Easy Sourdough Starter And Bread Recipe

Think sourdough bread is too complicated to bake at home? Think twice! This sourdough bread recipe is so easy & simple that I promise you will want to bake it again and again! It’s delicious, frugal & healthy, plus there’s no kneading required!

I love to make sourdough bread, AKA the “lazy man’s bread.” Yep. Because it’s that simple to make! Plus, the amazing benefits of sourdough are well worth giving it a try!

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Sourdough Starter. Sourdough bread needs an active starter culture (which is made of beneficial bacteria and yeast) to create the sour flavor of the bread. You can make your own sourdough starter from scratch (or get a sourdough kit to help speed along the process).

Beginner's Sourdough Bread Recipe

This sourdough bread recipe needs to have an active starter culture, but if you don’t have any currently, here is my post for tips on the sourdough starter.

Whole Wheat Flour. You can use white flour if you don’t have whole wheat or are not comfortable using whole wheat in baking yet. It may be easier to experiment with the lesser expensive flour and once you’ve found your sourdough groove, upgrade to whole wheat. Here are some tips on the dough:

Step 1. In a very large bowl, mix the sourdough starter, water, and 3 cups of whole wheat flour with a wooden spoon and combine well.

Sourdough Bread Recipe

Step 2. Add salt and remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, attempting to completely stir in the flour with each addition. When you can no longer mix with a spoon, use your hands to mix in the flour. Continue adding flour until your dough begins to resemble dough, but is still sticky and “pourable.”

Step 3. Pour the dough into a banneton (I like this one) and fill 1/3 way up. Cover with a towel and allow it to sit in a warm place for 4-12 hours, until the dough is at least doubled in size and looks to be “domed” on top.

Step 4. When the dough is at least doubled in size, flip the banneton over so that the dough dumps directly into a Dutch oven, lined with parchment paper, (or loaf pans). If the dough doesn’t come out centered into the Dutch oven pot / loaf pans, wait 20 seconds, then grab the handles and shake the dough so it’s centered.

Easy Sourdough Discard Bread (no Knead!)

Step 5. Place the Dutch oven or loaves in a cold oven and turn the oven on to 350 degrees. Bake bread for 50-60 minutes, until the edges are golden and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

Controlling the temperature allows you to be in greater control of when the dough will be ready, and in turn when the bread will be ready.

The following methods will provide a consistent temperature for the bread to rise: Heating pad on low, in an oven with the light on or in a dehydrator. Consider adjusting the temperature higher and lower to find the “sweet spot.” Using my heating pad on low gives me a rise time of 5-6 hours.

Simple Sourdough Bread {using Starter!}

When experimenting with rising times, bake this bread on a day you plan to be at home. Numerous factors can affect the rise time overall and when the yeast peaks, so you want to have a vague idea of how long the bread will take in your home before you leave.

For a point of reference, I turned my oven on the lowest setting, placed it on top of my stove and it was ready in 4 1/2 hours.

Sourdough bread is NOTHING like traditional bread. When you’re done kneading traditional bread, you likely have a firm, round piece of dough. When you’re done kneading sourdough, you will have a very loose and likely pourable dough on your hands. Literally.

Easy Rustic Sourdough Bread Recipe With Sourdough Starter

In less than two hours, traditional bread will have doubled in size. In two hours, sourdough looks like it hasn’t even budged.

Simple

Traditional bread can be whipped up in half a day’s notice. Sourdough definitely requires advanced planning. Like, up to 24 hours in advance.

You can use white flour or whole wheat flour. It may be easier to experiment with the lesser expensive flour and once you’ve found your sourdough groove, upgrade to whole wheat.

Simple Sourdough Starter

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Try my favorite Sourdough Bread Recipe. Super easy for beginner sourdough bakers, with simple instructions and just one rise. It’s healthy, frugal, and can be made gluten-free!  

If you’re using loaf pans, this recipe makes 2-3 loaves, depending on the amount of flour used and size of loaf pans.

Quick Sourdough Discard Flatbread

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“Absolutely the best sourdough recipe EVER! I have been baking bread for years (sourdough included, ) and things were many times hit or miss. Not with your recipe. You have nailed it. I thank you!”

Easy

This post will show you how to make the simplest of simple sourdough breads. There is no autolyse or preferment, which means the dough itself comes together in less than five minutes.

Sourdough Bread Best Recipe

For those intimidated by sourdough bread baking, this recipe, as well as this sourdough focaccia recipe, are the recipes I suggest making first, both for their simplicity and flavor. Another great beginner’s bread recipe to try is this overnight, refrigerator focaccia or my mother’s simple peasant bread recipe, both of which require minimal effort but yield spectacular results.

Sourdough bread is bread that has been leavened naturally, meaning it has been leavened by a sourdough starter as opposed to by commercial yeast or a chemical leavening agent such as baking powder or baking soda.

A sourdough starter is a fermented mix of flour and water containing wildyeastandbacteria (lactobacilli).Provided it is healthy and active, a sourdough starter is what make will make your bread rise.

Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe With Starter (prozimi)

You absolutely can build a sourdough starter from scratch, but I am a huge proponent of purchasing one for a few reasons, namely: when you purchase a starter, you are guaranteed to have a strong, vigorous starter from the start. In other words, you can start baking with confidence right away.

In order to keep your starter alive, you have to feed it — it’s not unlike having a pet, but know this: caring for a sourdough starter is akin to caring for a very low maintenance pet, one that requires feeding only once every two to three weeks to stay alive, but one that requires feeding much more regularly if you like to bake frequently.

When I am not baking regularly, I store my starter in the fridge in the above-pictured vessel with its lid on. As noted above it can hang out there for 2-3 weeks (if not longer) without being touched. To wake it up or activate it, I like to feed it twice before using it. Often I’ll remove it from the fridge after dinner and feed it: this involves discarding most of it and replenishing it with equal parts by weight flour and water. (Please read this post, which explains in detail how to activate, feed, and maintain a starter.)

Sourdough

Sourdough Starter And Basic 3 (or 4) Ingredient Sourdough Bread Recipe

I will repeat this process in the morning — discard most of it; then replenish it with equal parts by weight flour and water. By midday, or when my starter has doubled in volume, it is ready to be used.

To store your starter, you should feed it, let it rise till it nearly doubles; then cover it and stash it in the fridge for 2 to 3 weeks until you are ready to use it again.

If your starter doubles (or triples!) in volume within 4 to 8 hours after a feeding, it is ready to go. And ideally, you want to use your starter 4 to 8 hours after you feed it or when it has doubled. Every time I feed my starter, I place a rubber band around the vessel it is in to mark its height. This helps me see when it has doubled in volume and is, therefore, ready to be used.

Beginner's Sourdough Recipe And Guide — Bread & Basil

If your starter is not doubling within 4 to 8 hours of feeding it, you should spend a few days strengthening it. This will involve discarding most of it — truly, don’t be afraid to be aggressive with how much you are discarding — and replenishing it with equal parts by weight flour and water. If you do this twice a day for several days, your starter will be in great shape.

If time permits, perform four total sets of stretches and folds every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours. You should notice the dough getting stronger and more elastic with