Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe

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A lovely lazy weekend recipe to try, this easy sourdough bread only requires a few minutes here and there to end up with a beautiful loaf of bread. An easy way to dip your toe into the world of sourdough.

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We LOVE sourdough here on our little homestead.

However…..

It has taken some time to perfect the good ole sourdough loaf, I can tell you.

New year, New loaf??

I decided enough was enough. In January this year, I embarked on a mission to master the artisan round sourdough loaf. I have a great everyday yeasted recipe we use for sandwich bread, but it was the crusty sourdough loaf I wanted to create.

I found a recipe online, and set out to bake bread!

Well.. every day I fed my starter. Everyday, I made dough. Everyday I baked a loaf. Some days were great! Victory!

Other days the dough was too sticky. Or it was still raw in the middle. Or I burnt it. Like this…

I mean, we still ate it! Not really a mastered skill though at that point…

Enter the Easy Sourdough Recipe

I have a few sourdough go-to people, but hands down my favourite is Lisa at Farmhouse on Boone. She has so many great recipes but her easy beginner’s sourdough bread recipe changed it all for me.

I was on the verge of giving up, when my husband suggested trying one more variation, one more recipe. He knows me so well, when to encourage me. So I did what I should have done from the beginning, and went to my trusted source!

Instant success!

I’ve adjusted the recipe slightly to suit our family, but this recipe works EVERY time!

Even if you’ve never made sourdough before, give this recipe a try, and you’ll wonder why you waited!

If you would like to make a sourdough starter from scratch, try our easy tutorial here

The Benefits of Sourdough

It can seem quite an effort to make, maintain a starter and bake sourdough, so what is all the fuss about?

• Sourdough is a form of leaven which cause bread products to rise, similar to the instant yeast you can buy. Sourdough yeasts are caught from the air however, along with beneficial bacteria and so create a very local and unique living organism.
• Sourdough has a long fermentation process compared to the hour or so it takes for bakers yeast to work. This means that the enzymes and bacteria have a long time to digest and process the sugars and gluten present in the flour, leading to easier digestion, compared to regular bread.
• For this reason, people with mild gluten intolerances can sometimes eat sourdough with less problems. (This is obviously not the case for people who have Coeliac’s disease or gluten allergies)
• The sourdough fermentation process means the vitamins and minerals in the end product are much easier for the body to access and utilise, meaning that long fermented Sourdough bread is better for you than normal bread.
• It also tastes REALLY good. So that’s a bonus!

Lets make this Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe

What You’ll Need:

Glass bowl

Kitchen Scales

Measuring spoons – These are my favourites

Dutch Oven – this is mine

Sharp knife or Bread Lame

Optional extras – Dough whisk, Bread banneton, Bread sling ( these are not necessary to bake the odd loaf, but helpful tools when making sourdough regularly.)

Ingredients:

Fed and active Sourdough Starter – (Learn how to make one here)

Strong white organic bread flour

Organic Wholewheat flour

Warm water

Good quality salt

Method:

• Starter care: 8-12 hrs before, feed your sourdough starter and leave somewhere warm until at least doubled in size. You can test if the starter is ready by placing a small amount in some water. If it floats, and is full of bubbles, you can bake with it.

• Place the water and starter in a glass bowl (any yeasted, or living product should be made in glass bowls as metal can affect the living organisms)

• Mix until the starter has dissolved.

• Add all of the other ingredients and mix

• The dough will be quite shaggy at this point, so we now leave it covered for 30 mins for the flour to absorb all of the water and become more pliable (this is called Autolyse)

• The next step is to begin a series of stretch and folds, to gently work the gluten in the dough. It is as simple as it sounds. You take one side of the dough and stretch it upwards (it is best to do this with wet hands)

• Then fold it over the dough

• Turn the bowl a quarter turn and stretch and fold again, until all four sides of the dough have been stretched. Cover and leave for 30 mins.
• Repeat the stretch and fold technique twice more, with 30 mins resting time between. This is the slow gentle version of kneading regular dough.
• After the last set of stretch and folds, cover and leave for the bulk fermentation. Place the dough somewhere warm for 4-7 hrs, until doubled in size

Here is mine after the last stretch and fold

And here is mine after 8 hrs on the kitchen side.

• Now we need to shape the dough. Firstly, flour the surface well. next gently pull the dough into a flat rectangle like this:

• Next, fold each end in on itself to make a long log shape

• Then we roll from one end to form a ball, all the time trying to create a nice surface tension on the dough.

• Once the ball of dough is firm and shaped, transfer upside down to a banneton basket or a bowl lined with a tea towel, and cover with a plastic bag or in my case, a plastic shower cap! ( I was gifted a big bag of them last year and I reuse them until they break as they’re perfect for this very thing! Trying to live sustainably, even though it’s plastic…)

• Once covered, place in the fridge for 12-24 hrs (I do this overnight, ready to bake in the morning)

The next day:

• Place the Dutch oven in the oven and preheat on full power. (250c is as high as my oven goes so I use that)

• While the oven preheats, take the dough out of the fridge. If not using a bread sling, take some baking paper, and screw it up. (cooking hack – this makes it mouldable and fit to your dish. Works for lining baking pans for cakes too) Unravel it ad dust with flour. Turn your dough out onto it.
• Using a sharp knife of a bread Lame, make a big slash in the dough. I know, this doesn’t feel right, but it tells the bread where to rise when it’s in the oven. You can make a pretty pattern on the other side, I’m sure you’ve seen the Pinterest worthy loaves of beautifully scored bread. I’m still working on the pretty bit..

• Use the paper or bread sling to transfer the dough to the Dutch oven. Place a small cube of ice into the Dutch oven just before you transfer the dough, to create steam in the pot, this helps the dough to rise.

• Quickly place on the lid and bake on full heat for 25 mins.

• After this time, remove the lid and carry on baking until golden brown ( look at how much it’s risen after 25 mins!! Makes me so happy)

If you possibly can, allow it to cool before slicing, as the gluten will settle and be less gummy. other than that, enjoy your freshly made loaf of delicious sourdough bread!

As I mentioned above, there are so many bread gadgets you can use, but if you’re just starting out, you don’t need all of that. Try it, as you get to know your flour and your starter and how it’s supposed to look, you’ll gain more confidence in your skills. Happy baking!!

Tell me your worst sourdough fails in the comments! And don’t forget, if you liked this recipe, please share it! Thanks friends x