Discard pizza is a small miracle: the tang of a long-fermented crust without the long fermentation. Because discard isn't active enough to raise dough on its own, we give it a little help from a pinch of commercial yeast — and in return we get a dough that's ready in a few hours but tastes like it took two days. This is the recipe my discard jar exists for.
🍕 Same-day discard pizza dough
Makes two 12-inch pizzas.
Mix, then knead:
- 1 cup (240g) sourdough discard
- 2 1/4 cups (300g) bread flour
- 1/2 cup (115g) warm water
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Stir until shaggy, then knead 6 to 8 minutes by hand (or 5 in a mixer) until smooth and elastic — it should pull back gently when you stretch it. Cover and let it rise somewhere warm for 2 to 3 hours, until puffy and nearly doubled.
Divide in two, shape into tight balls, and rest 15 minutes so they stretch without snapping back. Meanwhile, get your oven as hot as it goes — 500°F (260°C) or higher — with a baking steel or stone inside for at least 45 minutes. That preheated surface is the single biggest upgrade for home pizza; it's what gives you a crisp, blistered bottom instead of a pale, bready one.
Stretch each ball by hand (don't roll — you'll crush the air out), top it lightly, and bake 6 to 8 minutes until the crust is charred in spots and the cheese bubbles. Go easy on the sauce and cheese; a wet, overloaded pizza steams instead of crisps.
🫓 No-yeast skillet flatbread (for tonight)
No time to rise? Stir 1 cup (240g) discard with about 3/4 cup (90g) flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon olive oil into a soft dough. Rest it 15 minutes, then press into rounds and cook in a dry, hot cast iron skillet, 2 to 3 minutes a side, until puffed and charred in spots. Brush with garlic butter, or use it as a personal pizza base under the broiler. Dinner in twenty minutes.
⚡ Discard breadsticks
Have a leftover dough ball? Roll it into ropes, twist, brush with olive oil, and dust with parmesan, garlic powder, and a little salt. Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 12 to 15 minutes. Free breadsticks from the scraps — nobody complains.
📝 Baker's note: why the dough fights back
If your dough keeps shrinking when you stretch it, it isn't a flour problem — it's a rested-enough problem. Gluten that's been worked is tight, and tight gluten snaps back. Walk away for 15 minutes and let it relax, then try again. It'll stretch like it wants to. Rushing this step is the number-one reason home pizzas end up small and thick.
Next Monday we go sweet: discard banana bread and muffins, where that tang does something unexpectedly good to sugar.
See you next Monday morning.