Sourdough Discard Focaccia Recipe (Vegan, Egg Free, Dairy Free) (2024)

FAQs

What does egg do in sourdough bread? ›

I've since done a number of tests myself and adding a whole egg to a super strong dough with a little oil and honey has become my favourite! A pillowy soft loaf the will blow your mind and oven! Eggs in dough usually produces an extra open and delicate crumb and the bread comes with an extra rise.

'Venetian focaccia') is typical for Easter; it is based on eggs, sugar, and butter and it is similar to panettone and pandoro.

Sourdough discard bread combines sourdough discard with either active-dry or instant yeast, resulting in a quicker proofing times. In contrast, sourdough bread relies solely on an active sourdough starter for leavening.

I love rosemary focaccia, so I use fresh rosemary, but you can try a different blend of herbs if you'd like to (or leave them out and just make garlic focaccia). Flour: All-purpose flour or bread flour is perfect for making focaccia bread. I use all-purpose most of the time since that's what I stock in my kitchen.

Bread with no egg looked as normal as any other white loaf. It had puffed up evenly and had a nice crust colour and a soft texture. The interior was soft but quite tight. This could be made lighter by skipping the pre-shaping or folding steps making the dough looser.

besides the nutritional benefits there are a few other good reasons to use egg in breadmaking. It makes the bread lighter and fluffier. The reason for that is the fat in the yolk that inhibits gluten formation just as any other fat would. This results in a looser dough that can expand and puff up more.

Traditionally, yes, focaccia is vegan-friendly. The dough is almost always made with flour, yeast, salt, water, and olive oil. Some recipes, however, call for eggs in the dough for added richness or use real butter for greasing the pans.

Everything from puri and chapati to pita and French bread are all made without egg.

Most sourdough bread is completely vegan, not containing any dairy or eggs. However, some variations of the traditional sourdough recipe may contain non-vegan ingredients, like this easy, no-knead sourdough recipe, so it's always good to check the ingredients list.

Sourdough discard is rich in probiotics, which can help promote a healthy gut microbiome and improve digestion. It's also a good source of fiber, which can help regulate blood sugar levels, lower cholesterol, and promote feelings of fullness.

Can you eat straight sourdough discard? ›

Yes you can use sourdough discard straight from the fridge, you don't need to let it come to room temperature if you don't want to. What is this?

I recommend keeping sourdough discard for about one week, but I do know others who keep it for much longer. After one week, there is a higher risk of mold or bad bacteria growing on the discard.

Now, focaccia uses plenty of olive oil, not only in the dough, but for kneading, proofing, in the baking pan, and on the bread's surface before baking. All this fat means the texture is light, moist and springy, the crust emerges golden and crisp, plus the center stays soft for days afterwards.

The thickness of a focaccia can vary, too, but an authentic focaccia genovese should be rather thin, even if it needn't be quite as thin as my version presented here. So many non-Italian renditions of “focaccia” are more like bread in their thickness.

It might be cold dough. One of the most common mistakes is having a dough temperature that's too low for the starter to feed on all the flour in the dough, resulting in a crumb that's dense, with fewer openings. "Starter is happiest and most active at around 75 degrees.

The key taste compounds include salt, which is directly added to the dough, as well as acetic and lactic acid, produced during fermentation.

Studies show that sourdough has lower levels of gluten as well as lower levels of other compounds known to cause digestive issues in many people, including Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides, And Polyols (FODMAPs) and anti-nutritional factors such as phytates, tannins, and trypsin inhibitors, which can aggravate ...

If there isn't enough egg, your batter or dough may not be able to hold its structure or could end up overly dry or dense. On the other hand, if there is too much egg, your baked goods could lose their shape due to excess liquid, or have a rubbery (or even overly cakey) texture depending on the recipe.