Sourdough Starter Part 2, Bread, Buns and Pizza Crusts

One observation on the sourdough starter I am using.  This may or may not be true of all sourdough starters:   they take a lot longer to rise!  You need to plan accordingly.  I have missed using the french bread and the hamburger buns with a planned meal because I didn't allow enough time to get them to rise and bake.  

 The two bread pans above are a farmhouse type whole wheat bread.  It made two big loaves, I shared one with my friend Patti and her husband Tim.  They LOVED it!  I thought it was good, but, I missed the salt in the recipe.  It would have helped a bit with the flavor, and the crumb wasn't quite right.  It was a little too crumbly.  But still a very good flavor especially for a first timer.  Want to try the bread?  Jaclyn's Cracked Wheat Sourdough Bread -- my only changes to the recipe were the amount of flour needed was more by over a cup and it took a lot longer to bake.  Perhaps our sticky Florida weather explains this??? 

These buns were awesome, if kind of on the flat side.  It makes a huge recipe of 23-24 buns.  And it takes forever to raise.  I left out the salt and it took an extra cup of whole wheat flour.  It makes a very good, flavorful bun!  Check out the recipe at Donna M's Sourdough Burger Buns.  OK, one of these days I have to find some cheap wire racks to cool stuff.  The whole paper towel on the countertop thing is not ideal for bread...or cooling anything actually.  Oh, the picture on the link shows a sesame seed top, and while that wasn't included in the directions, I think you could accomplish that with an egg wash and some seeds.  

Maybe the bread I will use the most from this starter is probably a dough--pizza dough.  I was so excited to try this recipe.  I loved it so much and will definitely add this onto the list of things to make on a regular basis.  First off, the recipe said this is enough dough for one crust.  But in our heart healthy world, we made enough for six 12" pizzas.  We do like it THIN!  I basically flip a cookie sheet over, spray it with cooking spray and then push it into a relatively round shape.  That is enough for one of us for dinner, with maybe a slice or two leftover for lunch.  Maybe.   Find the recipe here:  SourdoughHome's Pizza Crusts  Again, I left out the salt, but, next time I will add in some Italian Seasoning and Parmesan to add some  more flavor.  Per their instructions, I did the pre-bake route and it took 5 minutes at 500 degrees, but, watch them close.  Then I froze the crusts which fit nicely in a Ziploc bag.  When ready to use them, pull them out of the freezer, top and then bake about 8 minutes at 525 degrees.  Our favorite is Pesto, Tomato and Mozzarella!  YUMMY!!!