Just thought I'd share my opinion on the oatmeal raisin cookies that incorporate extra sourdough.  They were a little bit yucky to my taste - but my kids and neighbour loved them.  What I found yucky was the distinctly odd buttermilky sour flavour in the cookie, and not rich/chewy enough despite the cup of butter (recipe called for shortening but I subbed).

There is a discard recipe I love, the KA flour discard waffles - they were super with ice cream!

Last weekend I baked with two ideas in mind.  One, to make use of some of my sourdough discard (more on that later).  And two, to make bagels.  I buy two bags of bagels every week; my family eats them like it's their job. 

For the starter, I found two recipes for sourdough English muffins.  They were similar and both looked good, so I thought I'd do one recipe of each.  I had made English muffins before and was really pleased with the results.  My wife ate them for several days, thinking they were Thomases' before she realized I had made them.  I followed both recipes, staggering my times so they would be ready to bake at different times.  Both came out about the same:  dense, doughy, and kind of flat.  They were still edible, but not nearly as good as the yeasted ones I had made before.  I think if I make them again, I'll either just make the yeasted ones or will add a bit of yeast to my sourdough discard.

The bagels, on the other hand, were a huge hit.  My parents and aunt were here visiting, and everyone said they were the best bagels they had ever tasted.  I used the BBA recipe, with the cinnamon raisin option, as that's the favorite around here.  The only thing I did differenty was that I made the dough and baked them on the same day, as my schedule didn't allow for the overnight retardation of the dough.  I am making them again this weekend, and will use the 2-day method to see how it compares.

I also made my weekly loaves of sourdough from my starter.  The one thing I did differently this week was that, after I took out the starter I needed to make the bread, I only refreshed the starter up to one cup, which gives me the 2/3 cup I need for my bread next weekend, and another 1/3 to refresh for the next batch.  Inspired by Mini and some of the other bakers, I'm trying to cut my sourdough starter back to the point where I don't have any discard.

I've read many suggestions for what to do with the discard rather than throwing it out: pizza crusts, sourdough pancakes (did those  this weekend -- YUM!!!!) and english muffins.

Do you need to feed the discard jar as often as the main refrigerated starter jar?

PS Take pity on me, please if this topic has already been addressed. I'm kind of addled. This morning I dropped and broke my mason jar of bulk yeast (Costco sized!). Boy, is spilled active dried yeast hard to get up... kind of rolls around like b-b's. I guess the upside is my kitchen is really primed for wild yeast sourdough in case the next occupant of our home wants to start one!