Homemade Sourdough Bread Recipe

Baking sourdough bread can look and sound quite intimidating, but once you try it out, you'll fall in love! Baking homemade bread can feel so rewarding and your family and friends are surely going to be impressed (unless they make bread a lot). So follow along because the process is long, but so worth it! 💚

-

You'll begin by making your Active Sourdough Starter.

- 2 teaspoons sourdough starter (can be found at most grocery stores)

- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

- 5 teaspoons water

1. First you will mix these ingredients together in a clean jar and you should end up with a little over ¼ cup of active sourdough starter. Loosely cover the jar and let it sit at room temperature until it has doubled in size, about 12 hours. Some of the starter will stick the to jar and that's okay because you only need ¼ cup.

After the starter has doubled in size, you will prepare the dough and you'll need...

- ¼ active starter dough (what you made above)

- 1⅓ cups + 2 tablespoons water

- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt

- 4 cups + 2 tablespoons bread flour

2. In a large mixing bowl, add your active starter and water and stir until evenly distributed. Using your hands, add the bread flour and sea salt to the bowl and work the ingredients together until you have formed a mass and there are no dry bits of flour left. Cover the bowl with a towel and let rest for one hour at room temperature.

3. After one hour, wet your hands and pick up the dough on one side to stretch it over itself. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat this step until you have turned the bowl a full circle. The dough should form into a tight ball. Then cover the bowl again and let rest for 30 minutes.

4. Repeat the folding process above once more to build volume. Cover the bowl again and let the dough rise for 7 - 10 hours at room temperature.

5. After 7 - 10 hours, turn over your bowl to place your dough onto a lightly floured surface. One at a time, pull 4 pinches from the sides and pinch them into the middle of the dough to form a seam. Turn the dough over so it's seam-side down.

6. Cup the dough from the bottom and sides to form a tight skin on the outside of the dough. It should look like a tight ball.

7. Place your dough seam-side down onto a piece of parchment paper, then lift the parchment paper and dough and place both into a large bowl. Cover with a towel to let rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

8. About 30 minutes before you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 450ºF and place your empty Larder & Vine Dutch Oven inside to heat up.

9. Once your dough is ready, use a sharp razor to score the top of the dough.

10. Use oven mitts to remove the Dutch Oven from the oven and remove the lid. Grab the edges of your parchment paper and set the paper and dough into your Dutch oven. Cover with lid and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and remove the lid and bake uncovered for another 25 - 30 minutes, until the crust is a golden brown.

Now you have made your own homemade sourdough! 👏 🍞