Simple Sourdough Bread
This simple sourdough bread is a perfect recipe for beginners who want a fancy-feeling loaf without all the fancy sourdough equipment and confusing percentages! This simple recipe gives you a soft, fluffy and delicious loaf every time and is perfect for soup night, grilled cheese, or simply just slathered with butter. Enjoy!
Backing up just a few years, sourdough *really* intimidated me. When I would google a recipe, it would be filled with confusing percentages about 80% hydration this and that, make a leaven…don’t make a leaven, and all the measurements were in grams. By the end, my brain was swirling and I would always just close my laptop and started to assume sourdough was for the science-ey and math folks (and I am certainly not one of those.)
The good news is I finally found a basic recipe that was a little easier to understand. I made a few funny flops, and then voila! My loaves gradually got big and round and the scoring got prettier. I tweaked the recipe over time, and before I knew it I was selling 30-40 loaves a week at a little country store down the road with this recipe!
All to say, if I can do it, so can you! And you will probably go much further. There are plenty of sourdough pros out there to learn from!
But in the meantime, I hope this recipe gives you a foundational confidence to just start, try, make a few floppy ones, and then start succeeding with baking some beautiful, soft, fluffy loaves- no confusing percentages necessary.
While I do recommend using a scale if you have one (just for precision’s sake), this recipe works just fine with measuring cups and spoons. A quick note: I am usually a “measure with your heart” girl, but I will say that while learning sourdough at the beginning, it’s helpful to be as accurate to the recipe as possible.
Health benefits of sourdough
How to start a sourdough starter
Is sourdough bread better for you than yeast bread?
What is “stretching and folding?”
Stretching and folding is the process where the gluten is strengthened and built. Unlike traditional yeast… Stretches and folds are done right before the bulk rise starts. To watch a quick video of a simple stretch-and-fold technique, click here.
Equipment you need to make Simple Sourdough Bread
- Bowl, preferably glass or ceramic (not glass or metal)-
- Parchment paper
- Dutch oven or stock pot
- Bread lame or sharp knife
- Optional: Food scale
Are you ready to try sourdough!? You got this!
How to make Simple Sourdough Bread
Watch this video to see the process of making Simple Sourdough Bread:
