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A sliced loaf of artisan sourdough bread on a cutting board.

Easy Sourdough Bread

This is an easy sourdough bread, perfect for beginner bakers!
5 from 7 votes
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Prep Time 3 hours
Cook Time 45 minutes
fermentation 12 hours
Total Time 15 hours 45 minutes
Course Appetizer, brunch, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 12 servings
Calories 146 kcal

Equipment

  • Mixing bowl
  • scale
  • banneton
  • dutch oven

Ingredients
  

  • 455 grams All-Purpose flour
  • 1 ½ cup water
  • 100 grams sourdough starter active
  • 11 grams sea salt

Instructions
 

Make the dough

  • Make the autolyse: In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ scant cups of lukewarm water and 455 grams of all-purpose flour. Use your hands or a Swedish whisk to stir the mixture together. It will be sticky and messy, this is okay! Try to form it into a ball as best as possible. Cover the dough bowl with a tea towel and set a timer for one hour.
    The first step of making a loaf of sourdough bread is combiner the flour and water to make an autolyse.
  • Make the dough: Using a kitchen scale, add 100 grams of active sourdough starter and 11 grams of Himalayan salt to the autolyse. It is fine to substitute table salt, but I recommend baking with high quality salt. Time to get those hands messy! Fold in the starter and salt by pulling and pushing the autolyse towards the center, covering and pulling the starter throughout the mixture. A word of caution: do not overwork the dough. I usually try to accomplish this step in less than ten kneading repetitions. Cover with a tea towel and set a timer for thirty minutes.
    A hand holding dough ready to be formed into a ball.
  • Stretch, fold & rest: Every thirty minutes for the next two hours (for repetitions total), work the dough gently by pulling the edges towards the middle. This is basically adding shape and tension to the dough ball. I typically do six sets of stretching and pulling, taking care not to actually knead the dough and accidentally pop the air bubbles that create an airy and light loaf.
    A bowl of sourdough dough covered with a beige plaid tea towel resting on the counter.

Proof, Ferment & Bake

  • After the last stretch & fold, place the dough ball on the counter top and gently pull it towards you. Do this several times from each direction, adding tension and a round dome shape to the loaf. Let the loaf sit on the counter for ten minutes before transferring to a floured proofing basket to ferment in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.
    Putting the dough in a banneton to ferment.
  • Preheat the oven & dutch oven to 475 for one hour. Once the oven is thoroughly preheated, invert the proofing basket onto a piece of parchment paper. The dough can be scored with a razor blade in a decorative pattern. This allows the heat to escape in a controlled way, creating a beautiful pattern in the process.
    Using a lame to cut a decorative pattern in a loaf of sourdough bread
  • Place the loaf and parchment in the HOT dutch oven with the lid on. Bake for 35 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for ten minutes more.
    A baked loaf of sourdough that has been freshly sliced on a wood cutting board.

Notes

Troubleshooting disappointing sourdough

Whenever I have had trouble with the texture or quality of a sourdough loaf, it almost always can be attributed to one of these factors:
  • Using a weak starter or not using starter at its peak.
  • Improper ratio of flour to water, usually from eyeballing and not weighing.
  • Over fermentation: letting the bulk fermentation (first rise) go too long, aka forgetting about it. 
  • Using too much whole wheat flour. I've found that substituting ⅓ whole wheat flour for white is the highest I can use before the loaf texture becomes too dense.

Nutrition

Calories: 146kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 4gFat: 0.4gSaturated Fat: 0.1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.03gSodium: 358mgPotassium: 41mgFiber: 1gSugar: 0.1gCalcium: 7mgIron: 2mg
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