Sourdough Bread Recipe

If you have your sourdough starter bubbling away and you are ready to make your first sourdough bread this is it. I have all the step by step photos and tips for you to make this sourdough bread recipe from starter.

 

I have seen the light, friend. The sourdough light and I am never going back. And if you are making your first ever sourdough bread recipe, you too will see the light. 

Let me show you the way. 

Ok that’s a bit dramatic but seriously this is the best gosh darn sourdough bread recipe you will ever find. As soon as this bread is out of the oven, my fiance and I are fighting over it. We tear into the warm loaf as soon as we can. If there’s any left we slice and toast it. Slather some butter on it. Every crumb gets devoured. 

Let’s not waste another second.

What Is Sourdough? 

Sourdough is basically an ancient way of making bread. Sourdough doesn’t rely on commercial yeast, but on wild yeast. By simply combining flour and water, you create a live fermented culture from the wild yeast found on the grains of the wheat that the flour is made from. The more it is “fed”, meaning fresh flour and water, allows the wild yeast to multiply.

Because sourdough relies on wild yeast, the process can take much longer than commercial yeast bread recipes. But the complex flavor and texture is far superior of any other bread you will ever eat. 

Is Sourdough Bread Better For You?

Yes. 1000% yes. Sure at first glance, the nutrition label might look the same to conventional bread. But the long fermentation process is what has sourdough sailing past the conventional bread loaves by a mile for its health benefits. Plus it’s made with just a few simple ingredients compared to store-bought bread that has added chemicals and preservatives. 

Whole grains, in general, that bread is made with can contain lots of great minerals. But the body can have a hard time absorbing those minerals due to phytic acid that is present in grains. But the lactic acid created from the fermentation process helps to break down the phytic acid allow your body to be able to absorb more of those minerals than you would be able to with bread made from commercial yeast. 

Also, sourdough bread can be much more easily digested and enjoyed, especially those with a gluten sensitivity. The long fermentation process helps to already start the process of breaking down the gluten in the bread making it much easier to digest.

So more vitamins, minerals, and it’s easier to digest. Basically, sourdough is awesome. 

What Makes Sourdough Bread Sour?

So the thing that makes sourdough bread, well, sourdough, is its “sour” flavor. And although the bread relies on the wild yeast, the sourness doesn’t actually come from it. 

According to the Kitchn, The sour flavor is due from two kinds of good for you bacteria — Lactobacillus and acetobacillus .  These bacteria grow alongside the wild yeast in the sourdough culture creating lactic and acetic acid, creating that sour flavor.

The amount of sour your bread will have in the end can depend on how you develop the culture, the age of the starter, the flours used – but ideally it will have a touch of sourness that plays well with the earthy, sweet, yeasty flavors of the rest of the bread.

How do I make a sourdough starter?

If you’re completely new to sourdough bread, then be sure to check out my tutorial on How To Make Sourdough Starter From Scratch.

You can also check out this video from Traditional Cooking School on how to make a sourdough starter. And you can also enroll in their complete Sourdough course – it will teach you EVERYTHING!!

Timeline For Making This Bread

This timeline, from Artisan Sourdough Bread Made Simple, is based on you making this bread on the weekend. But you can adjust the timeline based on when you want to make it. 

Now if you feed and maintain your sourdough starter at room temperature you can make this bread at the drop of a hat. If you’re a part-time sourdough bread baker, like me, then you will need to take your  starter out of the fridge a few days earlier to get it bubbly and active before you can use it in the bread. 

Thursday night: Remove Starter from Fridge and Feed

Friday: Feed twice (once in the morning, and one at night)

Saturday morning: Feed again

Saturday evening: Remove the amount of starter I need to make my dough. Feed my starter again, and pop back in the fridge until next week.

Sunday morning: Finish and bake my bread!

Start With An Active Starter

We want to start by making our dough. This is a no knead dough and it couldn’t be simpler to throw together. Basically stir and forget it. You want to make sure to start with an ACTIVE STARTER. 

How can you tell when your starter is ready?

I have two ways:

1. The Rubberband trick

Place a rubberband around your starter jar where the height of the starter starts when you feed it. And then when you see it’s doubled in size, it’s ready! Like so…

HEATHER’S TIP: Don’t have a rubberband? Use a sharpie! Mark the start of your starter on the outside of your jar. It will wash right away!

2. The Float Test

Still not sure? Take a spoonful (just be careful to not deflate the bubbles) and place in a bowl of water. Does it float? If it does, then you’re ready! If it doesn’t let the starter continue to bubble away before using it. 

Ingredients Needed

The best part about making sourdough bread is the simplicity of its ingredients! Seriously all you need is 3 more ingredients beyond your starter. 

• Bubbly, active sourdough starter (50 g, about 1/4 cup) – you can get my step by step tutorial here on making a starter –> How To Make Sourdough Starter From Scratch, and don’t forget to watch the video from Traditional Cooking School
• Bread Flour – (500 g, 4 cups + 2 Tbsp.)  I’ve made this with all-purpose flour and it turned out fine. Not quite the chewy texture that you get with bread flour. I prefer using bread flour if I can. 
• Water – (350 g, about 1 1/3 cups + 2 tbsp.) You want to use warm water.
• Salt – 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

How To Make This Sourdough Bread Recipe From Starter

Once you have your starter ready you can make your dough. You want to start by measuring out your starter. You will need 50 g (about 1/4 cup). Be sure to stir down your starter in your jar before measuring. 

It’s recommended to not make your bread in metal bowl, such as aluminum or copper, as it can cause an off taste and kill the starter, but stainless steel is non-reactive. Or you can use plastic or glass. 

Then you want to add the water and stir to dissolve and mix the starter into the water.

Then add the flour and salt. Again bread flour is best to use if you can for the best chewy texture. Bread flour has a high protein content than regular all purpose flour, which means more gluten will form. Gluten is the protein that will give bread its chewy structure.

You then need to stir the mixture together until it forms a shaggy dough. You will need to get in there with your hands at the end and mix the dough together to work in all the flour. 

The dough will be still shaggy at this point. Then the dough will need to rest for 30 minutes. This will give the gluten in the dough a chance to relax. 

After 30 minutes, you want to then shape the dough into more of a smooth ball. 

And then you need to cover the bowl with a DAMP towel and let it rise overnight. Let me say that again, for the folks in the back…a DAMP towel!

I made the first mistake of not using a damp towel and found that my dough had dried out on top, and formed a crust not allowing my bread to rise like it should. So..damp, damp, damp. 

So now that we (us and the sourdough) had a good night’s rest. Now it’s time shape. You want to coax the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. And then bring up the edges to the middle. Basicallly, fold the outside in towards the center until you have come full circle. 

Then flip the dough over and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

And while you’re waiting go ahead and line a bowl or banneton basket (traditional bread proofing basket) with a towel, or the linen liner the basket comes with, and dust with flour. And once the dough has rested, go ahead and place the dough in the bowl, seam side up. 

Ugh, swoon. Am I right? Don’t you just want to give it a hug? No? Just me? Mm, moving on….

Alright, yes you do have to cover the dough up again and let it rise. Again. Yes. Again. 

But just another 30 minutes to 1 hour. Once it’s puffy and risen slightly, but no doubled in size it’s time to bake…almost. 

We have to do one more thing. Slash that bread! Yes welcome to bread art. You want to turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper, dust the top with flour, and then using a bread lame make slashes into your bread. 

The lame will make clean, sharp cuts into the bread. Slashing the bread will give the bread a chance to expand let those gasses out that have built up in the bread. You can make a just a few simple cuts, or get as fancy as you want. 

Once you have had your fun. Now it’s time to bake! Yes we made it!!! 

Lift the parchment paper and place into a dutch oven.

You will bake with the lid on for the first 20 minutes, and then remove the lid. And then bake for an additional 20-3o minutes. Mine only takes 20 minutes, but the cookbook suggests 30 minutes, but mine has always gotten too dark for my preference.

I mean. Oh, my word. How gorgeous is that bread?

Recipe Tips

• Make sure your starter is active before you start. Drop a small piece in a bowl of water to see if it floats. It it does, then it’s ready! If not, then it may need 1-2 more feedings. 
• Use Bread Flour. Yes you can use all purpose flour, but bread flour gives the best texture. 
• Use A Kitchen Scale. For best accuracy, it’s best that you weigh your ingredients and not rely on volume (measuring cups)
• Damp Towel!! When you let the dough rise overnight, be sure to use a damp towel to cover it so it doesn’t dry out and not rise properly.
• Use A Bread Lame. Yes you can try and use a sharp kitchen knife to make the cuts in the top of the bread but a bread lame is a great handy tool that makes clean cuts every single time. I love my bread lame!!

Sourdough Bread FAQ’s

Why Didn’t My Sourdough Focaccia Rise?

1. Starter Wasn’t Ready: This could be because your sourdough starter wasn’t quite bubbly and active enough. Be sure to do the “float test” before you begin.
2. Cold Kitchen: Another culprit could be a cold kitchen! If your kitchen is cold the bread will take longer to rise. Ideally, your kitchen should be around 70°F.
3. Overproofed: Another reason I found as I continue on this sourdough journey, is you overproofed your dough. If you overproof then there will be nothing left for it to do, and you will get no rise. So when you place the risen dough in the pan, make sure to not let the dough rise for more than 2 hours. The only exception is if your kitchen is super cold and it’s still not puffy. 

Storing Bread

Sourdough bread will actually last longer than storebought bread at room temperature because of the long fermentation process. The bread will be fine at room temperature for 4 to 5 days. Once the bread has cooled completely (you can let the bread sit out for a full day before wrapping to allow to cool) then store in a sealable plastic bag or bread box. 

Whatever you do, don’t cut into the bread until it’s cooled which can affect the texture and make it dry out faster. 

You can also freeze any leftover bread for 3 to 6 months. I always just store mine in a sealable plastic bag.

Sourdough Recipes:

• Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread
• Sourdough Sandwich Bread
• How To Make A Sourdough Starter
• Sourdough Chocolate Cake
• Sourdough Rye Bread

Tools To Make This Sourdough Bread 

You can check out My Favorite Sourdough Bread Tools and Resources.

• Sourdough cookbook – ok not necessary but it’s chock full of amazing recipes that once you master this loaf you will want to make next. 
• Dutch Oven
• Bread Lame 
• Bread Knife
• Cooling Rack
• Banneton basket (or 8-inch bowl lined with a towel)