Sourdough Discard Gingerbread Loaf

Sourdough discard gingerbread loaf with brown butter vanilla spice cream cheese frosting is the perfect sweet treat for this holiday season.

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Why you want to make a Sourdough Discard Gingerbread loaf

The holidays are the best time of the year for warm spices and aromas to fill the kitchen.

Baking up this delicious sourdough discard gingerbread loaf is a great way to have the whole family come together, make special holiday memories, while enjoying a tasty treat.

This quick bread recipe is also the perfect recipe to give something meaningful and handmade to a loved one this season. These classic gingerbread flavors pair deliciously with a hot cup of coffee. Who doesn’t love being gifted homemade baked goods this time of year? Gifting baked goods is the perfect way to gift something thoughtful to those you love.

FAQ

The difference between active sourdough starter and sourdough discard

Active sourdough starter- when a sourdough starter has been fed and reaches its peak bubbliness and fermentation. This is the perfect state of sourdough starter when making an artisan sourdough bread loaf or a recipe where you want a nice rise in your bread.

Sourdough discard- from this point of peak rise of the sourdough starter, it starts to become less bubbly and die down a bit leaving sourdough discard. 

This sourdough discard gingerbread loaf is a great recipe to use up excess unfed sourdough starter or discard since the leavening agent of a fully active starter does not matter for this recipe.

Equipment you will need

Large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer

Hand mixer or stand mixer paddle attachment 

Medium bowl

Large sifter/sieve

Standard loaf pan (I like to use stoneware or cast iron standard loaf pans)

Silicone spatula

Measuring cups and spoons

Plastic wrap, beeswax wrap, or tea towel

Tips for this sourdough discard gingerbread loaf recipe

Sifting

Sifting the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients allows for more air to form throughout the sourdough gingerbread loaf making a delicious, moist, quick bread.

Room temperature ingredients

Using room temperature butter and eggs also helps with the perfect texture and moist crumbs we are looking for in this gingerbread recipe.

Salted butter vs. Unsalted

I always buy salted butter but if you prefer unsalted butter, add 1/4 teaspoon more of salt to the recipe to help enhance the flavor profile.

Dark brown sugar vs. Light brown sugar

Dark brown sugar with the blend of rich molasses provides a rich depth of flavor in this sourdough discard gingerbread loaf but using light brown sugar and light molasses will work just as well. 

Using fresh ginger

If you would like to use fresh ginger instead of ground ginger, replace the 2 tsp ginger with 1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger. 

Longer fermentation

Sourdough discard gingerbread bakes up great whether you decide to bake immediately after mixing or allowing to ferment a little bit longer.

2 hours on the counter or overnight in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

• All purpose flour
• Sourdough discard or active sourdough starter
• Dark brown sugar– may also substitute coconut sugar
• Salted butter at room temperature– unsalted is fine, just increase salt by 1/4 teaspoon
• Blackstrap molasses
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Large eggs at room temperature
• Pure vanilla extract

Gingerbread Spices

• Ground cinnamon
• Ground ginger
• Ground nutmeg
• Ground cloves
• Ground allspice

Topping

• Clear sparkle sugar

Brown Butter Vanilla Spice Cream Cheese Frosting

• Cream cheese (softened)
• Melted browned butter
• Powdered sugar
• Maple syrup
• Vanilla extract
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg
• Vanilla bean paste– or the scraping of one vanilla bean

Directions for Sourdough Discard Gingerbread Loaf

First, add softened room temperature butter, sourdough starter discard, vanilla, brown sugar, and molasses to the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a large bowl to use a hand mixer.

Cream the butter, molasses, sourdough discard or active starter, vanilla, and sugar together on medium speed until smooth.

Next, add in the salt and eggs. Mix on low speed until just combined, scraping down the sides with a spatula as needed.

Sifting the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients

After the wet ingredients are mixed, add your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and gingerbread spice mix) to a separate bowl. 

For a delicious, moist crumb, I like to sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. This makes for the best texture and tenderness in this sourdough discard gingerbread loaf.

Set your sifter over the bowl of the molasses mixture and sift the dry ingredients into the wet.

Then, mix together on medium speed until well incorporated and no dry bits remain.

After the ingredients are well mixed, place a lid, plastic wrap, beeswax wrap, or wet tea towel over the top of your bowl.

Long fermenting your sourdough discard gingerbread loaf

Next, place the bowl of bread batter in the fridge overnight or if you are comfortable with it, leave the batter covered on the counter for two hours while the sourdough starter works throughout the batter.

When ready to bake your sourdough discard gingerbread loaf

The next day (or when you are ready to bake) preheat the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

Then, prepare a standard loaf pan with a generous amount of butter or avocado oil to grease or line with a piece of parchment paper.

Next, using a large measuring cup or silicone scraper spatula, spoon sourdough discard gingerbread loaf batter into the prepared pan.

Baking

Bake the sourdough gingerbread loaf for 50 minutes. 

Using a cake tester or toothpick, test the middle of your loaf.

Then, insert the tester into the middle of the loaf. The goal is for the tester to come out clean with no wet batter remaining.

Assemble the frosting

While the bread is baking, start the brown butter and assemble the cream cheese frosting.

You do not want to skip the browned butter. It has become one of my favorite things and really adds the best flavor. 

For the brown butter vanilla spice cream cheese frosting:

Browning Butter

1. Add the unsalted butter for the frosting to a small saucepan on the stove top.
2. Then, on medium heat, melt the butter and stir until it smells slightly toasty and darkens in color a bit. This should take 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat to cool.

Brown Butter Vanilla Spice Cream Cheese Frosting

1. After the butter has cooled for 5-10 minutes, mix up the frosting ingredients.
2. Next, I like to begin by sifting the powdered sugar into a medium sized bowl to ensure that no clumps are formed and the frosting is smooth. 
3. Then, add in the remaining frosting ingredients.
4. Finally, use a hand mixer or stand mixer, mix on high speed until smooth.
5. After the frosting is well combined and smooth, place in the fridge to stiffen up ever so slightly.

Continue with the sourdough discard gingerbread loaf

After the sourdough discard gingerbread loaf is baked through, remove the loaf from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting

Finally, after the bread is completely cool, you can add the cream cheese frosting with a spatula or pipe through a frosting bag for a gingerbread cake look.

Paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, this would make a delicious birthday cake for this time of year.

Storing your sourdough discard gingerbread loaf

This gingerbread stores well in an airtight container, or covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. After a couple of days, the center of the bread can become dry if not enjoyed sooner.

Happy baking!

A few more gingerbread recipes to enjoy this winter season:

• Best Sourdough Gingerbread Muffins- Discard Recipe
• Homemade gingerbread house from scratch with cut-out template in my Free Subscriber Library

Homemade Gingerbread Houses

This little house is precious and so much fun to make. You can use the same dough to cut out a few gingerbread men to create a holiday scene. 

All family members can enjoy this special activity. Sign-up for my Free Subscriber Library HERE to find the recipe and template.

Other sourdough discard recipes you may enjoy:

Sourdough Discard Maple Scones

Discard Lemon Berry Sourdough Muffin Recipe

Brown Butter Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies