Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe for Beginners

Looking for an easy sourdough recipe that can be done by a beginner?! Look no further! I’ve been using this recipe for years and am finally sharing it with you guys. This basic sourdough bread recipe is a good one for those who want a simple bread for everyday use. With a mild tangy flavor and a chewy texture, this recipe will be great to serve alongside soup, as a turkey sandwich, avocado toast, and more!

I started baking bread in the Covid era, along with half of the world. I don’t even know if I ever paid attention to what “sourdough” was or if I even cared much to make my own bread. But there’s something special about learning to do things on your own when the world is turning to sh*t and you start paying more attention to ingredients in everything. A friend of mine had a sourdough starter and had baked me a loaf of bread when we had our housewarming party. I thought to myself, what an amazing gift to bring someone you care about. So when she said she had sourdough starter to share, I was pretty excited to learn. I watched tons of YouTube videos, ordered cookbooks and read blog posts. It was overwhelming to say the least.

I’m here to tell you sourdough does not have to be overwhelming and can totally fit into your lifestyle. I may be a stay-at-home mama, but even with 3 littles running around and one on the way, I manage to bake with sourdough multiple times a week. I always bake two loaves at a time and either freeze one or gift one to a neighbor or a friend/family member. Despite what you may have heard, sourdough bread does freeze pretty well.

So what is sourdough? It is an ancient method of capturing wild yeast to leaven baked goods that has been used for hundreds of years before commercial yeast was available. A sourdough culture is originally created by mixing flour and water and allowing the mixture to sit on a counter for a period of time to capture wild yeast. There are many nutritional benefits, money-savings, and a range of flavors achieved when sourdough is used.

You can create your own starter with flour and water or you could even search Facebook marketplace, Etsy, or ask around for someone to share their starter with you. I’ll make another post at a later date, but a basic recipe for beginning your own starter looks like this.

• Day 1: mix 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water. Stir very well, incorporating everything. Place a tea towel or beeswax wrap and set aside for 24 hours.
• Day 2: Discard 1/2 of the mixture and repeat the above process. 1 cup of water + 1 cup of flour, stir and cover.
• Day 3: Repeat day 2 instructions for days 3,4, &5 ( Save all of that discard for other recipes!!)
• Day 6 & 7: Repeat above, but feed more often, about every 12 hours instead of every 24.

In one week, there should be enough beneficial yeast and bacteria for you to begin baking. You will know your starter is ready because it will double in size, have plenty of bubbles, and if you place a little bit in some water, it should float!

Alrighty, now that you have your starter, lets get to this recipe! Your basic ingredients for this recipe are flour, water, and salt. My recipe makes 2 loaves, so if you want to make one just divide everything in half.

• Get that kitchen scale out!
• 800g organic, unbleached all purpose flour or bread flour
• 250g active, bubbly starter
• 560g water
• 24g salt

• DIRECTIONS
• 1. Add your active starter to a bowl.
• 2. Add 560 grams of water.
• 3. Mix starter with the water till it is “milky” and incorporated
• 4. Add the flour.
• 5. Mix those ingredients together for 2-3 minutes
• 6. Cover the bowl and let it sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• 7. Add the salt and a little bit of water.
• 8. Pinch the salt into the dough, until water and salt are fully incorporated.
• 9. Cover again and let rest for 30 minutes-1 hour.
• 10. Over the next 1.5-2 hours, perform 2-3 sets of “stretch and folds”, covering and letting the dough rest after each set.
• 11. Cover the dough and let it rest at room temperature until doubled in size. Alternate to this, you could place it in the fridge for 8-10 hours for a slower fermentation, depending on your schedule.
• 12. Dump the dough onto a clean counter and divide the dough in half.
• 13. Spread the dough out a bit into a square shape, fold over the sides first, then roll it up. (the dough will be a little sticky, you can add flour if that helps!)
• 14. Once rolled up, push it away from you, and then pull towards you to build tension in the dough quite a few times.
• 15: Repeat with the second loaf.
• 16. After your first shape, leave the loaves on the counter (uncovered) for 20 minutes.
• 17. After 20 minutes, shape the loaves one more time
• 18. Gently, with a bench scraper, flip over and place the dough into the floured proofing baskets and cover with plastic. I use shower caps!
• 19. Place both baskets in the fridge for about 1-2 hours, or overnight
• 20. Flip the dough out of the proofing baskets onto a sheet of parchment paper.
• 21. Score your bread. Using the parchment paper to lift the dough, place it into a preheated cast iron pot. Then immediately into the oven. You can add an ice cube to the pot to create more steam.
• 22. Cover and bake for 25 minutes at 450℉ / 232℃. After 25 minutes, remove the lid and put back in the oven for another 20 minutes or until a deep golden brown.
• 23. Remove from the oven and let cool on a cooling rack before slicing into it.

I really hope that this blog post was helpful and that y’all enjoy my recipe! Feel free to watch the video above where you can see the steps in more detail. Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Products mentioned:

• Proofing baskets, bread lame, bench scraper: https://amzn.to/3kcDR4H
• Danish dough wisk: https://amzn.to/3IxdFLo
• Enameled dutch oven: https://amzn.to/3xRuOJT
• Kitchen scale: https://amzn.to/3IxqGEW
• My favorite all purpose flour: https://bit.ly/3YIFRR9

Hope to be back soon with more sourdough recipes and what not!