Have you found yourself making your own sour dough starter during this time of shelter in place? Don’t let that sour dough discard go to waste. Here is a recipe from Minnesota home baker Allyson De Mars that is a great way to make use of your discard.
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups Swany White all purpose flour
3 tbsp maple sugar (or granulated sugar)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp iodized sea salt
5 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed
3/4 cup mix-ins (like dried cranberries and mini semi sweet chocolate chips or any combination of dried fruit, chocolate or nuts will work. )
1/3 cup half and half (heavy cream or whole milk work as well)
3/4 cup sourdough starter discard
Optional: coarse or turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425F and line your baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment
In a large bowl whisk together Swany White all purpose flour, maple sugar, baking powder and salt.
Cut the 5 tablespoons of butter into flour mixture with pastry cutter, or a forks until mixture resembles a coarse sand, some larger chunks of butter may remain.
**You can also use a good processor for this, give it 10-15 pulses.**
Note: It’s not ideal to use your hands because it will cause the butter to soften.
Stir in your mix-ins of choice.
In a separate small bowl mix together sourdough starter discard and half and half. Gently fold wet mixture into dry ingredients until just combined. Dough will be sticky.
Pour dough onto a well floured surface and with floured hands form an approximately 8 inch circle (or square), dough should be about 1 inch thick regardless of the shape you choose.
Cut circle of dough into 8 even wedges (square should be cut into 9 smaller squares, and can even be formed into smaller rounds depending on preferred shape)
Place scones on prepared baking sheet, a bench scraper works well for this.
Optional: brush the top of each scone with half and half ( cream or milk) and sprinkle lightly with coarse sugar.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Let cool on pan for 5-10 minutes.
Yields 8-9 servings