This sourdough bread is a basic, hearty, all-purpose loaf, that I call our “everyday sourdough bread” because it is so simple to make and versatile as well. It’s so nice having bread on hand because you can easily make it into a snack or add it to a meal.
Sourdough bread is moist, lasts well, is extremely effective in reducing anti-nutrients like phytic acid, is very flavorful, and frugal as well.
Ever since I blogged about the benefits of sourdough versus a yeasted bread, I have gotten requests to share my recipe. Somehow months went by, and I never delivered the promised recipe. I wasn’t making bread for a little while, my neglected sourdough starter died on me, and I also wanted to make sure that I was able to take pictures of the process. All of these things, prevented me from sharing sooner. But finally here it is.
Once it’s made it can go with a variety of meals, so I find that even though it takes a little time to make, it saves time in the end. I hope, now that I am getting back into the swing of baking, to share other sourdough recipes in the future, so keep on eye on my blog for more to come!
Everyday Sourdough Bread
This recipe is very easy to double (or triple). I usually double it. The rising times will vary according to how cold and moist the air is in your house. In the hot summer, my bread can rise within just hours, so I start in the morning. But most of the year, I need to start the night before. If it’s really cold in the house, I try to seek warm places to put my dough to rise, and then expect it to take longer. For the second rise, I include instructions on how to help your bread rise quickly by using your oven and hot water.
1 cup of sourdough starter
1/2 cup of water
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup of honey (depending on how sweet you want it)
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil or olive oil
About 3 to 4 1/2 cups of spelt, hard whole wheat flour (freshly ground is preferable).Step One:
Bosch Mixer Instructions: (The Bosch works better if you at least double the recipe)For timing sake, start in the evening.
Place the mixing bowl on the bosch machine, and put the dough hook on.
Place your sourdough starter, water, salt, honey, and oil in the mixer bowl. Mix it just a tiny bit to combine.Add three cups of flour and start the machine on low. As it mixes, continue to add flour until the dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl and forms a ball. Stop the machine and feel it. Does it still feel really sticky? Add some more flour until it feels moist, but not sticky.
On low speed, knead for 6-8 more minutes.
Take out of the bowl and place on a clean, floured counter. If the dough is a bit sticky still, you can hand knead a little more flour in.
Hand Kneading Method
Combine your sourdough starter, water, salt, honey, and oil in large bowl. Whisk to combine.
With a wooden spoon, start stirring in your flour. Continue to add flour until the dough is so stiff, it’s too hard to stir.
On a clean, well floured surface, place your wet sticky dough, and start kneading in flour. To knead, flip the top half of the dough on top of the bottom half, push this folded lump of dough with heels of one or both of your hands. Turn the dough a quarter, and repeat. Remember to keep flouring the board and the dough, as needed. You may want to gently oil your hands to prevent sticking. Continue this process until the dough no longer feels sticky, but don’t add too much flour in, so as to make it feel dry. Total kneading time should be about ten minutes.
Step Two: The First Rising
Place your dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover tightly and allow to rise overnight. This step generally takes about 12 hours. If the weather is really warm and humid, it could take as little as three (I only experience this in the hot summer). The dough should double in size.
Step Three: The Shaping and Second Rising
To shape your dough into a loaf. Press your ball of dough into a rough rectangle.
Fold one half of the dough to meet about the middle of your rectangle. Make sure to press down the dough, so that there isn’t any air bubbles.
Do the same with the other side of the dough, slightly overlapping the other fold.
Starting at the top of your folded dough, start gently rolling it toward you, pressing to seal the dough with the heel of your hand as you go along.
Continue until you reach the bottom of your dough. Using the tips of your fingers, you can pinch together any loose seems. It should look something like this when done.
Place in very well greased bread pans (I use palm or coconut oil to grease mine).
The Second Rise:
While you can do your second rise at room temperature. I prefer the following method because it takes a much shorter amount of time, is a more effective way to get your bread to rise, and also prevents the bread from become too sour. If you do decide to rise at room temperature, it should take between 6-12 hours, in a 65 to 70 degree house.
Oven method. Place your bread pans in the oven, with a towel covering them. Place a jelly roll pan, or a casserole dish on the rack below. Heat up some water to the boiling point, and carefully pour into the pan, and close the oven door. This will create a warm, moist environment for your bread to rise. Check the oven an hour or two later, and add more hot water. It should take 2-3 hours for your bread to rise.
When I was making these particular loaves of bread, in two hours, I found my bread like this.
Slightly over risen! (The breaks on top of the loaves show where it has risen too much). So keep on eye on it. It may rise faster than you think.
To Bake:
Bake at 375 for about 45 to 55 minutes. Place in the lower third of your oven so that the top doesn’t brown to much. When you remove the loaf from the pan (you may need to run a knife around the edge before removing), it should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool in cooling racks and enjoy.
This post is part of Frugal Friday.
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Kimi, Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your recipe…& the step by step..that is very helpful……sourdough is very new to me, but I wanted to get into it due to all the health benefits……
How do you feed your starter? Do you use whole wheat to feed it? I have read most use white flour, but I did not really want to do that….
Thanks again…
Jessica O.
thank you SO much for this! I can’t wait to make this. I LOVE the taste of sourdough, and now love the nutritional value of it too. 🙂
Hi Kimi,
Thanks for sharing your recipe. I will definitely be trying it. Do you slash the tops of your loaves before baking? I find that everytime make sourdough, my crust cracks, almost where you can peel the whole top off. Also, do you spray your oven with water for the steam, or put a tray of water in the oven? Thanks!
I have a start from a friend and her recipe that uses only 3 tbsp start per 2 loaves, and it’s a more rustic bread. It’s obviously a different start (originating from grape juice). Where can I obtain the type of start you have? I would like to learn this bread also (it looks like it would work for sandwiches!) Thanks!
My bunch LOVES fresh baked rolls, bread, biscuits, etc. I’ve been wanting to make a sourdough starter for a while but, get turned off by all the time it takes to get it started-which is why we don’t have lots of yeast bread! This looks really good so I think I’m going to bite the bullet and get my starter started! Thanks for the encouragement!
Jessica,
You are welcome. 🙂 I use whole wheat to feed mine, but if you have one that is all white flour, slowly transfer over to whole wheat.
Jeanette,
You are more than welcome. 🙂
Christine,
I don’t usually slash my loaves, but it could be a good idea if you are having that problem. I have done the whole water spraying etc, but I generally don’t do it unless I have free formed loaves of bread because that’s when you really notice the difference. For our everyday, loaf pan breads, I don’t bother. 😉
Lindsay,
I have gotten starters from friends (I just made sure that they had made it with just water and flour), and I have also been very happy with a starter from Fermented Treasures. There are a few other online places you can buy a starter from as well. Or you can just make your own (sometime I truthfully haven’t bothered with yet, lol). I find that this recipe does work well for a hearty sandwich. 🙂
Jennifer,
And like I told Lindsay, you can buy a starter if you just don’t have the time or energy to make your own. 🙂
Can you share your starter dough recipe? Thank you.
Heather
Hi Heather,
Since I have always gotten my starter from a friend, or bought one, I’ve never actually developed my own method for making a starter. But there are plenty of recipes out there to try! Just make sure to find a recipe that only uses flour and water. 🙂
In my recipe for a whole-wheat loaf, I discovered that the texture was better without any fat. I am by no means a lowfat person, I LOVE my butter. So I thought that butter in my bread would be good, but it makes it a bit crumbly. I was only using a couple tablespoons per loaf, but when I left it out the loaf holds together better. Then I just spread our slices with generous butter.
Hi Shannon,
How interesting! Thanks for sharing your experience. I actually used to do my sourdough without any sweetener or oil, but I found it a bit more dense and sour that way. I hadn’t noticed it more crumbly, but I should make two batches sometime and see how they compare. Thanks for sharing!
I was just going to try your recipe and I have a question. You call for 1/2 cup of water, but in your actual method, you never mention the water again. Do you use water as well as the sourdough starter? Thanks.
Hi Carolyn,
Oops! Thanks for pointing that out. Yes, the water amount is right, I just left it out of the directions. I added it into the directions now (you add it with the starter at the beginning). Hope it turns out well for you!
I have tried the Nourishing Traditions starter and just was not impressed. Any other ideas for a starter?
Thank you.
H
i tried the nt sourdough too and it doesnt come out well. ive been using the site sourdoughhome.com
it has good directions for starting and caring for starters
Thank you for all the great ideas, resources, etc….your website ROCKS!!! I have never had much luck with sourdough bread, but you have re-inspired me to try again.
Hi Kimi,
I just wanted to start by saying that your website is my absolute favorite. Thanks so much for all you do here!
I have a question. The mixer portion of your recipe called for a Bosch mixer. I have a Kitchenaid mixer, which has a dough hook. Do you think that would do the trick? I’m very new to sourdough and am still a little bit intimidated. Thanks in advance!
Hi Mindy,
Thanks so much for the kind comment. 🙂 That is so sweet of you.
Yes, I do think that a Kitchenaid mixer would work, especially if you were only doing one or two loaves. Sourdough is a little intimidating at times, as they have their own personalities, but they are worth learning, I promise! 🙂
I just recently made my own sourdough starter and the first batch of bread was not good at all. The 2nd batch turned out great b/c I added gluten to it (as well as sweetener and coconut oil.) I don’t know if it’s a bad thing that I added the gluten to it, but it tastes wonderful and is not crumbly at all! Anyway, my question was about the effectiveness of neutralizing the phytic acid with sourdough vs. soaking the grains for a traditional yeasted bread. I usually soak my flour for bread for about 18 hrs, but the sourdough bread only got 8 hours from the time I made the dough until it was ready to be baked. So it seems like the longer soaking time (w/ the traditional yeast) would be preferred (and I didn’t want to give the sourdough bread more rising time since it had already doubled.) Do you happen to know the answer as to which is the best for neutralizing the phytic acid? Thanks!
Susanna,
I think that sourdough starter often needs time to develop, so the first few times that you use it, it may not work as well as it will eventually. It takes a little patience. 🙂 That’s why I often will just get a starter from a friend or buy one. It’s already a well developed starter. I personally choose not to add gluten to my dough, just because gluten can be hard on the digestive tract, but it does make nice bread, that’s for sure! 😉
Sourdough starter is very good at reducing anti-nutrients, so even eight hours would probably be very effective. You can place it in a cooler place to make it rise longer too. For a little more information, you can read my post here, talking about sourdough versus yeasted bread. 🙂
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/05/q-sourdough-vs-yeasted-bread.html
Kimi,
How important is the towel when rising in the oven? I’m just wondering if it won’t stick to the dough? Do you wet it?
I should’ve asked this sooner as I’m just now getting the bread into the bread pans!
Thanks!
Kelly
Hi Kelly,
If you dough is the right consistency, it shouldn’t stick. But since it’s such a short rise, you may not need it. Hope they turn out well for you!
Kimi
Thanks for the sourdough tutorial. I’m excited to try ww sourdough. I’ve read at other sites that you should use crockery or glass pans for sourdough bread. It looks like you’ve used metal pans. Do they work alright? Also it appears the recipe is for a single loaf but the photo has two loaves and you wrote “loaves”. Is the recipe for a single loaf or doubled already? Thanks so much.
I have a question/problem. I got a starter from Fermented Treasures, and have been feeding it weekly, as per the directions. Since it’s been activated I’ve been keeping it in the refrigerator. I tried the basic sourdough recipe that came with the starter once, and since then have made your Everyday Sourdough recipe three times. The problem is this: my dough never seems to rise as much as I think it should, not ever.
I can get it to rise double in the bowl, but after I make the loaves and put them in the pans is when the problems arise (if you’ll pardon the pun). It will get bigger, but generally it doesn’t even get to the top of the pan. The first time I made your recipe, I tried the oven method, but after a long time (8hrs? 12hours?) it seemed to reach its maximum and eventually started to decrease in height. The other times I’ve done the longer method, but the dough never gets very high then, either, even far beyond 12 hours to rise.
Nevertheless, it tastes delicious. It’s just such small loaves. Do you have any insight into what I’m doing wrong?
Mindy,
First, I am glad that it tastes right! That’s the first step in the right direction.
Here’s a few questions/thoughts.
Are you making sure to leave your starter at room temperature for about 8 hours after each feeding?
The other thing that could be making them seem smaller is the size of your pan. You could triple the recipe and split it between two pans (which I’ve done before for larger bread pans).
Last thought was this, why don’t you just do ONE slow rise in the bread pans and just skip the second rise? As long as you do a slow, 7-8 hour rise, it should have very effectively reduced anti-nutrients. I haven’t tried this yet, but I am going to soon. It may not have as much of a developed flavor, but if it’s only the second rise that’s giving you trouble, this may eliminate your problems. 😉
Sourdough is a funny thing…..
About whether to include fat in breads or not: fat is called shortening because it does just that… it shortens the gluten strands so they don’t bind together as well. It serves as a tenderizer in baked goods, but if you’re looking for a bread that holds together well it is probably better to leave out the fat or at least add it at the very last minute after you have mostly finished kneading. If you leave out the fat it is probably unnecessary to add extra gluten since, as you said, Kimi, it is difficult to digest.
Also, I just read that if you want more sourdough flavor you should use less starter, and if you want less sourdough flavor you should use more starter, as the sour flavor develops over long rising times. Using more starter makes the bread rise faster resulting in a less sour flavor.
Thanks for your instructions on sourdough, they are very helpful. I just started some starter and I can’t wait until it “grows up”!
Hi, I just made my first spelt sourdough loaf and it did not turn out quite as well. It cooked fully in only 30 minutes and didnt rise at all once I put it in the oven. When I took it out it was hard and way to dense for my taste. Any suggestions as to why this would happen? I did the first rise for about 5 hours then the second (on the counter not in the oven) for about 8 hours….is that too long?
I would love any suggestions cause I was so sad about my first loaf. thanks!
Caitlin
I just made this bread and its my first successful ‘traditional’ bread using my starter! It is delicious – I just ate a piece warm from the oven topped generously with grass-fed butter and a cup of tea… delicious. Thank you for the recipe! On the menu tonight – soup & sourdough bread.
I sent this link to a friend today who was looking for a good sourdough recipe, your step by step photos should really help her. I searched through the recipes on http://realfoodmedia.com to find it!
Thanks for your great blog.
I would love to make my own bread. I have looked everywhere in grocery stores for the sourdough starter and cannot find any. Do you make your own? How do you make your own? If I can’t make my own, where can I fine some?
Just started reading your blog, it’s something I check everyday first thing in the morning when I get to my office!
Thanks!
Hi Anna,
Welcome to my site! Some sourdough starters aren’t very good that you can buy at the stores. Try Cultures for Health’s cultures, they have many choices! 🙂 Culturesforhealth.com
Is this recipe for 2 loaves of bread? What size/dimensions are your pans? Thanks. I love you website.
Melissa,
This recipe is for one loaf, but it shows two because I doubled the recipe when taking pictures. Sorry for the confusion! My pans unfortunately don’t say the size! It measures 8 inches the low way and about 4 1/2 the short way. Hope that helps. 🙂
Hello Kimi,
I’m crazy about your website! I think I’ve been reading for almost two hours! (I found you through Passionate Homemaking) What a small world too…. was just listening to Sono’s message, “The Sacrifices of Motherhood” and she mentioned something about her son ‘Joel’ then saw something somewhere else where Josh mentioned his sister-in-law, Kimi…now I feel like I know who you are! 🙂 Anyways, in all my reading on your site I have yet to find any mention of particular grain mills…. (saw reference to the Bosh mixer) I have a little grain attachment for my Champion juicer which has served us well for muffins and pancakes, but it grinds quite coarse and now that my husband is out of school we would like to get a better mill. (currentlly, my attempts at bread and tortillas have not gone well, which I think is a result of very coarse flour. Even my muffins are, “rustic.”) I would be interested to know what kind of grain mill you use(d) as well as what other readers use? It is such a big purchase… first hand recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Again, thanks so much for all the work you put into your blog! It is a blessing in my life for sure!
smiles,
Courtney
Hi Kimi,
I have a recipe to make sourdough pizza dough. I make it a lot and I love it! But I was wondering about how to let it soak without my dough turning to starter. Do I have to leave the dough on the counter or can I put it in the fridge? (for the soaking stage). The ratio is 1.5c starter to 1.5c flour. I’d like to know what you think when you get the chance.
Thanks and thanks for having such a passion for food!
I LOVE your website! I remember reading about Josh when my oldest 26 was being homeschooled here in Oregon.
You have inspired me! I have been buying Eziekel Bread for years and it can get a little expensive and it isnt “homemade” and would LOVE to teach my girls the “how to” of homemade bread.
Can I use Kamut Flour?
My family cant handle the whole wheat taste. Sprouted wheat Eziekel we all like really well. I know that whole wheat spelt is a strong flavor for us. We do like sourdough bread. Thank you so much for your time
Cyndi
Cyndi,
I like Eziekel bread too, though it is expensive. 🙂 I like kamut a LOT, but you may need to use a little wheat or spelt flour to make sure it’s the right consistency. Sometimes I have found it helpful to have one cup of spelt or wheat flour in a kamut loaf. I think that I had the New England starter? Or something like that! LOL it’s been so long since I ordered. Good luck on the bread making and thanks for the sweet comment!
One other question? Did you use Flemish-Style Desem Sourdough Starter or New England Starter from the culure place you recommended? The Flemish one says that it works with Whole Wheat? Did you maybe use one of the others?
Thanks
Cyndi
Hi Kimi,
I made a loaf of sourdough today and followed all your directions exactly. I had the same problem of the bread not rising quite as much as I would have liked. When you answered the first question about this, you asked if the starter was sitting out for 8 hours. Mine definitely wasn’t. So do you mean you need to feed it, let it sit at room temp for 8 hours and THEN start the process? The bread tastes great, so no complaints there. I’d just like it to be a little bigger for sandwiches. =) Thanks for all your hard work!!
megan
I recently started the switch to Nourishing foods and at times it seems overwhelming but I’m not giving up as I have some real health problems.
My one goal before the year is over is to make my own bread. My son loves French Toast, is sourdough bread a good choice for making it? Any suggestions or advice is helpful.
BTW: Love your site!
Do to food allergies I can only eat yeast free, sugar free, dairy free spelt bread. However I can’t seem to find a starter recipe to make my own bread. Can you help me out with this. Thanking you in advance. Yvette
I am so glad to have found your site. I have just made my second sourdough loaf after making new starter (I dumped the old starter because it sat in the back of the fridge for way too long). I used a scaled down Nourishing Traditions recipe. The starter is all from rye flour, but I used spelt and some whole wheat as well. The bread rose, but not double. It has a good crust, but the bread itself is quite moist and a bit gummy. We have been toasting it. The flavor is sour, but we like it. How do I make the bread less moist? I’m afraid to add more flour because I don’t want a brick. Thank you so much for all of your helpful information.
Kimi,
I love your recipe! I bake it every other weekend for sandwiches for my husband’s lunches. It’s so delicious; I don’t think there’s another kind of bread that compares!
What bread pans do you recommend? I’m looking for a “safe” pan that also functions effectively. Any suggestions?
I just made my own starter….but am still a little insecure about testing it out for bread. I imagine it needs to mature a little more. I LOVED your pancake recipe and was thinking of making that regularly so that I can leave my starter out and feed it regularly without having to discard part of it. I was wondering about kneading in the Kitchen Aid since the base of that is metal. I know sourdough shouldn’t be stored in metal and don’t want anything to interfere with getting a good rise. You had answered someone else’s question about kneading in the kitchen aid, but I was curious about the whole metal component too. Thanks!!
Joli,
You should be just fine with the metal kitchen aid. I read in one sourdough book that the whole “don’t let your sourdough ever touch metal” was a myth anyways. I still wouldn’t store it in metal, but stirring it with a wooden spoon or making your sourdough in a metal bowl should be totally fine. 🙂
We are enjoying your sourdough bread. What have you found to be the best way to store the bread?
I’m rather late in finding this post, but I felt like I needed to tell you that this was wonderful! This was my first time making sourdough bread, and it turned out great. The only thing I did different is I baked it on a pizza stone instead of in a bread pan.
I have been making this recipe on a regular basis now and love it! The only thing I changed was using a 100 percent hydration starter and increasing the liquid to 1 cup. My starter is very “happy” so it takes only a couple hours to rise the first time and an hour to rise the second. I enjoy it very much, thank you so much!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I have attempted a few other sourdough recipes with varied success, but this one turned out well (a little dark on top but I forgot to put it in the lower part of the oven as you directed). My son and I are just now enjoying our first slices of this beautiful bread slathered in butter and accompanied by a glass of fresh milk. I look forward to adding this recipe to my weekly bread rotation. Again I thank you!
Thank you so much for all these lovely recipes! (:
I’ve finally got my starter ready after a week of TLC, and tried your bread recipe today! Is it just me, or was 3 cups of flour hard to mix in even?
I don’t have a bread machine so I mixed with a wooden spoon and by the 2nd cup of flour it was really hard to mix. I managed to knead in another half cup of flour, but that’s still far from the 3-41/2 cups recommended in the recipe.. oh well, I have left it to rise overnight, so I can only wait and see tomorrow.. What do you think is the problem? Should I add water? Oil? Is it the type of starter (the one i made is 100% hydration i.e. flour:water ratio is 1:1)?
Really hope to get some help here ): Thanks!!