‘Tis the Season for Sourdough and Shortbread

Well, it’s Christmas time once again, and I’m up to my eyeballs in holiday cheer. I’m at maximum capacity—buying presents, attending celebrations, planning trips, wrapping gifts, and taking on two totally new and time-consuming kitchen responsibilities.

…Wait, what? Yes, I’m afraid it’s true. In the midst of the holiday hectics, I’ve chosen to foray into the world of fermentation by creating homemade sourdough and kombucha. But I’ve also discovered a simple, scrumptious shortbread thumbprint cookie recipe you won’t want to miss, so please read on!

Learning by Doing

If you’ve already become a sourdough pro, I congratulate you and envy you. I am still a greenhorn, and it shows in the amount of time I’ve poured into watching tutorials, reading articles, and studying recipes. I’ve been quite thorough, I assure you, but I still have so many questions. For example, WHY did I choose to start this at Christmas time??

Thankfully, I have a friend who has made both kombucha and sourdough, and she was kind enough to invite me over, share her resources, and demonstrate her methods. No matter how many videos I watch on YouTube, nothing beats a real, guided, hands-on experience from someone who’s done it before. She even sent me home with the dough we prepared so I could bake it the next day!

My (Current) Favorite Resources

For sourdough, she pointed me in the direction of Baker Bettie, and that has been my favorite resource so far. Bettie is thorough, detailed, and talented. Plus, she provides extensive articles, recipes, and videos. It helps me to see visual snippets of what the dough should look like at certain stages—that way I know when to relax and when to begin panicking.

For kombucha, I found a website called You Brew Kombucha. The girl on there is also thorough in her videos and articles. She cross-links her articles to all kinds of other tips and information on her site, which helped me find answers to questions I didn’t know I should be asking (like why shouldn’t I refrigerate my SCOBY and why is vinegar a poor substitute for starter tea. Also, like, what IS starter tea?).

My (Current) Favorite Recipes

So despite my Christmas schedule and despite the fact that I already spend hours in the kitchen each week just making meals for my lovely family, I’ve now been spending a great many additional hours at the kitchen counter making bread dough and flavoring kombuchas. But I do believe it’s going to be worth it in the long run. They’re tasty, versatile, and beneficial, and I’m always up for some extra work that can boast such benefits.

So if I haven’t spooked you off with all my talk of time in the kitchen, please allow me to share with you the recipes that have worked well for me so far. I don’t think I’d suggest starting them before Christmas, but there’s always January! I’ve been loving Baker Bettie’s Basic Sourdough recipe. If you watch her accompanying video a few times and follow the instructions exactly, I think you’ll be really happy with the results. My bread has been tough on the outside, chewy on the inside, pleasantly-tart, and perfectly airy. I’ve also followed You Brew Kombucha’s instructions for fermenting the fizzy drink, and the results have been delicious. There are about a billion flavors to add to kombucha, so have fun experimenting with your favorites!

A (Simple!) Bonus Recipe

And if you are totally uninterested in spending hours upon hours fermenting your own food and drink, then I will cast absolutely no judgment upon you. In fact, I’ll offer you one last recipe that I found to be simple, fun, and irresistible: Baker Bettie’s thumbprint cookies. My 4-year-old son helped me make these a few days ago, and he really had a blast shaping the dough, squashing his thumb into it, and filling them with homemade cherry jam. And I have lost all self-restraint when it comes to these little gems. They just keep finding their way into my belly.

So whether you decide to start making sourdough, concocting kombucha, or baking cookies, I hope you’ll put these recipes to good use. I know I have, and despite being pretty busy, I regret nothing. Merry Christmas, my friends, and happy baking. 

Ps: These are NOT affiliate links. I get nothing out of recommending these resources, so if you make them, feel free to send me some samples!