday? How so? Now, this is my kind of science experimentI A sourdough starter doesn’t require a ton of energy, just some fun daily observations…plus, its really hard to mess it up!

Over time, our sourdough starter got a name, Cinderella. We are in the midst of a pretty hardcore Disney Princess obsession over here. Cinderella soon lost the interest of the toddler, but this adult was hooked! Each day I noticed more bubbles, more activity! But, my starter wasn’t doubling, a sure fire sign that it is ready to cook with. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong…until I noticed the flour I was using. I switched from Whole Wheat flour to what I thought was an all purpose flour on the day two mark. A week in, I noticed it was not all purpose flour at all…but cake flour. Whoops! This teacher was NOT reading labels carefully. Cake flour does not have a ton of protein in it like an all purpose or bread flour does. My Cinderella was hungry! So, I dug out the all purpose flour hiding in the back of my cabinet and began feeding it two times a day for another week.

During the first week I was throwing half of my starter away. It's part of the “rules” of the recipe. After the first week, when Cinderella was Bibbidi-Bobbidi-bubbling away, I hated the thought of just chucking half my starter in the garbage. So, I gave her away. My neighbor got some, my mom got some, and my friend even drove down from a neighboring city and traded me some tomato plants, and some awesome fresh lettuce and mustard greens from her garden for some. I would have given it to her for free, but I’m totally fine with the trade! (Not to worry we are adhering to social distancing— I left Cinderella 2.0 on the porch and she grabbed her up and left the plants in her place).

Finally, after another week of working her magic, Cinderella doubled in size. I knew it was time to try out a simple bread recipe. I was running low on flour and I knew I could not keep feeding her daily. So, I followed this super simple recipe and as sure as a fairy godmother coming to make all her wishes come true, Cinderella turned out beautiful for the ball.

I had created a sourdough starter from scratch, watched her mature and grow, and created a loaf of bread! It didn’t taste half bad either! Of course, there were a few things I will play around with and fix for the next time I make bread (this weekend)…but I am super excited for all the amazing recipes that I will be able to make using my new sourdough starter. Sourdough starters, if taken care of, can live for over a hundred years. How crazy is that?

As for Cinderella, she is happily bubbling away in my fridge, taking a break from her regular feedings until I’m ready to feed her and use her for my next recipe this weekend. Will she go on to live a rich and beautiful starter life and be passed down from generation to generation? Who knows. For now, I am happy to keep her around, experiment with recipes, and sing A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes every time I throw her in the oven.

So teacher friends, have you gotten the baking bug and started making bread like the rest of the Instagram and Facebook world? Do you already have a sourdough starter? What are your favorite sourdough recipes? Share them below! I’d love to know what you have got cooking!

Until next time teacher friends,

Bottoms up!

Bread Love: A Sourdough Journey from Starter to First Loaf