best sourdough bread

This no-fuss, easy sourdough bread has a lacey crumb, the perfect amount of tang, and a crispy crust. Enjoy step-by-step instructions for beginners &amp; experts alike.

Easy Sourdough Bread

warm water (about 90°F)

sourdough starter

bread flour (Note 1)

salt

brown rice flour (for dusting)

Feed the starter 8-12 hours prior to making the bread dough. You need a nice and ripe starter. Test the starter by dropping a small amount into a water. If it floats, it’s ripe and ready to use!

Before you start:

In a large mixing bowl, combine warm water and ripe starter. Mix until most of the starter is broken up and mixed into the water.

Add flour and salt.

Use a silicone spatula, or your hand, or the dough hook attachment, knead the dough until all the flour is incorporated, about 2 minutes. Let it rest for 5 minutes.

Then knead it again for 5 minutes, if using a stand mixer, or about 8 minutes, if kneading by hand. (Note: Don’t be alarmed by soft and sticky dough. It’s exactly as it should be, and it’ll get easier to handle.) Cover the dough with plastic wrap (or shower cap) and rest for 30 minutes.

To mix the dough:

Turn the dough out onto a clean counter, lightly sprayed with water. Gently stretch the dough out as far as it can go. Then lift the bottom end and fold it over the center of the dough. Then do the same with the top side of the dough. Now, lift the sides of the dough and fold it over onto the center as well. Then tuck the corners to form a nice smooth ball. Using a bench scraper, turn the dough into tight ball to create a surface tension. Please watch my video demonstration for better understanding. (TIP: Lightly dampen your hands with water. It minimizes the dough sticking to your hands.)

Put the dough back into the bowl, cover and bulk ferment for 5-6 hours at room temperature (around 70°F). (Note: If you have time, I also encourage you to do additional 1-2 lamination about 1 hour apart. It helps to strengthen the gluten structure and promotes nice open crumb.)

To laminate &amp; bulk ferment the dough:

Turn the dough out onto a clean counter, lightly sprayed with water. With lightly dampened hands, stretch and fold the dough again as described in step 6. Form the dough into a tight ball and let it rest for 10 minutes, covered. Resting allows the dough to relax and it’ll be easier to shape it.

Flip the dough smooth side down and stretch the top portion slightly and fold it over the center. Do the same thing with the bottom portion. You should now have a log shaped dough. Then from the short end, roll the dough as if you’re rolling a burrito. Tightly pinch the seams.

Generously dust the banneton basket with brown rice flour and put the bread dough into it, seam-side up.

To pre-shape:

Cover the banneton with plastic wrap, or the same shower cap. And let it proof for 1 hour at room temperature, then place it in the fridge for overnight, 8-10 hours, for cold proofing. OR proof the dough for 2 hours at room temperature and bake right away. (Note: Slow cold proofing helps to develop more flavor. But in my experience, it didn’t affect the oven spring.)

To proof the dough:

Preheat the oven with bread cloche to 425°F (218°C) for at least 1 hour. (If using Dutch oven, you may or may not preheat it. I’ve tried either way and didn’t see significant difference.)

Poke test: Poke the dough in the banneton with your finger about half an inch deep. If the dough springs right back, then it’s under-proofed. If the dough doesn’t spring back at all, it’s over-proofed. You want your dough spring back slowly and leave a small indentation.

Carefully invert the proofed bread dough onto the hot cloche. Spritz the top of the bread with water and score it to your desired pattern. Cover and bake for 45 minutes. (TIP: Spraying water helps to create more steam and encourages a good oven spring. The bread crust also gets nice blisters from water sprays.)

Then remove the cover and bake the bread for another 15 minutes.

Carefully transfer the bread onto a wire rack and cool completely for at least 3 hours before slicing into it. (TIP: If sliced too soon, the bread will be unpleasantly gummy.)

To bake the bread:

This easy sourdough bread recipe uses yogurt and sour cream in place of a traditional sourdough starter, which makes it possible to prep a loaf in less than a day!

bread flour (I use King Arthur)

tub plain unsweetened Greek yogurt with active cultures (500 grams)

salt (or

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (or use a large mixing bowl and wooden spoon and your hands), add the flour, Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup sour cream, salt, and yeast.

Turn mixer on low speed and allow it to knead dough for about 5 to 7 minutes (about 7 to 10 minutes by hand using a wooden spoon and then switching to your hands). Add sour cream as needed to form a very moist and wet dough. If it’s at all dry or crumbly, add more sour cream (or Greek yogurt) until it comes together. I used one-17.6 ounce tub of Greek yogurt and almost 1 cup lite sour cream. Dough will be seem like it’s almost too wet and it’s very heavy, but this is what you want. Err on the side of wetter than drier because flour and yeast love moisture when rising.

Remove dough from the mixing bowl, spray a large bowl with cooking spray, pat dough into a round ball, place it in the bowl, and flip it over once so it’s lightly oiled on both top and bottom. It will look like a dimply head of cauliflower.

Cover bowl with plasticwrap (spray it with cooking spray in case dough rises high enough to touch it) and place bowl in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about 6 to 8 hours (I did 6 1/2 hours), or doubled in size. If you want to start this before work or before bed and made as an overnight dough and it’ll go 8-10 hours, that’s fine. There’s really no harm in letting it rise for up to 18 hours and the longer you let it go, the more of a classic sourdough/fermented flavor that will develop. If you suspect you’re going to allow it to rise on the longer side (12-18 hours), reduce yeast to about 1/2 teaspoon so dough doesn’t get too puffy and overflow the bowl.

After 6+ hours of rising, turn dough out onto a floured surface (without punching it down to preserve the air pockets and bubbles that have been created) and knead lightly for about 2 to 3 minutes.Pat dough into a round mound, and place it back into large mixing bowl, seam side down. Cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for 60 to 120 minutes, or until doubled in size (I did 60 minutes; I suspect the longer you let the second rise go, the more ‘holey’ the bread will be). Placing the bowl on the stovetop is a nice spot for this rise because you’re going to turn on the oven and the residual heat emitted helps with rising.

Shortly after dough begins the 60-120 minute rising, turn oven on to 450F and place a covered 7 to 10-quart or sufficiently large Dutch oven (empty) or heavy-bottomed skillet into the oven and allow it to heat for about 45 minutes. Dutch ovens are so heavy and take so long to get truly hot, and when you’re ready to bake the bread, you want the Dutch oven screaming hot.

After about 60-90 minutes or dough has doubled in size, remove Dutch oven from oven (careful, it’s screaming hot, use two pairs of hot mitts) and carefully place a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of Dutch oven to prevent bread from sticking.Carefully transfer dough from rising bowl to Dutch oven, cover it, and bake covered for 30 minutes. Don’t open the oven door or the Dutch oven lid to peek; you want to seal in the steam.

After 30 minutes, uncover the Dutch oven, and allow bread to bake uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes (I did 8 minutes) or until it’s as browned as desired. Traditional sourdough has a darker crust than most bread (sometimes almost burnt-looking, but I prefer mine on the lighter side).

Remove Dutch oven from oven, and remove bread from Dutch oven. Place it on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. As tempting as it is, don’t slice too early because the cooling process is important and should be considered an important extension of the baking process. Slice or break off hunks, and serve with honey butter, butter, jam, hummus, etc.

Bread is best fresh, but will keep airtight at room temp for up to 3 days. Older bread may be better toasted.

I used to make bread all the time, but not recently.  The recipe and your excellent directions sound foolproof.  Before I attempt, I have a few questions. 

At my age I cannot lift heavy Dutch ovens.  I have some high quality ceramic bakers with lids.  Do you think that will work?  What about stainless steel?

Can I cut the salt in half?  I watch sodium for high blood pressure and kidney stones.  Thanks!

I have made this several times.  My daughter LOVES IT! Thank you! so hard to try to make a starter.  This takes that pain away.   Question.  I leave in oven With light on-can it sit in sunlight to help rise?

Wonderful recipe.I am waiting for my starter to be ready, but would like to make some bread for my kids.
Was wondering if einkorn flour can be used instead, as my kids can't have any other wheat. I have celiac and my husband is wheat intolerant. Thankfully, my kids are not celiac.
If einkorn flour could be used, what would be the proper amount?Should I just start with what the recipe calls, then keep adding if more is needed?
Thank you.

I made this exactly like the recipe stated. Because I wanted a more sourdough taste I let sit 18 hours and it was hard to tell if it rose at all. I used only the 1/2 teaspoon of yeast as warned. It didn’t rise the next time either. Boy I’m disappointed

There must have been a mistake regarding the amount of flour.  The dough was very very runny. In fact so runny I had to throw it out and did not do a redo.

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Top 2 best sourdough bread recipes from across the web

The most viewed best sourdough bread recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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Easy Sourdough Bread

Easy Sourdough Bread

The most viewed best sourdough bread recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine