How We Develop Recipes

Every recipe on The Bake-Keeper starts as a formula in grams. I’m Desi, a home baker who has also been a CPA for ten years, so I write recipes the way I would reconcile a ledger: every number has to tie to something.

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Where a recipe comes from

I start from the formula, not from the photo. I work out the flour weight and the hydration first, then adjust the starter, the flour, the fat or the technique that makes the recipe its own. That is why you will find several chocolate chip cookies or cinnamon rolls here. Each one changes a real variable, such as discard versus active starter, or wheat versus gluten-free flours.

Why some recipes look similar

Some recipes on this site share a name, like the pretzels, bagels, waffles and crackers. They share a name because they are the same kind of food. They are separate recipes because something real changes in the formula or the method.

The difference can sit in the formula or in the method. In the formula, one recipe may use 360 g of active starter while the other uses 100 g, or one dough may be lean while the other carries butter. In the method, one cracker dough is rolled and baked once, while the other is a batter that is spread on the pan and baked twice. Any of these changes the crumb and the schedule, so each version has its own recipe card.

Each pair below opens with a short comparison table, with a link to the other version and a line on when to pick each. If you are unsure which one to bake, start there.

Recipe	One version	The other version	The main difference
Pretzels	Classic Sourdough Pretzels	Soft & Buttery Sourdough Pretzels	A lean dough against a butter-enriched dough
Bagels	Classic Sourdough Bagels	New York-Style Sourdough Bagels	A dozen with maple syrup and a short boil against 8 with malt syrup and a longer boil
English muffins	Classic Sourdough English Muffins	Soft Milk and Butter Sourdough English Muffins	A stiff skillet dough against a soft milk dough cut with a cutter
Focaccia	Easy Sourdough Focaccia in a 9×13 Pan	Sourdough Focaccia with Four Toppings	A shorter proof with olive oil against a long warm proof with coil folds
Waffles	Active-Starter Sourdough Waffles	Sourdough Discard Waffles	Fed starter and oil against discard and butter
Crackers	Rolled Sourdough Discard Cheese Crackers	3-Ingredient Sourdough Discard Crackers	A rolled flour dough against a flour-free batter spread on the pan
Cinnamon rolls	Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls	Classic Overnight Yeast Cinnamon Rolls	A sourdough rise against a yeast rise
Chocolate chip cookies	Chewy Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies	Thick and Cakey Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies	Softened butter and discard against cold butter and a bake from frozen

Research-backed recipes

Some recipes are labeled Research-backed. That means the formula was built from established baking ratios and published baking science, and it is awaiting proper testing in my kitchen. I update the post when that bake happens, and again whenever I learn something better.

My kitchen

I bake in a warm, humid South Florida kitchen, so the timings and dough temperatures are written for those conditions, with notes for cooler rooms. If your kitchen is cooler, expect longer rises.

The numbers

Weights come first, with cups alongside. Total Time on a recipe card adds up the hands-on work and the time a recipe spends rising and baking. It leaves out oven preheating and cooling. Nutrition figures are estimates calculated from the ingredient list, and they shift with brands and portion size.

Photos

The photos on this site come from a mix of my own photography and editing tools, including AI tools that generate and edit images. They show what a finished recipe or a step should look like. A photo is an illustration, and I do not use one as proof of a result I have not baked.

Keeping the page and the card in agreement

Before a recipe goes live I check that the steps, the ingredients and the equipment in the post match the printable recipe card line for line.

Corrections

If you find a mistake, send it through the contact page. I will fix the recipe and say what changed.

Questions about a recipe?

Tell me your room temperature and how old your starter is when you write. It speeds up the answer.