You Made the Starter. Now Here's What to Do With It

Everyone who got into sourdough knows the moment. You've fed your starter for days, it's active and bubbly, and then you realize — you only know how to make one loaf of bread with it.

Your starter is capable of a lot more than that. From pizza to croissants to cinnamon rolls, here are six recipes that finally put it to work.

The sourdough boom didn't just give Americans a new hobby — it gave millions of people a jar of living, fermenting culture sitting in their fridge, waiting to be used. Most people make bread. Some people make pizza. Very few people know that the same starter can make croissants, waffles, and cinnamon rolls that are genuinely better than anything you've had from a bakery.

These six recipes are the ones worth knowing. Start anywhere.

Before anything else — if you don't have a starter yet, this is where you begin. Gabriele Bonci's method is the one to follow: simple, reliable, and built on the same principles used by Italian bakers who've been doing this for generations.

Pro tip: Keep your starter in a glass jar and feed it at the same time every day. Consistency is everything — a well-fed starter is the difference between bread that rises and bread that doesn't.

The foundation. A proper sourdough loaf with a crackling crust, open crumb, and that faint tang that no commercial yeast can replicate. Once you've made it this way, supermarket bread becomes very hard to go back to.

Pro tip: Score the top of your loaf just before baking — a sharp slash lets the bread expand properly and gives you that bakery-style crust. A lame or a razor blade works better than a kitchen knife.

This is what happens when Italian pizza-making tradition meets a long, slow fermentation. The crust is crispier, more flavorful, and more digestible than anything made with instant yeast — and once you've had it, delivery pizza starts to feel like a compromise.

Pro tip: Let the dough cold-ferment in the fridge overnight — even two nights. The longer it rests, the more complex the flavor. Bring it to room temperature for at least an hour before stretching.

The most American thing on this list — and arguably the best use of a sourdough starter that most people have never tried. The fermentation adds a subtle depth that balances the sweetness, and the texture is softer and more complex than any standard cinnamon roll recipe.

Pro tip: Don't rush the second rise. Let the rolled, cut buns proof until genuinely puffy before baking — that's what gives you the pillowy, pull-apart texture that makes these worth the wait.

Yes, sourdough croissants are a project. Yes, they are completely worth it. The lamination process gives you those impossibly flaky layers, and the starter gives the dough a complexity that straight butter croissants simply don't have. This is weekend baking at its most rewarding.

Pro tip: Keep everything cold. Cold butter, cold dough, cold hands if you can manage it. Warm butter breaks through the layers instead of staying distinct — and distinct layers are the whole point.

The wildcard — and the one that will surprise everyone at your table. Crispy fried chicken on sourdough waffles with guacamole is the kind of dish that makes people ask for the recipe before they've finished eating. The sourdough waffles have a depth of flavor that regular waffles can't touch.

Pro tip: Make the waffles right before serving — they lose their crispness fast. Keep the fried chicken warm in the oven at 200°F while you finish the batch, then plate everything together at the last moment.

A sourdough starter is one of the most versatile ingredients in your kitchen — and most people are using about 10% of its potential. Pick one recipe from this list and discover what yours can really do.

These six are just the beginning. Explore all our sourdough recipes and find your next bake.