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Ooooh, do I love a yummy freshly baked sourdough loaf! I am so excited to share this simple and delicious sourdough recipe with you. I started my journey (officially) at the end of November 2023. It technically started a few months prior when I was researching like crazy how to do it. I was so nervous about actually trying it because I didn’t fully understand the whole process. There are a lot of factors to understand why it’s done a certain way.

I started my starter from scratch and it took 2 weeks to establish and has been going strong since. I really thought I could bake after 1 week of starting my starter and that 1-week loaf was NOT good. Haha It barely rose and tasted like straight flour! Needless to say, I was discouraged. Though I knew I had to keep at it to make a better starter.

The second loaf was beautiful!

It had a great rise and crunchy crust and tasted delicious! I was a baking machine after that, I made loaves for everyone!

Once my starter put out of a great loaf, I had to name her.  My husband and I were in the kitchen thinking of names and he suggested Beatrice.  I’m not sure why but I loved it and it stuck!  She’s a little old in her jar and it needs to be cleaned, but she has been giving me amazing bread since she established.  She may be considered young since I started her from scratch, but she rises beautifully.

I’ve tried adding inclusions to my dough to try new flavors and those have been delicious.  It is trial and error with some inclusions, so I never know if it will turn out.

For the summer, I’ve been baking a few loaves at a time and slicing them before storing them in the freezer.  It lasts longer and I can pick out a few slices when needed.  I let it thaw, then just eat it like that or I’ll toast it a little and add butter.  Perfect for breakfast with some eggs.

Let’s get started on this simple and delicious sourdough recipe

Start by grabbing a food scale.  Measure out 100 grams of active starter.  Add in 350 grams of filtered water (use spring water or filter, not distilled or tap water).  Whisk together until the starter is incorporated and bubbly. 

Measure out 500 grams of flour (I use this bread flour) and 10g of salt.  Some add the salt at a later process, but I’d forget at the later time.  So, it’s easiest to do when adding ingredients.

Mix together until it’s a sticky dough.  You don’t want it to be smooth.  Incorporated, yes, but not smooth.  Let rest for one hour.

Stretch and Fold

Start the stretch and folds. This is the process for it to develop gluten in the dough. Pull up one side of the dough, without breaking the dough, and fold it over itself. Turn the bowl a quarter turn then repeat until you do all 4 quarters. Place a damp towel over the bowl and let rest for 30 minutes between folds.  There should be 3-4 stretch and folds.  After the last time, leave it covered on the counter with a damp cloth for 5-8 hours. 

You want it to double in size and be Jiggly when lightly shaking the bowl, with some bubbles.  If your house is cooler, then you can leave it overnight.  Just make sure it doesn’t sit too long and over-proof. I will leave it on the counter overnight during the colder months and it is perfectly risen by morning.

Make sure it has risen and jiggles when you lightly shake the bowl.

Once doubled, turn out the dough onto a floured surface.  Try not to use your hands to get it out because you don’t want to deflate it.  Without pulling to break, try to stretch it out into a rectangle. 

Fold one end into the center, followed by the other.  Then start at an end and roll it up tightly. 

Once done and it looks like a burrito, you will slide the bottom on the counter or pull it towards you.  Spin ¼ of the way and pull again. This will help pull and seal the bottom. 

Pick it up and put it upside down in a banneton or proofing basket.  Put a flour cloth in a basket before the dough goes in, with some flour on the inside.  Fold the towel over the dough and put saran wrap or a plastic bowl cover on top to keep moisture in.  Put the loaf in the fridge.

You can leave it in the fridge for up to three days, but I typically do 12-24 hours.  This is when it develops the sour flavor in the dough.

Time to bake

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and put your dutch oven in the oven to preheat.  It’s best to have it hot already to better cook the bread.  Place bread on parchment paper and using a scoring tool, scorethe top with a deep line or design.  This prevents the bread from splitting when it rises.  Remove the dutch oven from the oven (remember, it’s hot!), place bread and parchment paper in the pan, then add 4-5 ice cubes under the parchment paper to help steam the bread (this helps crisp the crust).  Place the lid on and put back in the oven.  Cook for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and cook 15 more minutes.  Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Let bread sit for 1 hour before slicing.  This allows the bread to cool and not be gummy. After an hour, slice and enjoy!

Notes

There are many different types of pans to use if you don’t have a dutch oven. I also use a ceramic dish like this when I have multiple loaves to bake. If it doesn’t have a lid, that’s ok. You can put foil over the pan and still put ice under the parchment paper. Just remove the foil at the same time as normal. You could also do what is called, open bake, which is putting the bread on a pan or cookie sheet and having another pan filled with water to steam the inside of the oven while the bread bakes.

If you have an issue with the bottom being too dark of the bread, put some uncooked rice on the bottom of the pan, under the parchment paper. That will act as a buffer between the hot pan and bread. Just be careful not to put too much rice or the bottom won’t cook fully.

You don’t want to use tap water or filtered water because it may have too many chemicals in it for the bread to properly rise.

Hopefully you enjoyed this simple and delicious sourdough recipe and didn’t find it overwhelming like I did the first time I looked at it. Once you have the knowledge down of how this bread is different from usual bread, it makes it that much more enjoyable. I was absolutely overjoyed when the loaves started coming our consistently and tasted delicious. I will spend a weekend making multiple loaves and give them to coworkers and neighbors to enjoy as well.

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