easy sourdough

Every baker needs an all-purpose, go-to loaf in their repertoire. And if you're new to sourdough, this is the perfect place to start. Because the dough rises while you're asleep, you won't be tempted to rush the process or check on it every five seconds to see if it's ready. Have a look at the baker's schedule, then make adjustments to suit your schedule.

No-Knead Everyday Sourdough Bread

g (1⁄4 cup) bubbly, active starter

350 g (1-1/3 cups plus 2 tbsp) warm water

500 g (4 cups plus 2 tbsp) bread flour

g (1-1⁄2 tsp) fine sea salt

Thursday–Saturday: Feed your starter until bubbly and active.

Saturday Evening: Make the dough, and let rise...

Saturday Evening: Make the dough, and let rise overnight.

Sunday Morning: Shape the dough, let rise again,...

Sunday Morning: Shape the dough, let rise again, score, and bake.

In the evening, whisk the starter and water...

In the evening, whisk the starter and water together in a large bowl with a fork. Add the flour and salt. Combine until a stiff dough forms, then finish mixing by hand to fully incorporate the flour. The dough will feel dense and shaggy, and it will stick to your fingers as you go. Scrape out as much as you can. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 30 minutes. Replenish your starter with fresh flour and water, and store according to preference.

After the dough has rested, work the mass...

After the dough has rested, work the mass into a fairly smooth ball. To do this, grab a portion of the dough and fold it over, pressing your fingertips into the center. Repeat, working your way around the dough until it begins to tighten, about 15 seconds.

Cover the bowl with a damp towel and...

Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let rise overnight at room temperature. This will take about 8 to 10 hours at 70°F (21°C). The dough is ready when it no longer looks dense and has doubled in size.

In the morning, coax the dough onto a...

In the morning, coax the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. To shape it into a round, start at the top and fold the dough over toward the center. Turn the dough slightly and fold over the next section of dough. Repeat until you have come full circle. Flip the dough over and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, line an 8-inch (20-cm) bowl with a...

Meanwhile, line an 8-inch (20-cm) bowl with a towel and dust with flour. With floured hands, gently cup the dough and pull it toward you in a circular motion to tighten its shape. Using a bench scraper, place the dough into the bowl, seam side up.

Cover the bowl and let rest for 30...

Cover the bowl and let rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour. The dough is ready when it looks puffy and has risen slightly but has not yet doubled in size.

Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C). Cut a...

Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C). Cut a sheet of parchment paper to t the size of your baking pot, leaving enough excess around the sides to remove the bread.

Place the parchment over the dough and invert...

Place the parchment over the dough and invert the bowl to release. Sprinkle the dough with flour and gently rub the surface with your hands. Using the tip of a small, serrated knife or a razor blade, score the dough with the cross-cut pattern on page 195, or any way you’d like. Use the parchment to transfer the dough to the baking pot.

Bake the dough on the center rack for...

Bake the dough on the center rack for 20 minutes, covered. Remove the lid, and continue to bake for 30 minutes. Then, carefully remove the loaf from the pot and bake directly on the oven rack for the last 10 minutes to crisp the crust. When finished, transfer to a wire rack. Cool for 1 hour before slicing.

Sourdough is best consumed on the same day...

Sourdough is best consumed on the same day it is baked. To maximize freshness, cool completely and store at room temperature in a plastic bag for up to 1 day.

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/idia09deq3jx6trangm8.mp4

Every baker needs an all-purpose, go-to loaf in their repertoire. And if you’re new to sourdough, this everyday no knead sourdough is the perfect place to start.

Everyday No Knead Sourdough Bread

The perfect no knead, rustic sourdough bread for beginners! This recipe will produce a crunchy crust, yummy middle and it does all the work itself in this relatively hands-off sourdough made with no commercial yeast. It&#039;s the perfect starter recipe if you are new to sourdough.

No-Knead Beginner Sourdough

ripe sourdough starter

water (warm

all purpose flour

levain (about 1 cup)

water, room temperature (about 1 3/4 cups)

bread flour

salt (about 2 teaspoons)

To a clear liquid measuring cup add 90 grams of starter, 90 grams of water and 90 grams of flour. Mix together. Cover and let sit at warm room temperature (78-80ºF) for about 3-4 hours until the mixture is bubbly, doubled in size and just about to fall. Once the levain has doubled in size and has reached it&#39;s peak height, it is ready to use.

Mix Levain (ready in 3-4 hours at 78-80ºF)

Mix Dough: Mix 230 grams of ripe levain, room temperature water, flour and salt in a bowl using a wooden spoon or dough whisk (affiliate link). The dough will look “shaggy” (rough, craggy and a little bit lumpy) at first but mix until it forms a ball. Cover the bowl and let rest for 1 hour at 78-80ºF.

Stretch &amp; Fold #1: After an hour, uncover the bowl and do a series of three &quot;stretch and folds&quot;. To do this, pick up the underside of the dough and fold it on top of itself, turning the bowl after each fold and picking up a different section of the dough to fold and turn. An example of this folding technique is found here (halfway through the video). Cover the bowl again and let it rest for another hour, keeping the dough at 78-80ºF.

Stretch &amp; Fold #2: After an hour, uncover the bowl and repeat the series of three stretch and folds. Notice how the dough is coming together. It doesn’t feel shaggy anymore and is becoming more stretchy and cohesive. Cover the bowl again and let rest at a warm temperature 78-80ºF for one hour.

Stretch &amp; Fold #3: Uncover the bowl and repeat the series of three stretch and folds. This is your final set of stretch and folds. Cover the dough and let rest for another hour, keeping the dough warm 78-80ºF.

At this point about 4 hours should have passed from the time you initially mixed the dough. The dough should have risen 30-40%, have some scattered bubbles over the top of the dough, pull away from the sides and start to dome toward the center and feel more elastic. If it doesn&#39;t look that way, let it keep fermenting for another 30 minutes and check again. Check your dough temperature and make sure your dough is in the 78-80ºF range.

Cold Bulk Fermentation: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and put it in the refrigerator to rest overnight. The dough can stay in the refrigerator for 12 to 48 hours. See recipe notes for instructions on baking the same day.

Pre-heat the Oven: The next morning (or whenever you are ready to bake your bread), put a dutch oven into your oven with the lid on and set the oven to 500ºF. Preheat the dutch oven by leaving it in the oven for 30 minutes.

Shaping: Immediately after setting the dutch oven to preheat, pull out a piece of parchment paper. Take your dough out of the fridge. Dump dough on the counter and use your hands to shape the dough into a round ball, gently dragging the dough on the counter as you shape it into a ball. The dough should be fairly easy to work with because it is cold. Use wet hands if the dough is sticky.

Scoring: When your dutch oven has preheated for 30 minutes, score the top of your bread with a bread lame (affiliate link), sharp knife or razor.

Bake the Bread: Take the dutch oven out of the oven. Warning: This is a VERY HOT dutch oven. Keep those oven mitts on and be very careful not to burn yourself. Take the top off the dutch oven and place the dough and parchment paper into the dutch oven. Place the top back on the dutch oven and close the oven door. Immediately decrease the baking temperature to 450 degrees and bake for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, take the top off the dutch oven and continue baking for 20 more minutes. The internal temperature should be 205ºF when finished baking.

Pull the bread out of the oven. Wait until cool to cut into it. Enjoy!

Thank you. This recipe was perfect for me as a beginner. One more question, would doubling the recipe work? Would I be able to go through the stretch and folds and bulk fermenting and then just split the dough at the end before baking?

I was given a proofing basket. Should I use it for during the cold bulk fermentation? Or is it not necessary? Thanks!

This is the the only recipe I use! My bread comes out perfect every time! Thank you for sharing this and all of your recipes!

Hi Amy! I've tried a few sourdough starter recipes, but I have found yours to be the most helpful! One quick question - my dough, when I turned it out onto the parchment this morning, stuck! I pulled it off, floured a new parchment sheet, and put the formed ball on there and it STILL stuck to the parchment in the oven! What am I doing wrong??

Think you don&#039;t have time for sourdough? Think again! This easy sourdough bread recipe is a hands-off way to make sourdough bread with all the benefits of sourdough fermentation, a crisp crust and soft and tender middle. Your whole family will love this loaf!

Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe

sourdough starter (ripe, bubbly and active, see recipe notes, about 1/4 cup)

water (about 1 1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons)

salt (about

bread flour (or all-purpose flour, see recipe notes, about 3 2/3 cups)

Feed Your Starter: If you already have active, bubbly sourdough starter, you can use it directly in this recipe. If your sourdough starter is not ripe, active and bubbly, it needs to be fed. I like to feed my sourdough starter overnight so it will rise while I&#39;m sleeping and is ready to use in the morning. You can change up the ratios of flour, water and starter so your starter is ready when you want it to be.Here&#39;s an example: Take 5-10 grams of ripe or over-ripe starter and feed it 50 grams flour and 50 grams water. Set it in a warm 76-78ºF place and let it ferment for 10-12 hours until ripe, bubbly, active, doubled in size and ready to be used in a recipe.

Mix Dough: In a large bowl, mix 60 grams of bubbly, active sourdough starter with 340 grams of water, 10 grams salt and 500 grams bread flour. Mix together with a wooden spoon, a dough whisk or your hands until a shaggy dough forms and all the flour is incorporated.

First Rise/Bulk Fermentation: Cover the dough and set in a warm 76ºF place for 10-12 hours. During this time the dough will strengthen, rise and double in size.Note: You can change up this schedule to make your dough overnight instead of during the day if that helps your timeline.

Shape: Once the dough has doubled in size, dump it on a clean countertop. Use lightly damp hands and a bench scraper (if desired) to shape the dough into a round ball by gently dragging the dough on the counter, one hand on each side, as you shape it. The dough may be a little bit sticky - that is normal.  Place the dough ball on a piece of parchment paper.Note: It&#39;s important to shape the dough right after it doubles in size. If your dough has doubled in size and started to fall back down, it may be over-proofed and feel overly sticky and wet. At this point you can do your best to shape it and proceed with the recipe (it may bake up a little flat) OR turn it into focaccia bread - oiling a metal pan and stretching the dough, letting it rise and then dimpling and baking it.

Proof (Second Rise): Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a larger kitchen bowl upside down on top of the dough. Let rise for 1-2 hours until relaxed and puffed up.

Score and Bake: Place a Dutch oven into your oven.  Preheat the oven and Dutch oven to 500ºF for 20 minutes. Score the top of your bread with a sharp knife with one or two slashes.Take the dutch oven out of the oven. Warning: This is a VERY HOT dutch oven. Keep those oven mitts on and be very careful not to burn yourself. Take the top off the dutch oven and place the dough and parchment paper into the dutch oven. Place the top back on the dutch oven and close the oven door. Immediately decrease the baking temperature to 450ºF and bake for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, take the top off the dutch oven and continue baking for 20 more minutes. The internal temperature of the bread should be 205ºF when finished baking.Note: This dough is not meant for intricate scoring. A few simple slashes will suffice. If you want to make a loaf with intricate scoring, try my more advanced sourdough bread recipe.

Pull the bread out of the oven and place on a cooling rack. Wait until cool to cut into it. Enjoy!

Thank you for teaching us that sourdough need not be difficult! I'm eagerly awaiting my loaf to cool down to make a sandwich, and I have a couple of questions in the meantime:

Crust was a little too 'done' for my taste, despite following your cooking/baking directions and times/temperature to the letter. Would you suggest further reducing the heat for the uncovered (second 1/2) of the baking? Ideally my crust would be somewhere between where I take the lid of the dutch oven off and what I ultimately ended up with. Perhaps my oven runs a bit hot? Still a beautiful loaf, and seriously can't wait to try it.

Also, maybe it's the Sprouts brand of parchment paper I used, but about half of it stuck to the bottom of my loaf! A butter knife made quick work scraping the bottom, but ideal if I don't have to do that each time. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Very easy and turned out great! Best crumb I’ve gotten yet. Just not a strong sourdough taste, which I miss with this recipe. 
Would this recipe hold up if I added inclusions with it?

Wow! This loaf is so easy and amazing. Great option when I don’t have time stretch and folds.

My starter triples in size in 4 hrs. I don't know if I should follow your feeding at 12hrs before or go with my 4 hrs. When I feed it the night before, it deflates down to half it's size. What's your recommendation?

A really simple but delicious recipe, my husband loves it .

Easy recipe! I have my dough fermenting and covered. Can’t wait to shape and bake. Thanks for sharing. Super easy!

My first perfect sourdough loaf!!

I’ve attempted a few loaves now and have been disappointed with one aspect or another. To be honest, I think I’m just confused by the traditional process and so I end up screwing something up at some point. Even with this recipe, there were a few things that gave me pause (is it doubled in size? Did I shape it right?), but I just kept with it. It resulted in two PERFECT loaves (I had a lot of active starter lol). They are crisp on the outside, bubbly and spongy on the inside. This recipe is a keeper for me! Thank you!!

Just one question — is there a way to get a tangier flavor? Or is that a result of the traditional process? That’s the only thing that might get me to give the traditional process another go!

Top 3 easy sourdough recipes from across the web

The most viewed easy sourdough recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

No-Knead Everyday Sourdough Bread

No-Knead Beginner Sourdough

Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe

Top 3 easy sourdough recipes from across the web

The most viewed easy sourdough recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

No-Knead Everyday Sourdough Bread

No-Knead Beginner Sourdough

Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe

The most viewed easy sourdough recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine