Sourdough Discard Chocolate Bread

This sourdough discard chocolate bread is rich and decadent, but not overly sweet. It’s delicious with a hot cup of coffee or a cold glass of milk.

I don’t know about you, but I love a good chocolate treat! This is a quick bread recipe, similar to the more classic quick breads like banana bread or zucchini bread. Quick breads are breads made without yeast, and are leavened with baking powder and/or baking soda. For this reason, quick breads make great sourdough discard recipes!

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Why I Love This Recipe

Sourdough discard chocolate bread is rich enough to satisfy a sweet tooth, but not overly sweet. The discard adds a delicious sourdough tang that counteracts the sweetness.

This recipe, like most quick bread recipes, comes together so quickly! It is a favorite when I’m craving some rich chocolate flavor, but don’t have much time for a fancy dessert.

I don’t throw my sourdough discard away. Instead, I always try to incorporate it into another dish, so any recipe that uses discard is always welcome in our house!

Quick breads are one of my favorite discard bakes, along with muffins! I love how easy they are – just mix and bake. They also make a great gift, or an easy snack or treat for lunches.

Check out my other sourdough discard quick bread recipes for more ideas!

Tips for Making Sourdough Discard Chocolate Bread

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F first – this recipe comes together really quickly.

Grease your loaf pan (I like to use coconut oil), or line with parchment paper.

As with most discard recipes, don’t overmix your batter. Overmixing can cause the bread to become tough and chewy.

Let the bread cool in the loaf pan after baking for 10 minutes or so, then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

Ingredients for Sourdough Discard Chocolate Bread

Butter – melted

Sugar

Eggs

Vanilla extract

All purpose flour

Cocoa powder

Baking powder

Salt

Sourdough discard

Hot coffee – You can’t really taste the coffee flavor in this recipe, but it just enhances the chocolate flavor.

Chocolate chips – semi-sweet is my favorite.

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Tools for Sourdough Discard Chocolate Bread

Mixing bowls and spoon

Measuring cups and spoons

Loaf pan

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix melted butter and sugar. Add in eggs and vanilla extract, mixing well. Stir in hot coffee. In a separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Gradually stir flour mixture into coffee mixture, stirring well after each addition. Finally, fold in sourdough discard and chocolate chips until just combined. Spread batter in greased loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

FAQ

What is sourdough discard?

Sourdough discard is just a term to describe sourdough starter that is past its prime. When keeping a starter, you will have some discard every time you feed your starter. With the method I use to feed my starter, I’ve found that my discard is more active for a longer period of time. I prefer to use a very inactive discard for discard recipes. In my experience, the less active the discard is, the more moist the discard recipe turns out.

If I have fresh discard, I like to leave it out an extra day before refrigerating it. This helps the discard break down and take on a more watery consistency, which I prefer for discard recipes.

Can you use active starter for this recipe?

Technically you can use active starter for this recipe. For best results, however, I like to use an inactive discard. The baking powder is the leavening agent in this recipe, so the discard is just to add a sourdough tang.

How do you make a sourdough starter?

Making your own sourdough starter is easier than you think! It takes about a week to start fermenting and become active, but once you have an active starter all you have to do is keep it alive. That’s a pretty simple process as well. For more information on how to feed your starter, visit this post.

A lot of folks are intimidated by a sourdough starter, but I promise it’s a simple process and really rewarding! To make bread out of completely natural yeast that you developed is pretty cool! Methods vary for creating the perfect sourdough loaf, but here is my current favorite.

Storage Guidelines

Once baked, let the bread cool for about 10 minutes in the loaf pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cooled, the bread can be stored in an airtight container for several days. For a longer shelf life, you can refrigerate the chocolate bread in an airtight bag or container.

For longer storage, you can freeze the bread. Sometimes if I have several baked goods in the kitchen at once, I like to freeze the bread for later. I will pull out the loaf and cut in half, keeping the one half frozen. This way you can have fresh bread for weeks!

If you tried this recipe and loved it, please leave a comment below and share with a friend. As always, thanks for reading!