Best Healthy Sourdough Bread Recipe

Want to learn how to make sourdough bread at home the easy way? Our beginners sourdough bread tutorial will guide you through the process, step-by-step.

Whether you want to bake in the morning or in the evening, you’ll only need about 10 minutes of hands-on time to get this sourdough recipe ready for the oven!

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Are you ready to learn how to make simple sourdough bread from scratch, with no kneading, no fuss or frills? You can with our easy step-by-step guide and instructional video!

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With this tutorial you’ll learn how to make sourdough bread without a stand mixer or a bread machine. Just let the sourdough starter and time do all the work, so there’s no kneading involved!

Once you gain confidence with this recipe, you'll be well on your way to enjoying homemade sourdough recipes such as sourdough pizza crust, sourdough bagels and pretzels and so much more!

Let’s dive into the basics of sourdough baking and how to troubleshoot any issues that you may come across in the process. Here's everything you need to know!

Why Is Sourdough Bread The Healthiest Bread?

In 2017 I started to become really interested in making bread the old-fashioned way. The way that people have been making bread for thousands of years, without commercial yeast.

I learned that by using a sourdough starter along with just a few ingredients; water, flour and salt, I could bake healthy bread without having to use active or instant yeast.

A sourdough starter needs to be taken care of and fed, kind of like a pet, so go ahead and give yours a name. Make sure you leave the name of your starter in the comments below! 🙂

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Learning how to make sourdough bread is a journey. Expect to bake a few loaves to get a feel for the dough as well as the other factors that will affect the final result.

The good thing is that once you start, you'll just want to keep going! It's a very rewarding skill to have and I just know with our tips and tricks, you'll be baking up all sorts of sourdough goodies!

Instead of using commercial yeast, a live fermented culture, otherwise known as a sourdough starter, is used to make the bread rise.

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The sourdough starter works within the dough to break down the gluten and creates a bread that is more easily digested by the body. Not only do you get a healthier bread, it tastes better than anything you could buy at the store or a bakery!

Asourdough starteris made by mixing flour and water together in ajar.Wild yeast and bacteriafrom the surrounding environment feed off of the flour, causing the number of yeast and bacteria to multiply within the mixture.

I like to use a small ratio of sourdough starter with water and flour when feeding so that it will rise slowly over several hours.

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Feed the starter right before bed and mix the dough first thing in the morning for freshly baked bread that evening. Or, feed the starter in the morning, mix the dough before bed and then bake it in the morning. It's so easy to fit this recipe into your schedule!

Whichever time you choose, 12 hours before you make the dough, mix 10 grams of unfed starter, 25 grams of flour and 25 grams of water into a clean jar, cover it loosely and let it rise at room temperature.

You'll know the starter is ready to use when it's doubled in size and there are bubbles on the surface and sides of the jar.

Homemade Sourdough Bread, Step By Step

In my 68° F (20°C) kitchen, this takes about 12 hours. In cooler kitchens it will take longer to ferment and in warmer kitchens it will take less time.

. Drop a small amount of the starter into a glass of water. If it floats, it's ready to bake with. If it sinks to the bottom, give it a few more feedings and try again!

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If you are working with a new sourdough starter, it can take multiple feedings to build the strength it needs in order to bake with.

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We recommend using organic flour if possible because it is free from bleach, bromate and glyshophate, but any type of bread flour available and within your budget is ok to use!

In the U.S., bread flour is a type of white flour with a high protein percentage. I like to use a bread flour with a protein percentage of 11.7% to 12.7%.

NOTE:Wheat flours are labeled differently in every country. Make sure to look at the label of the flour you are purchasing to ensure it has a high protein percentage.

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Before we dive into the details, let's take a look at thebasic stepsyou will take to prepare a basic loaf of sourdough bread.

This small ratio of unfed sourdough starter mixed with flour and water should take anywhere from 8-12 hours to double in size depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

Cover the bowl with a silicone bowl cover, a beeswax cloth or a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 1 hour on the counter.

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This resting period is also referred to as autolyse. During this hour, the dough will absorb the water, making it easier to work with.

(1) Wet your hand with water to prevent sticking. (2) Pick up the dough on one side and stretch it up and over itself.

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(3) Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat this step until you have turned the bowl a full circle. (4) The dough should start to form into a tight ball.

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After the second set of stretch and folds, cover the bowl and let the dough ferment for 7-10 hours on your kitchen counter.

NOTE:If you feel like your dough has over-proofed and it becomes sticky and hard to shape into a ball, don't fret. Stick the dough in the refrigerator to firm up so that's it's easy to handle. (It can stay in the fridge for up to 2 days.) Divide the dough into 4 portions and make flatbread pizza crust. No need to waste anything!

Gently cup the dough, pulling and twisting until it forms a tight skin with surface tension on the outside of the dough ball.

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Center the dough onto a piece of parchment paper, seam-side down. Use the parchment paper as a sling to lift the dough up and into a bowl.

If you are still unsure, use your thumb to make an indentation in the dough about a half inch deep. If the indention springs back very slowly, the dough is ready to bake.

A dutch oven acts like a commercial steam oven by trapping the steam from the dough during the first 20 minutes of baking.

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Once the dough is ready, use a bread lame or a sharp razor blade to create a 2-3 inch slash to the top of the dough.

Use the parchment paper that the dough is sitting in as a sling to carefully lift it out of the bowl and transfer it to the dutch oven.

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TIP:A more accurate way to check that the bread has finished baking is to take the internal temperature with a digital food thermometer. It should register somewhere in the range of 205-210°F (96-99°C) when it is done.

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Once it starts to fall back down in the container, it needs to be fed again in order to make sourdough bread.

To do this, use a spoon to fluff up the flour in the bag. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into a measuring cup until it is heaped on top. Take a butterknife, level off the top and add it to your bowl.

Don't have a baking pot such as a dutch oven? No problem! You can bake this bread in a lightly greased 9 x 5 loaf pan.

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Rise overnight for an early morning bake or mix it in the morning for freshly baked sourdough bread with dinner. It's up to you!

Storethe bread at room temperature, in a bread bag, wrapped in a kitchen towel or beeswax wrap for up to 3 days.

Freeze full loaves or individual slices wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and inserted into a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.

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Because all-purpose flourabsorbs less water thanbread flour, reduce the amount of water to 325g.If the dough feels too stiff during the first set of stretches andfolds, add 5g of water at a time until it feels hydrated enough.If you end up adding too much water, work a light dusting of flour it into the dough until it comes together.

Bread made with 100% whole wheat typically turns out very dense. If you'd like to try using whole grains in sourdough bread, try our honey wheat sourdough sandwich bread or the sourdough country loaf bread recipe.

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If the dough is sticky and hard to shape, it's more than likely over-proofed. Sourdough can easily over-proof in warm kitchens, so temperature is the most likely culprit. Take note of the temperature of your kitchen and adjust the rising time of your next bake accordingly.

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If your sourdough starter is not fed regularly, it can take on a more sour flavor because of a build up of lactic acid. To get a less sour flavor, feed your starter more