Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe {Classic, Rustic Dutch Oven Bread}

This easy Sourdough Bread Recipe will make you a kitchen superstar. You won’t believe how EASY it actually is to bake your own delicious loaves of artisan, hand crafted sourdough bread!

There’s nothing quite as glorious as a fresh-baked, golden crusty loaf of artisan sourdough bread, right? And this Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe will show you step-by-step just what you need to do to become an AMAZING sourdough bread baker!

Baking a gorgeous loaf of sourdough bread is an art and takes a bit of practice, but it is SO worth it! Trust me… once you know how to make sourdough bread, you’ll become the superstar of your kitchen! And these simple sourdough bread tips and tricks will make it so EASY!

Now the entire process of baking a loaf of sourdough bread takes a bit of time, but don’t worry… most of the time is just allowing the dough to rise. The actual hands-on time that you’ll be working with dough is not much at all. So my suggestion to you is… if you’re an early riser, start the process early in the morning. Or if you’re a night owl {like I am}, start the process with feeding your starter in the late afternoon, starting the dough in the late evening, and letting the dough do its extended rise overnight.

Plus, as if you needed any more reason to learn how to make your own sourdough bread at home, let me just say… your home will smell glorious as it bakes! Seriously ~ it’s like you’re in the most amazing bakery, right at home!

So what are you waiting for? Let’s do this! Here’s what you’ll need to make your Sourdough bread…

Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe

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How Do You Make Sourdough Bread From Scratch?

It’s actually really easy! You’ll just need these ingredients to get started…

• Bread Flour
• Active Sourdough Starter
• Sea Salt
• Warm Water

What Kind of Flour is Best for Sourdough Bread?

As mentioned above, I highly recommend using bread flour. It will give you a much better rise on your loaf. And if you don’t have any bread flour, I’ll show you below how to make it yourself!

How do you Make a Loaf of Bread Taller?

• Start with a Strong & Active Sourdough Starter
• Always Use Bread Flour
• Be Patient & Let the Dough Rise
• Stretch & Fold Your Dough to add More Volume

It’s a long process to create a gorgeous tall loaf of bread, but most of it is just waiting for the rise. Then my two other tricks are to always use bread flour, and to give the dough several stretch and fold motions to add height and more glorious air pockets.

Can you Make a Bread Flour Substitute?

You sure can, and it’s SO easy! Bread flour can be expensive, so here is a simple substitute for bread flour…

How to Make Bread Flour:

You’ll just need the following two ingredients…

• 3 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1.5 tbsp. Vital Wheat Gluten

Then, in a large mixing bowl, just whisk together the all purpose flour and vital wheat gluten, and you’ve got bread flour! Talk about EASY!!!

So are you ready to make your perfect loaf of Sourdough bread? Here’s what you need to do…

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Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe

This Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe will show you step-by-step just what you need to do to become an AMAZING sourdough bread baker!

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time50 mins

Resting Time10 hrs

Total Time11 hrs 10 mins

Course: Sides

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bread

Servings: 1 loaf

Ingredients

• ½ cup Active Sourdough Starter*
• 2 tsp. Sea Salt
• 1 ¼ cup Warm Water
• 3 cups Bread Flour**
• 1/2 tsp. Cornmeal

Instructions

• When you're ready to bake your bread, the first step is to feed your sourdough starter. If starter has been stored in the refrigerator, remove from fridge and let it come to room temperature on the counter after feeding for 4 – 6 hours.
• Once starter has come to room temperature, and ‘woken up’ a bit, it’s time to start!
• Add Active Starter and Water to large mixing bowl, and stir with wooden spoon.
• Then add Bread Flour and Sea Salt to bowl, and stir into a shaggy dough. After stirring well with a wooden spoon, get your hands in there to finish combining the dough.
• After mixing all ingredients, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and let dough rest for 1 hour.
• After 1 hour of resting, remove plastic wrap. To add height and gorgeous air pockets to your finished loaf, it’s time to stretch and fold your dough four times. To “stretch & fold” grab one corner of the dough, pull it up, then fold it over. Rotate the bowl ¼ turn and repeat for a total of 4 times {once on each corner of the dough ball}
• Then cover bowl with a light tea towel or flour sack cloth and let it rise for 8 – 10 hours in a warm area of your home, or until it doubles in size. Keep out of direct sunlight. {if it’s chilly inside, I like to place it in the oven with just the oven light on to add a little warmth, just like we did with our Sourdough Starter}
• After 8 – 10 hours, lightly flour cutting board or counter and transfer dough to the floured surface by carefully using dough scraper around edges to preserve as many air pockets as possible while removing it from the bowl.
• Brush or spray inside of proofing basket {banneton bowl} with cool water, then sprinkle hefty amount of flour on top, shake it around, and let it dry. Then sprinkle a little more flour in proofing basket and shake again, to make sure it’s well floured.
• Sprinkle top of dough with a little flour, then with well-floured hands carefully shape dough into ball, adding a bit more flour where it’s too sticky to handle. To shape dough, I like to do 4 more stretch & fold motions {1 on each side}, then 4 more stretch & fold motions {1 from each corner}, then flip dough over {seam side down}, and shape into a ball using my hands and stainless bench scraper {dough cutter} to tuck any extra dough on the sides underneath.
• Then, using your bench scraper, carefully place dough ball in proofing basket, seam side UP for the final rise.
• Gently drape towel over proofing basket, and let it rest for 1 – 2 more hours in a warm spot of your home. When dough is puffy and growing, it’s ready to bake!
• Now cut out a large rectangular piece of parchment paper to fit inside bottom and sides of 5.5 quart – 6 quart dutch oven, place paper in dutch oven, and firmly press creases along the sides. {this will help the paper not indent into your bread while baking} Then trim tall edges around the rim so the lid will fit on nicely. Set parchment paper aside for later.
• When dough is ready to bake, preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Sprinkle top of dough in the proofing basket {which is the seam side up} with cornmeal.
• Then place cut piece of parchment paper over top of proofing basket, and carefully & quickly, flip dough over out onto paper.
• Use a sharp serrated knife to cut two 4″ intersecting lines in the top of the dough, like a plus sign. This will give the finished crust a beautiful and dramatic look, and allow the bread to expand when baking.
• Then transfer to dutch oven and flatten parchment paper creases again.
• Place lid on dutch oven, and bake on center rack for 25 minutes.
• After 25 minutes, remove lid and bake for 25 – 30 more minutes, or until bread is a deep golden brown color. IMPORTANT: For the last 10 minutes of baking, prop the oven door open a crack using two small balls of tinfoil. This will allow some moisture to escape, and help develop a gorgeous crispier crust on your loaf.
• Once it’s done, transfer to wire rack to cool for 1 – 2 hours. {even though it’s hard to wait, allowing it to cool will make sure it finishes the baking process and prevents you from ending up with a gummy loaf}
• After it has cooled, slice, slather with butter, build a sandwich, or dip in Bread Dipping Oil… and ENJOY! Beat eaten fresh or toasted within 48 hours.
• FRESHNESS TIP: Best eaten fresh within 48 hours. If storing for use within the next two days, allow to cool completely, slice {or leave the loaf whole and slice as you go}, wrap in a flour sack cloth, and place in an old plastic bread bag in the pantry.  It's excellent up to 2 days later and makes AMAZING toast, paninis and grilled cheese. 🙂
• FREEZING TIP: If you'd like to freeze your loaf for later, you can either leave your loaf whole or slice it up now so you can just grab a few slices here and there as you need them. Wrap your cooled loaf in 2 – 3 layers of plastic wrap, then wrap in foil and place in a gallon freezer ziploc bag for up to 1 month. When ready to use your bread, just remove the bag from the freezer and allow to come to room temperature on the counter.

Notes

• *Make sure to feed your starter after you use it, to replace whatever you took out.
• **If you don’t have bread flour, just whisk or sift together 3 cups All Purpose Flour with 1.5 tbsp. Vital Wheat Gluten.

 

What You’ll Need for this Sourdough Bread Recipe:

Sourdough Starter

Banneton Proofing Basket

Bench Scraper

Dutch Oven

Congratulations… you did it! Can you believe you’re now a sourdough bread baker? I knew you could do it!

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