Sourdough Discard Granola

I am so excited to start sharing some of my own sourdough recipes on my Sourdough Series! It took me some time to gain the confidence to start experimenting on my own, and I am definitely still learning, but the more I practice, the more I’m falling in love with the process. Similar to my regular recipes, a huge goal I have is to eventually create both regular sourdough and discard recipes that are healthier and more nourishing that are simple yet delicious. A few ways I have experimented with this are switching all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour to increase the fiber and micronutrients of bakes; lowering the amount of sugar used and replacing white sugar with more natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, or coconut sugar; lowering the amount of butter used and/or replacing some or all with coconut oil; and adding more nutrient-dense ingredients like nuts, seeds, fresh or dried fruits, and even some veggies like shredded carrot or zucchini. I will slowly begin to share recipes like this as I start to master and perfect them, but for now I wanted to keep it simple and share my very first sourdough discard recipe I created!

As I mentioned in my Sourdough Discard post, discard is essentially just inactive sourdough starter that is removed during the feeding process but can still be used and give great fermentation benefits. In fact, I highly recommend never letting this magical ingredient go to waste! It makes food so much fluffier in texture and gives great gut health benefits since it still contains gut healthy bacteria and acids. There are endless ways to use it each week and the way to use it up doesn’t always have to be in baked goods! I am still learning the incredible ways to use up discard, but one method I saw on Pinterest was sourdough discard granola. I shared my Homemade Crunchy Granola on my blog back in January and this recipe is essentially just a sourdough adaptation of that. This is something I am batch prepping at least every other week so I thought it would be a great idea to experiment with this idea of discard granola with something I’m already making. And let me tell you, I’m actually never going back to non-discard granola unless I have too. I was amazed at how just ½ cup of discard magically elevated my granola recipe. It has a perfect chewiness yet balanced with a golden-brown crunchy texture and it almost gave it this cake-like interior that is absolutely to die for. Not to mention it gives it that slight sweet-sour flavor that is so distinct to sourdough. Now, you might be wondering, how does discard work like this? 

Basically, discard is really just flour and water that has been fermented. So to make anything using sourdough, you use either active starter or discard as a ratio of flour:water and can use it in place of a ratio of flour to whatever liquid is in a recipe. For granola, the flour in the discard is in addition to the oats and will give it a bit more of a cakey texture. The water in the discard is replacing some of the liquids from the original granola recipe, i.e. the honey. I removed some honey from the original recipe to prevent the granola from becoming too soggy and to make sure it could get crunchy enough since we are adding the liquid from the discard. Other than that small adjustment, it really is just my original granola recipe with ½ cup of discard and ¼ cup less of honey. It has become my go-to way to use up any discard I have in my fridge and it completely enhanced my granola for the better! This is not to say that if you aren’t on a sourdough journey that my original granola recipe isn’t good anymore, trust me it’s still amazing and I highly recommend it either way. This is just a wonderful way to avoid food waste, have a slightly cakier granola, and give your breakfast some added gut friendly health benefits. If you have some discard lying around, give this recipe a try, you won’t regret it!

Servings: About 4 cups

Ingredients

• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• ½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup pecans (chopped)
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ cup coconut oil (melted and cooled to room temperature)
• ¼ cup honey
• ½ cup sourdough discard
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Melt the coconut oil and let cool to room temperature. This is really important because hot liquids above 120 degrees F. can kill your starter!
3. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, coconut flakes, pecans, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, and salt.
4. Pour the melted coconut oil, honey, sourdough discard, and vanilla into the large bowl with the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to thoroughly combine all ingredients, being sure that all of the dry ingredients are well coated and mixture is sticky.
5. Spread the mixture onto a parchment lined cookie sheet into an even layer.
6. Bake at 300 degrees F. for about 35-40 minutes until golden brown and fragrant. Be sure to flip the granola halfway through the cook time.
7. Let cool on sheet pan until it reaches room temperature. Once cool, crumble using a spatula to desired cluster size.
8. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
9. Use as a topping for yogurt, ice cream, or serve as cereal with some milk!