Last week I shared my recipe for Homemade Sourdough Starter, as well as our family’s favorite Sourdough Pancakes. After baking a few loaves of bread this weekend, I was able to get some good pictures of my Homemade Sourdough Bread.
This bread is outstanding and has a nice tangy flavor, chewy crust and a medium crumb (fine to small holes), which makes it an excellent sandwich bread. One of my favorite things is a thick slice of buttered sourdough toast in the mornings for breakfast!
Once your sourdough starter is ready, make sure it’s at room temperature for using in recipes. If you want a prominent tangy flavor, you’ll also have to do a portion of this recipe the day before you want to eat it, which is a true lesson in patience for me.
First you’ll need 1 cup of room temperature sourdough starter, 1 cup lukewarm water and 2 cups all-purpose flour. Mix these ingredients in a medium bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature overnight.
If you’re just venturing out into baking bread and looking for a less involved, more traditional bread recipe that doesn’t involve sourdough, I highly recommend my sister’s Homemade White Sandwich Bread recipe!
The complete recipe is as follows:
- 1 cup sourdough starter
- 2 cups lukewarm water
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 packet dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ¼ cup olive oil
- cornmeal to dust the pan
- The night before baking bread, combine starter with 1 cup lukewarm water and 2 cups flour in a large bowl.
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature overnight.
- The next day, dissolve the yeast in the remaining cup of water in a small bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes, stir into the sourdough mixture.
- Beat in salt, olive oil and enough flour to make a soft dough.
- Transfer dough to a floured board and knead, adding more flour as needed, until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size (about an hour).
- Punch down dough and transfer to a floured board.
- Knead briefly, adding flour to keep from sticking, and shape into 2 round or oval loaves.
- Dust baking sheet with cornmeal and place loaves on top.
- Make a few slashes in the top of the loaves.
- Cover loosely with flour-dusted dish towel and let rise in a warm place for about an hour.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Bake bread for 20 minutes at 450 degrees.
- Reduce temperature to 400 degrees and continue to bake another 20 minutes or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped.
- Cool on a rack before slicing.
I am passionate about good food, cooking for family and friends, and creating recipes that form lasting memories from one generation to the next. I hope you find inspiration for cooking and creating here!
Patricia leet says
January 23, 2018 at 1:49 amJennifer I have been reading lots of sourdough starter recipes and now I’m getting ready to make my own starter. I am using your recipe as I find it the easiest to understand. Thanks for putting it out there.
Rachel says
March 2, 2018 at 7:07 pmHi, do you use a standard baking sheet?
Thanks!!
Jennifer says
April 6, 2018 at 12:56 pmI form the loaves into logs and then place them side-by-side onto a cornmeal dusted baking sheet.
Jennifer says
April 14, 2018 at 3:08 pmGreat instructions, nice and simple. My only concern is that my two oval loaves were done with 15 min left at the 400F temp. I think next time I’ll just do 400 the whole time.
Jennifer says
April 17, 2018 at 4:18 pmYou know, every oven is different and could be calibrated differently…some run hotter than others. Go with what works for your particular oven. I hope you enjoy the bread!
linda harris says
April 16, 2018 at 8:55 amI have finally got my starter going. Now I am ready to bake bread. I was wondering if a stand mixer can be used to mix the bread. Thank you.
Jennifer says
April 17, 2018 at 4:15 pmYes! Just use your stand mixer as you would for any bread.
linda harris says
April 17, 2018 at 4:48 pmThank you! I did use my stand mixer and the bread turned out fine. This is a work in progress. I may be back with other questions again. Have a great evening.
Jada says
June 23, 2018 at 12:06 amCan i use a dutch oven?
Jennifer says
June 29, 2018 at 10:31 amYes, you sure can! I hope you enjoy!
Linda Barogianis says
July 6, 2018 at 7:19 amI made your starter but surprised that I can’t use right away. I am going to try your recipe tonight and hopefully the sourdough bread will turn out.
Jennifer says
July 10, 2018 at 10:14 amI hope it works out for you…it’s been a great recipe for our home use and many others! Thanks for stopping by JenniferCooks!
Michelle says
July 25, 2018 at 3:31 pmCan you bake the bread in a loaf pan?
Jennifer says
July 26, 2018 at 11:37 amYes you certainly can! I hope you enjoy!
Haley C. says
August 2, 2019 at 10:38 pmI just got finished making this bread. I also felt like the outside was getting too done and after 20 minutes at 450 and 5 minutes at 400, I tapped and heard a hollow sound and pulled it. It was getting soooo close to burnt looking. But after I cut it I felt like some of the bread was not completely done. Props to the creator, these loaves are HUGE! I’m actually considering making 3 loaves out of this one recipe next time and seeing if anything is different. If not, I will try doing 400 for 20 minutes first and then 5-10 minutes at 450 and see if it helps ensure more even cooking through the bread before crisping up the outside.
Jennifer says
August 3, 2019 at 5:44 pmThanks for reaching out Haley! Some ovens differ in temperature, so it’s wise to play with the time. You can also tent the loaf with foil to prevent burning.