Easy Straightforward Sourdough Bread
This easy straightforward sourdough bread recipe is prefect for new sourdough bread makers. With just a few ingredients, and minimal and easy work, you’ll have sourdough bread ready to bake within moments of waking up in the morning. Make your coffee…or your morning drink of choice and get down to baking!
I got into the sourdough craze a couple years ago when covid hit. Primarily because I couldn’t find any yeast, so a friend of mine suggested we make our own yeast, with a sourdough starter. See my post on Sourdough Starter – The culinary dabbler. I have been fascinated with it ever since and have made many flavors of breads, bagels, pretzels and pizza dough.
As a beginner, sourdough can be intimidating and seem time-consuming. However, this recipe is ideal for those just starting out. It’s fairly simple to follow, and you can create a beautiful loaf in a less time than a traditional sourdough recipe. Whether you’re a seasoned sourdough bread maker or just starting out, sometimes you need a go-to recipe that delivers a loaf more quickly than a traditional recipe. When those sourdough cravings hit, this is your solution. While it’s not a “fix-and-forget” process, most of the magic happens overnight during the rising stage. By morning, you’ll have a fully risen sourdough loaf ready to shape and bake.
Sourdough can be wonderfully simple particularly with this easy straightforward recipe. It requires only a handful of ingredients: active starter (imperative), flour, water, and salt and a single rise. That’s it—no fuss, no frills, produces a tender crumb with crisp crust that you would expect from artisan bread.
The Recipe highlights.
Combine Ingredients: In a bowl, mix all the ingredients until they come together into a shaggy dough. A shaggy dough is all the ingredients combined but the appearance is rough and uneven. It’s because the water still needs to distribute through the dough. That is the reason for the 30-minute rest period.
Rest the Dough: Let the dough rest for 30 minutes to allow the flour to absorb the water.
Stretch and Fold: After 30 minutes, perform a few stretch-and-fold actions. Gently pull a side of the dough into the center. Moving around the bowl repeat this on all sides of the dough for about 8 to 10 turns or 1 minute. This will give your dough structure and build up the gluten.
Rise Overnight: Cover bowl with a plastic wrap and set on the counter of your home for 8 to 10 hours to rise. My house is about 68 to 70 so I can let it rise for about the 8-to-10-hour, but if your house is warm, you’ll need to adjust. *See notes.
Morning Magic: When you wake up, your dough will be ready to bake into delicious sourdough bread.
NOTE: If in the morning you’re not ready to bake, place it in the fridge until you are ready. It’ll be just fine in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
Check out the recipe below for more details.
Easy Straightforward Sourdough Bread
With just a few ingredients, and minimal work, you'll have fresh sourdough ready to bake first thing in the morning.
- food scale
- Dutch Oven with a lid
- 150 grams Active Sourdough Starter (this is imperative )
- 285 grams water (room temperature) (Or purified water (if water in your area isn't good).)
- 500 grams bread flour
- 12 grams Sea Salt or regular salt
Measure all the ingredients and add to a large enough bowl to support the doubling of the dough. Mix together with your hands. Keep working around the dough picking up all of the flours. Squish it together until you have a combined ball of dough. See picture. You can also use a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, but really why get it dirty. Use your hands – it's easier and all you need to do is wash your hands.
Cover with a cloth or plastic wrap to allow it to rest.
In this step you need to perform a series of "stretch and folds". Pull the dough from one side into the center. Move around the bowl and repeat. Perform this process for 8 to 10 turns or about 1 minute.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set in a warm spot to rise overnight. Allow the dough to rise for 8 to 10 hours. In the morning your dough will have doubled in size. It's time to bake.
Preheat your oven to 475℉ and put the dutch oven inside while it's heating, making sure the lid is on.
Lightly flour the counter and ease the risen dough from the bowl. Don't punch it down as you want to preserve those bubbles that have formed in the dough. The dough will be a little sticky, so a bench scraper is useful when shaping the dough. You can also place the dough on a piece of parchment paper dusted lightly with flour or preferable rice flour. Be sure the parchment is large enough to allow you to grab it by the corners to get it in and out of the dutch oven.
At this point the dough needs to rest. Place some plastic wrap or a towel over the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Once rested, slash the top of the bread with an X about 1/2 inch to 1 inch deep.
Grab the dough by the corners of the parchment paper and place in the dutch oven. Place the lid back on the dutch oven and put it in the oven. Decrease the heat to 425°. Bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes remove the lid and continue to back for another 20 minutes. If you like it a littler darker, bake it for another 5 minutes.
Once baked, using the corners of the parchment paper immediately remove the bread from the dutch oven and put it on a baking rack to cool completely. Wait until cooled to cut.
Enjoy!
Note:
If it’s warm in your home, like in the summer, it will rise faster, so you’ll need to start later in the evening. Another option is to start this recipe early in the morning and by early evening you can bake the bread.
If in the morning, after the dough has risen, you’re not ready to bake it or you don’t have time, pop the dough, covered into the fridge until you are ready to bake it. It’ll be fine in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
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