Working with sourdough can be intimidating, especially when you’re new to it. First, you have to worry about how much to feed your starter and how often. Then how do you know when it’s ready to bake with? How many bubbles signify the active state? And those rising times. If you don’t plan your day right, you might just wind up baking bread in the middle of the night, because it wasn’t ready earlier!
This sourdough bread recipe is a fuss-free alternative to traditional recipes that require lots of kneading and checking on the dough. With just 7 minutes of hands-on time to mix up the dough in the evening, the bread does all the work of rising while you sleep. Then all you need to do in the morning is shape the loaf and let it rise again while your oven heats! Nothing beats that for a simple bread recipe.
Starting out with Sourdough
There’s definitely a learning curve when it comes to sourdough baking. That’s why most cookbooks recommend you start out with something simple, like pancakes. I would agree that that’s a good place to start, and I highly recommend Sourdough A to Z from the Traditional Cooking School if you’re new to sourdough baking. It comes in either an e-course or e-book format, along with a printed manual of techniques and recipes.
Unlike other sourdough cookbooks, which often tell you there is only one right way to make sourdough work, this manual looks at several different “sourdough routines” of different home bakers. Some of them use their sourdough nearly every day, while others only use it once a week or so. I tend to use my sourdough starter once per week on average, but sometimes it’s nice to keep it out on the counter and use it every other day.
Another good resource is the blog, An Oregon Cottage. Jami has a thorough beginner’s guide to working with sourdough.
Types of Sourdough Bread Recipes
Knowing how to “read” your sourdough starter is the key to flexibility in sourdough baking. Again, this comes with practice. It’s wise to expect a failed attempt or two when you’re learning. My first loaf of sourdough bread looked like a brick, and was nearly as dense! I had followed the recipe exactly. I gave that loaf hours and hours of rising time. But my kitchen must not have been warm enough, or humid enough, or something else went wrong.
When you end up with a failure, it’s tempting to just give up. Take a break if you’re frustrated, but don’t assume you’ll never succeed!
If you’re having trouble with classic sourdough bread recipes which call for lots of kneading, rising, shaping, and rising again, try this recipe instead. It’s an artisan-style recipe, which calls for very little kneading and one long period of rising while you sleep, with an additional shorter period of rising while the oven is heating.
Artisan Bread vs. Traditional Bread Recipes
What are the benefits to making artisan-style breads?
- First, you don’t have to know how much about kneading. As long as you mix all the ingredients thoroughly, your bread should turn out just fine. Kneading for a minute or two can help, but it’s not essential.
- Secondly, times are approximate. You can let the bread rise for 8 hours or 12 hours, or even longer if you accidentally forget about it!
- Thirdly, forget about a perfectly smooth, evenly shaped loaf. This bread is dusted with flour before baking, which naturally gives it a rustic, somewhat uneven appearance. That’s all part of the charm of artisan breads!
- Finally, the ingredients are flexible. This recipe is very forgiving. You can leave out the honey entirely, or double it if your family likes a sweeter bread. You can use whole wheat flour, white whole wheat, or regular all-purpose or bread flour. I generally use a combination of whole wheat and all-purpose, so that’s what I listed in the recipe.
The most important thing to remember about baking with sourdough is that you need to wait until your starter is nice and bubbly before making anything that needs to rise a lot (like bread). As a general rule of thumb, allow about 4 hours between feeding the starter and making your dough. If your kitchen is warm and the starter was sitting out already, it might not need this much time. But if your starter was stored in the refrigerator, or if you haven’t used it in a while, or your kitchen is not very warm, it may take a full 4 hours or more to reach the active state.
NOTE:
If your starter takes longer than 4 hours to double and become bubbly, it might be too new to use for bread baking. Keep feeding it and using it for other “flat” recipes like pancakes or crackers. Once your starter can reach the active state in about 4 hours, it is strong enough to raise bread dough.
Recipe Notes
This recipe is a combination of my favorite artisan bread recipe using regular yeast, and a sourdough artisan bread recipe that was a little too finicky for my taste. The result is a chewy loaf with a crispy crust that’s not too tough.
It smells amazing fresh from the oven, but try to let it cool completely before cutting, as warm bread is more crumbly and delicate. (However, I know from experience that it is possible to slice this bread 5 minutes after it came out of the oven!)
How sour is it? The sourness varies loaf by loaf depending on your starter and rising conditions, but in general, it’s a pretty mild flavor.
This recipe uses a very simple method, but I did include detailed instructions in case you have never attempted sourdough bread. If the following instructions look too complicated, remember that really all you need to do is: mix, rise, shape, and bake!
Method
If you plan to let your sourdough rise overnight, feed your starter by mid-afternoon, so it has time to reach the active state before bedtime! Make sure you will have enough starter for this recipe, plus some extra to save and feed again.
You will need a medium sized glass or ceramic mixing bowl. Stir your active, bubbly sourdough starter gently. It will fall a bit, so don’t measure before you stir!
Measure the starter and pour it into the mixing bowl. Add the lukewarm water, honey, salt, and flour. Stir all the ingredients together with a wooden spoon until it is too stiff to stir.
At this point, flour your hands and fold the dough over itself a few times to make sure everything is well mixed. You can do this right in the bowl; you don’t have to actually knead the dough. It should feel a bit moist and sticky. Sourdough bread will “soak up” more of the water as it sits.
Cover the mixing bowl with a tea towel and place it in a warm, draft-free area. Let the dough sit for 8-12 hours. Overnight works great!
In the morning, cut a square of parchment paper larger than the bottom of your Dutch oven. Flour your hands generously, and dust the top of the dough with flour as well. Carefully pull the dough away from the edges of the bowl. Do not punch the dough down, like you would a regular yeast bread. Shape it gently into a ball by folding the edges underneath.
Dust the ball of dough with flour and place it on the parchment paper. You may slash the top of the loaf with a sharp knife a few times if you like. Let the loaf rise for 45 minutes in a warm, draft-free spot. If you’re in a hurry, you can shorten this second rise to 30 minutes, but the texture might suffer and the loaf might be flatter.
Adjust your oven racks to make room for the Dutch oven. (This is easier to do before your oven is hot!) Place the Dutch oven (without the lid) in the oven while you preheat it to 450 degrees F.
When the loaf is done rising and the oven is hot, carefully remove the Dutch oven and set it in a safe place. Transfer the sourdough loaf to the Dutch oven by holding the corners of the parchment paper and setting the loaf in carefully. Replace the lid on the Dutch oven, and return it to the hot oven.
Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the lid and continue to bake for another 15 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned and the bread smells done. Cool the bread on a wire rack before slicing.
Enjoy!
~Kimberly
Seven Minute Sourdough Bread
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup active sourdough starter
- 1-1/4 cups lukewarm water
- 1-1/2 tbsp honey
- 1-1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
Instructions
- In a medium glass or ceramic mixing bowl, combine the sourdough starter, water, honey, salt, and flour. Mix well with a wooden spoon.
- When the dough is too stiff to stir, flour your hands and fold the dough over on top of itself a few times, to ensure that all the ingredients are mixed.
- Cover the bowl of dough with a tea towel and set it in a warm, draft-free location for 8-12 hours or overnight.
- In the morning, cut a square of parchment paper larger than the bottom of your Dutch oven. Generously flour your hands and the top of the dough. Carefully remove the dough from the bowl and shape it into a ball. Dust the ball of dough with flour and place it on the parchment paper. Let rise for 45 minutes.
- Set your Dutch oven on the bottom rack of your oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Transfer the risen loaf to the hot Dutch oven and replace the lid. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the lid and continue to bake for another 15 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned and the bread smells done.
- Carefully remove the bread from the Dutch oven and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
Like this recipe? You may also enjoy Secrets to the Best Banana Bread and Lemon Ginger Scones.
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