Sourdough Discard Carrot Cake (So Good, You’ll Want Seconds)
If you’ve been baking with sourdough for even a little while, you know the discard piles up fast. But before you toss it—try this: a moist, flavorful sourdough discard carrot cake that’s just the right balance of cozy and sweet.
This is one of those recipes that surprises people. You tell them it has sourdough discard in it, and they look at you funny. But then they take a bite… and suddenly they’re asking for the recipe. It’s that good.
And the best part? It’s easy to make and perfect for using up discard from your weekly feedings.
❤️ Why You’ll Love Sourdough Discard Carrot Cake
There’s a bit of a theme in my kitchen—nearly every cake I bake ends up being a birthday cake. And this one’s no different! I first made this carrot cake for my daughter’s second birthday. One of the little girls at the party told me she didn’t like carrots and wasn’t planning on having any. I gently encouraged her to give it a try—just one bite. Well… let’s just say she changed her mind. By the end, she told me she does like carrots after all 😉. Kid-approved and grown-up loved—that’s a win in my book.
🍲 Ingredients
Sourdough Discard – This is just inactive sourdough starter that hasn’t been fed. It is equal parts flour and water that has already risen and fallen and now can be added to a multitude of recipes.
Flour – All-purpose flour, which I have learned is not only a kitchen staple, but a kitchen necessity.
Whole-Wheat Flour – It doesn’t take much whole-wheat flour to add a rustic flavor to the crumb, and it’s totally worth it.
Carrots – its a carrot cake, you cannot skip these.
👩🍳 How to Make Sourdough Discard Carrot Cake
In a mixing bowl combine oil, sugar and sourdough starter. Mix in your eggs until well incorporated and add in vanilla extract. Add carrots and walnuts. In a separate bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and ginger. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Pour batter into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
Make the cream cheese frosting: Whip together a 1/2 stick of softened butter, 1 block of softened cream cheese, and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Add milk until you reach your desired consistency.
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Grate your carrots with a cheese grater, trust me.
- You can use active starter instead of discard starter and let it rest in the fridge overnight if you want to break down the gluten and make it more gut friendly.
- The longer your sourdough starter has sat, the sourer the taste will be, so keep that in mind.
🗒 Variations
Walnuts are an easy addition to the cake, as well as raisins or pineapple.
- Walnut Carrot Cake
- Pineapple Carrot Cake
- Carrot & Raisin Cake
🗒 Substitutions
You can substitute sourdough discard for active sourdough starter, just stir it down first. If you don’t have any whole-wheat flour on hand, you can substitute it for 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour.
- sourdough discard for active sourdough starter
- whole-wheat flour for all-purpose flour
🗒 Best Served With
- Coffee in the morning
- Dessert after dinner
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store the leftover cake in an airtight container, in the fridge for up to 3 days.
🤔 Common Questions
Yes, you can either double the recipe and make two 9×13 cakes, or you can split the batter of one cake into 2 circle cake pans and bake them for 30 minutes.
Sourdough Discard Carrot Cake
Equipment
- glass baking dish
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough discard
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup whole-wheat flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups carrots, grated
- 1 ½ cups coconut oil, melted
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 TBS cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 TBS butter, softened
- 1 block of cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- splash milk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grate your carrots and melt the coconut oil. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients, except the sugar.
- In a stand mixer (or mixing bowl and whisk) on low, combine the oil, sugar, and sourdough starter. Add in your eggs, vanilla and carrots until everything is well incorporated. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing until combined.
- Pour the batter into a greased 9×13 baking dish.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until a tooth pick comes out clean from the middle.
- Sit and let cool completely before adding the cream cheese frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In the stand mixer on low, whip together butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and add milk until you've reached your desired constancy.
- Spread evenly over the carrot cake. Place into the fridge until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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