The Ultimate Sourdough Bread Recipe
You may be asking, “What do I do with this slop you have me growing on my counter?”
Or, if you are me, you are asking, “Why did I think The Hunger Games would somehow not be about kids killing kids and that I would enjoy my two hours plus in the movie theater instead of sitting there with my head between my legs trying not to throw up the whole time?”
I am such a wuss. I know everyone loved it, but not me. Between the plot and the shaky camera work, I was positively green most of the night.
But you know what’s not green? Your sourdough starter.
It’s okay if you haven’t made your starter yet. I have something for you too.
Because the only thing more delicious than crusty, warm sourdough bread is a bowl of a good and garlicky olive oil dip to dunk it in.
Gigi, the queen of peanut butter sandwiches, now has me packing little containers of bread and garlic olive oil in her lunch.
If you think she’s the stinkiest first-grader in the school, you don’t know many first-graders.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First, the bread!
Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread
Makes 1 baguette
- up to 1 t. active dry yeast (optional)
- 1/2 c. non-dairy or organic milk (heated to between 90 and 110 degrees)
- 1 1/2 T. honey or maple syrup
- 1 1/3 c. white whole wheat flour + up to an additional 1/3 c. for kneading
- 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 t. salt
- 1 T. softened grass-fed butter, coconut or olive oil
- 3/4 c. sourdough starter
So here’s the deal: with a fully developed sourdough starter, you’re not supposed to need active dry yeast. That’s kind of the point.
However, I went through at least four loaves and a lot of starter trying to make a decent loaf of bread without any added yeast and every time my loaves ended up dense and gummy.
Sourdough takes a long time to rise without using active dry yeast, anywhere from 4 to 12 hours. I just like to speed the process along by adding a little yeast. You can add a pinch or up to a teaspoon. Or you can add none, if you feel like being chancey.
Either way, combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl by hand or using your stand mixer and your dough hook attachment.
If using a stand mixer, while mixing, add additional flour as needed a little at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, but is still a little sticky. Continue to knead using dough hook for about 10 minutes or until smooth, adding flour as needed.
If making by hand, remove dough and place on a well-floured surface. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes or until smooth, adding more flour to your surface as needed.
Place dough in a well-oiled bowl and cover with a towel. Put bowl in a warm spot and allow dough to rise until it has doubled. Again, depending on the activity level of your starter and the amount of active dry east used this could take a couple hours or most of the day. I find about 4 hours is the average for my dough when I’ve added yeast.
Before:
After:
Once your dough has risen, punch it down and allow it to sit for an additional 15 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
On a lightly greased baking sheet, shape your dough into a baguette shape.
Use the end of a spoon or utensil to make impressions in the bread, if you are into aesthetics. Who isn’t?
Bake loaves for 27-30 minutes, until bread has risen and outside is golden brown.
Allow to cool before slicing.
Or throwing a loaf to a hungry Katniss. (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.)
While this bread is delicious straight-up or a shmear of butter, it’s over-the-top dipped in a little makeshift olive oil dip. In or out of your lunch box.
Olive Oil Bread Dip
Makes 4 servings
- 1/4 c. garlic-infused olive oil
- 1 t. dried basil
- 1 t. dried oregano
- 1 T + 1 t. grated organic parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast
- 1 t. crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- sea salt to taste
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Transfer into individual serving dishes alongside hot bread.
This dip, like The Hunger Games, is not for the faint of heart.
But you’ll also need a bulk-sized tin of breath mints after this.
However, it’s totally worth it.
For you bread bakers, keep feeding your starter (as instructed here) at least once a week. I’ve got some muffins on the horizon.
But probably not another Hunger Games movie.
I’m glad someone else feels the same about the Hunger Games movie.. I did read the first book last year, but I just didn’t want to see that on screen!! I don’t quite understand it.
Olive oil bread dip, however, is definitely something I can get behind!!
I tried to read the first book on vacation, but it was just so dark! I thought, “I’ll just see the movie, that’ll be easier.” It wasn’t. I get what is compelling about the story…survival, love, devotion to family, etc…and the acting was great, I just can’t get over the darkness.
Actually The Hunger Games was just the first book of the trilogy and it sets up the other two books. The story is about more than just Katniss…it’s about the dangers of letting your government get too powerful. It’s about letting ourselves be too complacent with our government. And its about accepting a destiny forced upon you by people who see you as their savior. The whole thing is just so very complex. I enjoyed the movie but was a little disappointed that it could not convey what the story was actually about without making it 6 hours long. I agree about the motion in the movie…I was a little dizzy myself. I can’t imagine seeing it in 3-D
That’s what I thought the movie was going to be…how the kids work together and outsmart the powers that be. Nope. They kill each other. Maybe I should try reading the books again.
Well…they did outsmart them…just a bit. Katniss and Peeta working together. Katniss and Rue working together…both catalysts that put things in motion. But I don’t want to ruin things for people who have not read the other two books in the series. There is a lot of violence in all the books….I do agree to that. Revolutions are never pretty are they
Probably one of my favorite little parts of the book and movie…the whole garrish, clown like circus themed appearance of the Capital District. A metaphor for our current state of politics if ever I seen one =)
I’m so excited to find people who aren’t enamored with the Hunger Games! All of my Christian friends have read the books, watched the movie, and talk about it all over Facebook. I just can’t figure out why they would be so excited about children killing and being killed. Praying it’s not prophetic for the future of our country. We are SO close to the slippery edge.
Thanks so much for the tips on sourdough. My starter died, and I haven’t been able to get one going again. Will try again today.
Blessings…
Good luck!
I agree with y’all. I went to see it with my 13yr old step daughter. Ugh…I want my 3 hours of movie time back. It was horrible and I had killing nightmares all night afterward. Ugh…please erase it from my memory!!
Pea mama, what type of container do you start the starter in? I am going to start mine this weekend!! Cannot wait!!!
I started mine in a little glass jar, but really, any container with a lid should work fine!
Looks amazing!! I loved the sourdough starter tutorial and am planning on making it during my spring break. The recipe makes me even more excited! Nothing beats a warm freshly baked homemade loaf!
I hope your starter takes off!
I know a lot of first graders (creepy) and you speak the truth. Aaaand I don’t like sourdough, BUT if I bathed it in enough garlic olive oil, I think I could (would) probably learn to love it. Or maybe I’ll just bathe myself in that olive oil. Either way.
I think the garlic olive oil would be a welcome change from most days at school.
Ahh yay!! I can’t wait to make this!! Also I used to be an elementary school teacher. The smell those kids bring into the classroom with them after PE and recess is something g that will stay with me the rest of my life!
Pretty ripe, eh?
Oh man yes! It gets worse and worse until they get old enough for the “deodorant talk” haha!
We just got back from seeing it tonight and I wasn’t a fan either. Not for the same reasons (I just thought they missed a lot of the good stuff from the book) but still not a fan.
Nice way to work the loaf of bread into the post
Did the camera work make you sick? I seriously almost tossed my cookies a few times.
yes, particularly when she was hallucinating from the tracker bee things!
Oh my gosh, yes! I got up and went to the trash can at that point.
Would this work in a breadmaker? Or is it better to use that machine to knead (limited counter space) and then bake in the oven as directed? Thanks!
I tried a couple sourdough loaves in the breadmaker and they didn’t turn out nearly as well…I’m not sure why.
I’ve been waiting for this. Going to bake it tomorrow. Thanks for the added bonus with the dipping oil. You can’t go wrong with bread and garlic oil!
I think I’m the only one in the whole world who has not read or seen the movie,Hunger Games. Totally didn’t know it was about kids killing each other! No thanks. I’ll skip this one.
Let me know how your bread turns out! Good luck!
I have such a hard time understanding why violent movies are so popular! I actually have to check a website http://www.kids-in-mind.com/ to check for violent content to decide if I can see a film! (and I don’t have kids!). I think we have gotten ourselves too used to violence in our culture.
I check commonsense.org. I just cannot believe how many kids were at the showing we went to. And it really bothers me that it got a PG-13 rating but the documentary “Bully” is R. I think kids need to see that movie a lot more.
Thanks for the tip with commonsense.org. I just put Bully in my queue (it’s not available yet)
I’m worried about seeing the Hunger Games movies. Mostly that the theaters will be full of tweens for far too long. I’m seriously going to wait until it’s almost done being in theaters because I hate full rooms that much. But I’m also super nervous about seeing some of the things I read about! Such intense visuals.
Yeah, maybe having a fast-forward button might help?
I really liked the BOOKS, but they were dark, admittedly. The movie, on the other hand, I have no desire to see – I can read some degree of violence and be OK with it, I think my brain filters what I can’t handle thinking about too intensely – BUT seeing it up close and personal in a theater would be too much.
I’m excited about the sourdough recipes!
My starter, “George” (What? Everyone doesn’t name that hungry, bubbly thing in the glass crock on their counter?) is an old family one, but most of the recipes I have use egg or dairy and while they’re usually substituted fairly easily, I’d like to try some more vegan focused ones.
REALLY excited about the muffins!!
I love that you named your starter George. Clooney, right? I think I shall call mine “Ryan.” As in Gosling. And the muffins (and donuts!) turned out great!
Muffins AND donuts?! I don’t know if I can handle this. PS Oh Ryan Gosling, swoon!
I’ll probably space out the sourdough recipe posts (just so those that aren’t making it aren’t too slighted), so keep feeding that starter and I’ll keep them coming!
My starter is named Bernard! He’s spelt.
HAHAHAH! YES! George Clooney is exactly right.
My kids laugh ’cause I’m always saying “Oh, I forgot to feed George!” or “I’m putting George in the fridge this week ’cause I won’t have time to bake…”
Poor George gets abused from time to time, but hangs in there for me!!
Please tell me you’ve seen The Descendants. Oh and The Ides of March. Oh George.
Sourdough bread has been on my to-make list for quite some time. Unfortunately, patience is not exactly my strong suit. Regular bread baking is a challenge for me. But, sounds like it’s worth the struggle, huh.
Honestly, once you have your starter going, it really makes baking bread (and other things) a cinch because you have half of the mixing already done!
Oh my goodness, my mouth is watering. I was already looking forward to the sourdough bread recipe, and the dipping sauce is a great bonus! I really can’t wait to try them both out. I don’t actually know what the difference is between white whole wheat flour and just regular whole wheat flour – do you think regular whole wheat flour would work in this recipe?
PS Really love that Gigi is requesting the dipping sauce to take with her to school – very sophisticated
You could use regular whole wheat flour, it’s just heavier than the white whole wheat. But if you are going to use the all-purpose flour that the recipe calls for, it would probably still be fine. You might need a bit more yeast. Good luck!
Aw I’m sorry to hear you didn’t like the movie! I haven’t read the books yet but I have heard such good things I was curious to see the movie. I can’t handle violence at all in films though so now I’m starting to reconsider.
It’s not graphic or anything, but still violent.
Nice work Mama!
xo
Thanks! Doing something with coconut butter tomorrow
Gigi has excellent taste! I’m not that squeamish, so I can probably handle the movie. I think I’ll read the book first because I don’t have a long enough queue of books to read! <- Sarcasm
I hope life expectancy increases greatly in our lifetime. I'll need it.
I am going to read the books at some point in the next couple of months… movies always disappoint me. For instance, I watched The Help last Friday and although it was pretty good, definitely could not compare to the high standard I set for the book. Yay, a sourdough bread recipe… I have to be brave about the starter… I have an injera starter that I inherited from a friend in the refrigerator that I have not taken care of for months and now I am too scared to see how it is doing. That garlic dip sounds wonderful… I don’t care who smells my breath, I would just feel sorry that they don’t get to try this awesome dip.
I totally agree on The Help. I loved the movie, but loved the book so much more! Good luck with your bread.
You have outdone yourself! The bread, the starter, the recipe…that drippy bite with the olive oil that I just want to sink my teeth into…mmmmm, good
I have a sourdough starter that’s about 2 1/2 years old now. I love baking with it. Store bought bread is a thing of the past at my house. I recommend making up a “sponge” the night before you plan to bake. Stir together 1 part starter, 1 part water, 2 parts flour , cover the bowl and leave out overnight. Then add any other “flavoring” ingredients as desired in the morning. Traditionally baguettes are just flour and water (& magic) I “knead” it for 10 minutes using a mixer with a dough hook, adding as “needed”
Shouldn’t be either dry or sticky. Then I follow the same process you shown above.
Thanks for all the tips! Yes, it’s been about a month since I bought bread and I’m never going back!
Are you still vegan? You mentioned butter in the ingredients and it looks like you have butter in your bowl. Also, I notice that you include things like cow’s dairy in your recipes now.
I’ve always been pretty flexible on the “vegan” label for myself personally. I’ve been having some issues with soy (found in Earth Balance, soymilk, etc.) and I’ve decided to just eat the organic dairy products that I’ve been feeding my family for the duration. It makes things much easier on me cooking, shopping and digestion-wise. I feel good about the real food we are putting in our bodies and where it’s coming from. So I guess that’s the long way of answering, “No, I’m not vegan.”
Whatever works for you, girl.
Thank you! I truly appreciate this response. <3
I’m not vegan as I do love my organic eggs, but I can’t have soy and have to search out the soy-free Earth Balance. Thank goodness they make it, as I’m tired of everything vegan being soy-based. But with that said, labels are useless. Regardless of what you do, know your food and know yourself. Win-win!
Thanks, Abby.
I know I’m a day late, but I felt the need to comment on this because it’s a statement that I truly appreciate. The fact that you are doing the best you can given your circumstances (digestion issues, ease of daily activity) versus getting bent out of shape because you’re not 100%-super-mega-vegan helps to spread the message that any little difference someone makes – whether it be cutting out conventional products in place of organic / humane ones or eating one meatless meal a week – eventually makes a big difference. While so many people (myself included) get caught up in trying to do what’s right for the environment or animal humanity, they forget to take care of themselves.
I know it’s kind of a long and cheesy comment, but I respect your blog, your writing, and your values / opinions, and it’s nice to know that someone who is a role model online is sending a healthy message that it’s absolutely ok to not follow strict guidelines if they make your life more difficult and that just becase you don’t have a “vegan” diet, doesn’t mean you can’t live a “vegan” lifestyle.
Thank you so much, Daniel. We all do the best we can in every facet of our life, making the decisions that are right for us at that time. I don’t want anyone to make any decisions that are detrimental to their health, physical or emotional, simply because they feel they are a failure if they don’t adhere to a label. Life, believe it or not, is about so much more than that. Much love to you, friend.
I’m not worried about your vegan status (I am similarly 99% vegan myself, occasional eggs or cheese, especially if eating with my partners partners, who are not vegan-friendly). But I am curious if you think this would work with Earth Balance (usually you say Earth Balance, Margarine or butter – or something like that) but today, no mention of Earth Balance. Do you think it would work in this recipe or should I stick with olive oil (which may change the taste?)
Thanks <3
oh- and roasted-garlic or raw-garlic for the infused oil? It sounds SO delicious!
Oh yes, Earth Balance would work just fine. I get the infused oil at Trader Joe’s but adding a bit of roasted garlic to regular olive oil would also be dreamy.
so many good things in this post!
I’m a huge hunger games fan, so I may be biased… I actually found the books more disturbing, in a way. I thought they did a good job not making any of the violence gratuitous in the movie- it all had a purpose. It’s not that the kids (most of them, anyway) are inherently violent- this sick, overly powerful goverment forces them to do it! It reminds me of the greek Minotaur, the way the kids have no say in their sacrifice. Suzanne Collins says she got the idea while changing channels and flipping between reality tv and war coverage. All of her books are about how destructive war can be on so many levels- even if what you’re fighting for is a good thing. I think it’s actually a pretty vegan sentiment- even if she uses violence and disturbing imagery to make her point.
I’m so excited to try this recipe! I’ve found that the longer and slower a bread rises the more flavor it has- I’ll even stick dough in the fridge overnight to slow it down. I wonder what would happen if you let a no-yeast loaf rise for even longer- maybe even a 24 hours? Either way, can’t wait to try!
I agree…I make my dough in my bread machine (dough setting) and then let it sit in there at least 7-8 hrs (magic soaking #) unless I forget it and sometimes its more like 15-20 hrs. When I began making it I did the refrigerator method too. Made the dough and left it in the fridge for 2 days or so. But now when I make it, I’ll either start it early in the a.m and bake it late in the evening or start the dough at night..let the magic happen whilst we sleep, and bake it fresh in the morning:) I’m going to have to try your version…mine is just flour salt and water.
xo
whats the difference between white whole wheat and whole wheat pastry flour? should I not use the pastry flour for bread? I’m knew to this wheat flour thing, so I’m still learning all the differences. I’m totally excited to try this recipe tho! first step is to get my starter going!
Pastry flour is low gluten flour so it does not rise as well as regular flour. I would recommend not using it. White whole wheat is made from a white versus a red wheat kernel
Thank you for answering this, Jen!
Thank you so much for these recipes as sourdough bread is one of my family’s favorites, but I’ve never tried to make it myself.
Question about the starter: On Day 6, I add the flour and water and stir. Do I leave the top off until it bubbles up and then replace the lid? I think that’s how it’s meant, but am not positive and I have a bunch of people waiting for this to make bread so I don’t want to mess it up!
My cousin told me that I had to name my starter! How funny that it’s a real thing! I let my 3 year old decide and she chose Andy. Ok then…
You can put Andy’s top back on on Day 6. He’ll do just fine either way, but I’d put it on to keep other stuff out of him (like cats).
SUCH an excellent point about cats!
Thank you!
Oh yumm! I haven’t managed to fall victim to all the Hunger Games hype, but I may just fall victim to this bread. Want to write my boss a sick note so I can stay home and watch baguettes rise all day?
Hi Mama Pea,
Listen, I totally get your thoughts about the Hunger Games. It almost reminded me of a modern day Lord of the Flies (which I’m still not clear on why I had to read in the eigth grade) but beyond that I did think it was a powerfully told story…though the camera work had me car sick in the first 15 minutes and for the rest of the film (couldn’t leave and lose my $13…)I kept my eyes closed, only opening them when I sensed the screen was still…so I may have missed some key parts.
The bread looks wonderful and my starter will be ready toward the end of the week. Again, thank you dymystifying the process and making this so straightforward for those of us who are bread-baking challenged.
I LOVE the fact that Gigi is bringing bread with a little container of olive oil dip with her – too cute!!!!
My husband indicated that he really doesn’t want easy access to fresh baked bread at all times so I think I’ll hold off on this for awhile…ALTHOUGH….it would be great for the summer when the tomatoes start coming in…could make “B”LTs with it….yummmmmmm….
Sorry about The Hunger Games – I can’t stand that shaky camera stuff either.
I am so torn on whether I want to see that movie or not… Based on your description I’m thinking bread baking sounds like more fun anyway!
My family had a little vegetarian cafe for a few years and my Mom kept a sourdough starter going at all times. It went in the bread (we always added yeast too) and the pancakes were to die for. We closed it because it was waaay too much work for people who all had other jobs and dreams, but sometimes I still miss having some place good to go for breakfast. MMMMMMmmmm vegan sourdough pancakes. sigh.
We had sourdough pancakes for breakfast this weekend…with blueberries. They were killer!
My little baby is sitting on the counter now and just waiting to be at full gestation by Saturday…when I can take it and make it into a *hopefully* delicious loaf of bread.
I am a little nervous since you had some trouble and your stuff seems to be so perfect…I will have no fear and dive right into it though.
I had trouble because I was winging it…I’ve taken the guesswork out of it for you! Good luck!
I loved Hunger Games, but after I finished them, I told my husband, “there is no way I’d EVER let my kids read these. Even if they’re the losers at school.” I’m just still pretty disturbed that these were written for children and kids are going to see these movies. Between fights to the death and vampire sexin’…I think we’ll be Amish.
Totally agree!
thank you from marshall.
Let me know how it turns out!
PS Hide the starter from Randy.
I have been anxiously awaiting this recipe and I can’t wait to try it! I have almond milk and coconut oil in my pantry + ready to go.
I have always wanted to try making and using a sourdough bread starter and have been too afraid. I knew I could count on you to make it look so simple (and have me thinking about ACTUALLY trying this)!
Thanks so much! Can’t wait to try!
Still don’t have my starter going! Planning on giving my current sourdough starter back to my mom when she gets back in town and then making your recipe. I know if I tried to keep up with two, one or both starters would end up dead, even if Katniss was not involved.
LOL! I wish I could just give you some of my already alive starter. It overfloweth.
Thanks for the warning about the shaky camera work! Did you see the third Bourne Identity movie? It was so shaky I had to get up and leave the theatre. (I’m a blast on a roller coaster or a plane, hahah!)
Yes, I did see the Bourne whatever-it-was-called-this-time. Quite similar in shakiness, but even worse!
I agree with out on the Hunger Games. While I thought the movie was pretty interesting/entertaining, I just kept thinking the whole idea of it (kids killing eachother) is just weird and doesn’t sit right with me. And the lack of camera focus totally made my head hurt.
I am seriously dying to make this sourdough bread. I would so take homemade bread and garlic olive oil in my lunch. Gigi is a smart gal
yay for grass-fed butter! you are fabulous
I won’t even touch the Hunger Games! You are brave!
Just had to let you know I hosted a small girls night “in” tonight and featured mainly Mama Pea recipeas. I made the black bean burgers into balls with nacho mmm sauce for dipping. I had veggies with cinnamon vin dressing. And I hope you don’t mind, we changed the name of your margarita smoothies to just “Momaritas.” By the end of the night, all the gals were flipping through your cookbook and you bet your bottom dollar I told them about this site, too. Keep all the recipeas coming!!!
Wow, thanks so much! That sounds like an awesome party. Thanks for sharing the recipes and the love with your friends!
Do you think this would work on the Dough Cycle of a Bread Machine?
I’m not sure! I tried several loafs in my machine and never had any turn out great. But let me know if it works for you!
Hi Mama Pea!
I haven’t made sourdough bread in a long time, I just made your started and I can’t wait. One thing I would like to share with you is that you can also lighted your loaf : ) by adding wheat gluten, it helps with the structure. I use to mill my own flour but life has been hectic so I buy it for now till I can get back on track. You can easily make a completely whole wheat loaf if you substitute 2-3 Tbsp of the flour for the gluten for every loaf the recipe makes. Have a great rest of the week : )
Thanks for the tip…I’d heard that about adding the gluten, but I guess I’d rather have a less than 100% grain soaked loaf than adding gluten…but it really is up to whatever you prefer. I appreciate the info!
Your welcome and here are a few cool websites:
The state of Montana has a great site that has a diagram of a wheat kernel:
http://wbc.agr.mt.gov/Consumers/diagram_kernel.html
and here is how you get gluten from whole wheat:
http://cheapsk8chick.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Extract-Gluten-Three-Easy-Steps
while I enjoyed the plot of the Hunger Games (I read the series), I have to agree with you on the shaky camera work – there were a couple times when I had to either put my head between my knees or look away from the screen. It didn’t help that the hubby and I went to see it in IMAX – nothing like high definition nausea enducing camera work.
So now you make amazing, soft homemade breads. Woman, is there anything you cannot do? In like 6 years, I have not successfully made bread, in part because I lack patience. I am so impressed!
You give me far too much credit, but thanks!
What do you use to calculate your nutrient values for your recipes?
http://www.livestrong.com/myplate/
Ok, I just read the remarks and I have a question. I used whole wheat pastry flour in my starter. Was that bad? From now on, I will make the bread without ww pastry flour, but is my starter ruined?
I don’t think it will be an issue, honestly. I know that it’s possible to use a different flour starter to make a different flour bread. My understanding is that it’s the yeast that truly matters. Everything I’ve read says you’ll be fine.
Mmmmmmmmm…… Made my first loaves today… My two kids devoured the first loaf, and I started the second! Yummy!
Great!!! New recipe to use that starter for coming soon…
My roommates and I just finished making our first “Pea-cipe.” We named our starter Marilla (after the Anne of Green Gables character). We did have a slight mold issue with our starter (it grew within a couple of hours on the final day). We were fortunate enough to have it only around the sides of our container, and not touching the starter itself. I have attempted different sourdough bread recipes in the past, and this one was so much easier! This may become my weekly tradition. Thanks so much! The bread was remarkable!
Great! Keep that starter alive…I have another recipe coming later this week you can use Marilla for. Marilla was a crusty old thing, wasn’t she?
Have you tried making bread in a loaf pan yet (ala sandwich-type bread)? So far, I love my new starter (took me 2 times to get it to work right), and this bread recipea is excellent.
I haven’t, have you? I will give it a go. I started a new starter this week because my old guy was getting a little funky.
Not yet. I’m thinking it will take 1-1/4 – 1-1/2 of this recipe to equal about one loaf. I’m not sure how to adapt my regular sandwich bread recipe to use with a sourdough starter. Will need to play around a bit and see what I can come up with.
Why did you press into the bread instead of scoring it? Sorry, I’m a bit of a bread purist.
I’m sure this bread is great, it just isn’t artisan sourdough.
Never claimed it was!
My first loaves are in the oven right now. This is the first time I have ever baked a loaf of yeast bread before so I have my fingers crossed. Thanks for the recipes!
I’m so excited for you…do let me know how they turn out!
I wish I could post an instagram! They came out really good. I am not sure why but yeast breads were something I had myself convinced I could not do and it is actually pretty easy. The loaves were more dense than I expected but I liked the subtle sourdough taste. I am not a fan of the sourdough that is so sour that it almost makes you pucker. Now I am going to see if I can make it into english muffins. Wish me luck!
Do you have a recipe? I have my eye on this one: http://www.mykitchenaddiction.com/2012/04/sourdough-english-muffins/
That one looks good. I was going to use this one.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-english-muffins-recipe
I will let you know how it turns out. Your recipe looks great and doesn’t have all that butter. Now I have to think about it.
I’ll let you know if I get around to making them soon!
I am baking my first sourdough loaf right now. My dough was much wetter than your pictures. And I could not the dough to stay together in a loaf shape; it has just spread out on the pan. Any ideas on what I can do? I wonder if it was the consistency of my starter…it was kinda soupy.
Thanks!
This is a wonderful recipe when you want more of a sweet whole wheat bread instead of a strict “sour” taste. I have been making sour dough bread for over a year now (keeping that starter going!) – I found the San Francisco traditional recipe which is wonderful for that distinctly sour sour dough bread. But I am really loving this one for more of an “every day bread” – so thank you! I hope to get a bread post up soon.
Throughout this year of experimenting though I have found that I have to do two proofs to get it to be lighter and not so dense. I notice you only do one rise. Do you find it to be a denser loaf?
I’m sure if I let it rise longer or did a second proof, it would be less dense. I generally cheat and add a little yeast.
Thank you! This worked out perfectly. I did use a teaspoon of yeast.
Can you make the starter with whole wheat and then use white for the loaves?
My understanding is that you need to use the same flour across the board.
Hi, nice site! Used it to get BACK into making my sourdough. I used a mix of white (unbleached) and whole wheat to get my starter working good. Then fed it with just white. Made a few loaves that are getting better each time. Have a loaf in the oven right now from the white starter, but made with whole wheat, and it’s rising just fine without yeast! Changed this one to use Agave nectar instead of honey or sugar and can’t wait to taste it! The agave is supposed to give a lower sugar spike for insulin production.
later, Tom.