Sourdough!

I know I have neglected our blog for quite some time...I was inspired however after a mega-baking session this afternoon (I know, I know it's 85 degrees outside and I have the oven on!) anyway, I was inspired to share a new recipe.

For this one you need a little back story.

Three years ago, when we got married, one of our wedding gifts was a sourdough starter from James' mom. I had never used a starter before and was kind of intimidated at first. I honestly thought it was a little gross. After I tasted the starter at work in biscuits and pancakes I was hooked. Over the past three years I have mainly stuck to safe recipes but recently I was talking with our pastor's wife, Laurel, and she shared a book with a whole sourdough chapter in it and a recipe for sourdough pizza crust so I was down the track of experimentation!

The recipe I used today is below. I just did a google search for sourdough cookies and picked one on Allrecipes.com. They were delicious! If only you were all closer you could come over and try one! I even made a snicker doodle and chocolate chip version with the same base recipe. Our favorite was the plain...maybe with a homemade strawberry frosting next time!

• Ingredients

  • 1 cup sourdough starter
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl cream the butter or margarine with the sugar. Beat in the egg and the Sweet Sourdough Starter. Stir in the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and vanilla. Mix until smooth.
  3. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes.

I hope you get to try it out someday. Sourdough is not at all scary and it is worth the work!

Happy eating!

Jessi