Breaking Bread

Is there anything better than eating a slice of warm, buttered sourdough bread? Yes, sharing a loaf of warm sourdough bread with the people you love.

This is the easiest sourdough recipe I have made. Baking sourdough bread takes a bit of trial and error. How wet/dry should the dough be, how long should I let it rest, how long should it bake? The recipe below is the easiest recipe I have used to make sourdough bread.

Your first few loaves may be flops. But delicious flops. Your bread may be a little burned, it didn’t rise enough, too sour, not sour enough. It will still be delicious. If it’s not perfect use it for french toast, croutons or bread crumbs. We have never had a loaf we had to throw out.

Just keep trying. You will get a feel for how it should look, smell and even sound. The more you make the more you can share. Break some bread with this easy recipe.

Easy Sourdough Bread

3 cups of unbleached flour

1 1/4 cup warm water ( you might need less if your starter is “wetter”)

3/4 cup active sourdough starter (If you haven’t started your own sourdough mother, go to my blog page titled Mother. Come back in 5 days and make this delicious loaf of bread.

1 Tbsp honey

1 1/2 tsp. Salt

1. Mix all of your ingredients except the salt. Just until combined. Let it sit for 15 minutes.

2. Using a dough hook, knead for 5 minutes.

3.You can transfer to a new lightly oiled bowl. I hate to dirty dishes. So I just hold the dough in one hand. Lightly oil your bowl, and set it back in. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise for 2-3 hours. Every 30- 40 minutes turn and fold the dough. (Grab dough from the outside edge and push into the center. I do this about 4 times each half hour.) *At this point, you can cover your dough and place it in the refrigerator. When your ready the next day skip to step 5.

4. Place the dough on a floured surface and fold the dough. Do not incorporate too much dough place dough back in bowl and let rise 2-3 more hours. Make sure there is a good coat of flour on the outside of your dough.

5. Put your Dutch oven in a cold oven. Set oven to 450 degrees for 30 minutes. Place your dough on parchment, cover with a towel and set aside.

6. After 30 minutes slash the top of your bread. Place the dough on parchment in the dutch oven with the lid for 15 minutes.

7. Take the lid off and finish baking for 10-15 minutes.

8. Take your delicious sourdough bread out of the oven and set it on a wire rack for 30 minutes. If you can wait that long. Your patience will be rewarded.

Note: I threw out my first loaf. The mother had not been well fed so the bread didn’t rise. ☹