Dear bread friends,
I know those of you in the US and Europe will probably laugh when I say itās cold in Australia right now - but really, it is!
Itās now the third (wow!) winter that Iām baking through and Iām really welcoming the slowness that comes with the cold weather. The first year that I was baking sourdough, the changing of the seasons terrified me. Itās my first winter in my current house and it gets really cold in our kitchen. My partner described it as being ālike campingā and I think thatās pretty accurate.
I have a few tips for you for making the starter and the dough happy during the colder months (make note of these for the future if youāre somewhere where itās summer right now!).
Iāve been using my oven as a kind of proofing box. I turn the oven on for about 30 seconds, just enough that it warms up a little. Then I turn it off and put the starter or dough inside. Itās amazing how long it stays warm in there for! Iāve been using the ābackwards breadā method, which is my favourite because itās so hands off - so I mix the dough around 10pm, do one fold and then leave it in the oven overnight. Then shape and bake it in the morning.
Another thing Iāve found helpful is using lukewarm water - so the dough starts out at a nice neutral temperature because the cold water from my tap at the moment is so cold!
Lots of you have been writing to me on Instagram about starter and asking for help with troubleshooting your loaves, so I thought I would put some of the most common questions together as a little resource on a page called āTroubleshootingā on my website. This page has the answers to questions about all the stuff that happens with starter: water on top, not rising, mould :ā( , as well as more generally with your loaves: proofing, loaves not rising, trying to get an ear. And Iāve made another page called āTools and Equipmentā with info about the things I use in my kitchen too - including bannetons and my oven.
The last month or so Iāve been having a lot of fun baking with two extremes: I worked on a recipe for a yeast-based Sandwich loaf for ABC Everyday - and Iāve been playing around with using 100% freshly milled flour - both forms of bread I very much enjoy (although you can probably guess which one is my favouriteā¦!). The 100% fresh flour recipe is still in the works and recipes with fresh flour will definitely be a feature in my second book, which is also in the works!
Last week I was officially awarded the title of ādoctorā following the acceptance of my PhD thesis and this felt like a really big, but somehow also anti-climatic moment - partly maybe because everything happened via email including the thesis submission! To everyone who wrote me a message or a comment saying āCongratulations Dr Mary Graceā - thank you, literally every one of these made me smile! I made this little video about my thoughts on finishing a degree and perhaps not using it directly for its intended purpose. It seemed to resonate with a lot of people, so Iām really glad to be able to share that idea/way of seeing study. And I wouldnāt do anything differently, because then I wouldnāt be where I am :)
I get so much inspiration for what to bake and new things to try / new methods of making sourdough from the accounts that I follow, so I want to share a few of my faves with you each newsletter:
@galst_bageri - everything baked on this account is my absolute baking goal! The baked goods just look so amazing, and I love seeing so much dough! And all the scrolls!
@siamesesourdough - Iām sure Iāve mentioned Annaās account before but I just love it so much - bread and cats! It makes me happy and she has some excellent recipes and tips as well as the cutest cats!
@piclunch - I feel very inspired by all the different bakes I see on this account - every time Iām like wow, I need to try that. And always such neat photography with really helpful details included about the bake.
@huangshiyun44 - The most beautiful and inspirational bread art! And cute cats too!
@kittytaitbaker - The sweetest baker baking the most impressive bakes! Everything looks so delish and when you read her story youāll be even more inspired to bake bread!
And now for the real reason that youāre probably all reading this newsletter (hehe): Iāve been very focused lately on baking the perfect sourdough chocolate chip cookie and I have finally made some (they were all pretty delish to be fair) that I believe are very near perfect - so Iām really excited to finally share this recipe with you.
Sourdough chocolate chip cookies
I have a memory of making cookies as a kid and just throwing everything into the bowl and mixing it with a wooden spoon and they turned out really well. So Iāve been determined to replicate that no-method-method approach I had from when I was little. Being honest, this is what I do with the bread too! For this recipe, you dget all the ingredients, chuck them into the bowl and mix with your spoon! These cookies are soft, chewy and caramelly, a great way to use up any sourdough discard you might have shoved at the back of your fridge. And theyāre the perfect accompaniment to a sourdough loaf gifted to a friend. Iāve been learning soo much about cookies from @cloudykitchen and this sourdough cookie recipe was inspired by this delish regular choc chip cookie recipe š
Makes approx. 15 cookies
Ingredients
50g sourdough discard
120g margarine (I used Nuttelex original, and you can substitute for 100g of room temp butter but I found the result was softer and chewier with Nuttelex)
120g brown sugar
50g white sugar
1 egg yolk (or leave it out if you want to make a vegan version)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla paste
1/2 tsp salt
150g sifted freshly milled wheat flour (or plain flour will also be fine)
150g chocolate chips
Method
Mix everything together in a large mixing bowl using a spoon. If youāre worried about the order to add ingredients, add them in the order that Iāve written them, but honestly donāt worry, just mix!
Keep mixing (you can use your hands to help it come together) until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are well combined. If youāre using the freshly milled flour, the mixture will come together quite nicely and should be relatively easy to handle. If youāre using plain flour itāll be a little sticker but thatās okay. You can use wet hands for the next step to stop the dough from sticking.
Roll into balls about 45-55g and place onto a plate. Once youāve made balls out of all the cookie dough, put the plate into the fridge for at least 1 hour, but up to 24 hours. You can also freeze them once theyāve hardened up in the fridge and save them to bake at a later date.
When youāre ready to bake them, preheat the oven to 190C. Once the oven is ready, put the cookies onto a tray and make sure theyāre not too close together (ideally six per tray but Iāve also gotten away with nine). Add some extra chocolate chips on top of each cookie.
Bake with fan on for approx. 13-15 minutes (it will depend a little on your oven so keep an eye on them).
Donāt stress if they spread a bit. When they come out of the oven, use a cookie cutter (I used a crumpet ring) to coax them back into a really nice neat round shape. Then let them rest on the oven tray for about 10 minutes. Then once theyāve cooled a little you can transfer them to a cooling rack and enjoy them!
Thank you for reading my bread newsletter <3 <3 <3
Oh my gosh yum, I can't wait to bake these, they look awesome. I've never made cookies with sourdough discard before and am excited to try!!
Yum!! Getting butter to room temp now. I'm going to double it and cook half now and freeze the other for later