I’m so excited to finally share my sourdough bread recipe with you! Believe it or not, this recipe has taken me SIX MONTHS to master. I looked through so many recipes and procedures to find the perfect recipe. Through a lot of trial and error, I developed a version that worked for my busy mom life. It has very few ingredients and is pretty easy to make once you’ve done it! 

I bake bread every week to feed my family, and it has become a form of therapy for me. I love it! It all started when I noticed how much bread we eat daily. I decided to learn how to bake it myself to save money and cut out more sugar and processed chemicals. It all adds up! 

I feel confident I’ve mastered the recipe, so I’m ready to share it with you! Keep reading to learn the health benefits of sourdough and the bread recipe.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF SOURDOUGH

It’s important to consume probiotic and prebiotic foods daily. Probiotics are essentially “good bacteria” that work to eliminate bad bacteria and return balance to your digestive system. 
Sourdough is an excellent probiotic for your microbiome and has many benefits. 

     – Packed with nutrients, protein, fiber, iron, and vitamins
     – Improve digestion
     – Lower risk of chronic disease
     – Promote healthy aging

Plus, when you make it yourself, you eliminate preservatives, added sugar, and processed chemicals. You get all the benefits of pure sourdough!

FAQs

Can I freeze the bread?
Yes! It heats up great after being frozen. Just set it in the fridge to thaw.

Can I substitute gluten-free flour?
You can use gluten free flour. Try gluten free oats but only include 20% of the entire flour. Oats tend to cause the bread not to rise as much and it doesn’t knead well. I personally have not tried 100% gluten free flour, but I will give it a try. Sourdough needs to feed off of starch to grow and ferment. The great thing to know is that sourdough bread has less gluten than regular yeasted bread and has a low glycemic index. 

How do I know when it’s fully baked?
The bread should be golden brown and crusty. I’d also recommend giving it a poke test. If you hear a crunch, then you know it is ready. Don’t bake to the point of a surface burn. 

SOURDOUGH BREAD LOAF RECIPE

Prep Time: 1-2 days
Bake Time: 45 min 
Total Time: 2 days
Yield: 12-24 Servings

Description:
As a beginner baker, I have finally mastered this recipe to the point where I am ready to share it with you. No sugar. No preservatives (other than salt), just simple ingredients to make this recipe feel and taste amazing.

Ingredients:
230g Sourdough Starter
400g Lukewarm water
18g Redmond salt
600g Bread flour or whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp self-rise flour
2 Ice cubes
Water spray (or use your fingers to sprinkle the water)

Tools:
Digital scale
Mixer
Banneton (oval or round for shaping)
Dutch oven
Parchment paper
Cloth

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Weigh your ingredients in grams into a mixing bowl.

2. Mix everything into a sticky rough dough. If you have a mixer, mix and beat at a medium speed for 30-60 seconds. If you don’t have a mixer, stir the dough with a big spoon or use your hands. 

3. Leave the dough in the mixing bowl for 1 hour. Cover the lid with a piece of cloth. After one hour, gently pick up the dough and fold it over itself several times. Let it rise for another hour.

4. Repeat the rise and fold 3 times every hour for 3 hours. 

5. Place the mixing bowl in a container and place in the refrigerator. Let the dough rest for at least 8 hours and up to 48 hours max. 

6. When you are ready to make the bread, take out the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then, turn the dough out into a well-floured work surface, and shape it into a rough ball. 

7. Next, shape the dough to fix the vessel of choice (Dutch oven) you wish to bake it. A banneton, bowl, or Dutch oven work great.

8. Let the dough sit for 2-3 hours.

9. Use parchment paper or lightly grease the bottom of your Dutch oven to allow it to bake. 

10. Dust the loaf with a fine coat of flour, and use a scoring tool or a sharp knife to make a few slashes through its top surface. Scoring the bread will allow the bread to rise and expand. This is where you can become artistic with your cuts!

11. Place the dough into the Dutch oven. Add 2 ice cubes inside the Dutch oven. 

12. Preheat the oven to 500F for a few minutes before you are ready to bake.

13. Place the Dutch oven with the lid on and change the temperature to 450F right after closing the oven.

14. Bake for 45 min.

15. Once the timer goes off, remove the Dutch oven lid and cook for an additional 10 min until the bread is golden brown and crusty. 

16. Remove the bread from the oven and transfer it to a rack to cool completely. Once it’s cool, you are ready to slice and enjoy!!!

Well, what do you think? Share pictures of your bread in the comments – I’d love to see how it turned out!