Simple and Versatile Sourdough Bread

This simple sourdough bread can be used for all sorts of things. It is very versatile and so easy you’ll be mixing up a batch daily!

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I’ve had my sourdough starter for well over a year. I started it myself, patiently catching the wild yeast out of the air. Occasionally I will leave it in my fridge (sometimes for up to 3 months) but lately I’ve had the urge to pull it out and mix up a batch of this bread.

The process for making this sourdough bread is super simple. It only takes a few ingredients, your hands, a bowl and a pan to bake your bread in.

Choose Your Flour

For this particular batch of sourdough bread I used half fresh ground whole wheat flour and half unbleached white flour.

When I use fresh ground flour the bread can be a little more dense than if I use all unbleached white flour. Either way, its delicious and always turns out great.

Add it in

When you’ve decided what kind of flour to use you’ll add 6 cups of it to a large bowl.

Next you will add 1 cup of recently fed (12 hours ago) active sourdough starter.

Then add 2 cups of warm water, 1 tablespoon of salt and 1/3 cup of oil (I used olive oil).

Mix It Up

Once you have all the ingredients in your bowl you can use your hand to mix it all together. You don’t need to over-do this. You want to mix just until everything is incorporated together. It’s ok if there are still a few lumps of flour in the dough, it doesn’t need to be perfect.

The dough will be sticky after you are done mixing it. That’s ok! After it sits for a while, the flour will suck up all the moisture and turn into a beautiful, pliable dough, perfect for making the most delicious and simple sourdough bread.

Stretch it Out

Once you’ve mixed your dough, leave it in the bowl and cover it with a tea towel or a loose lid. Leave it to sit on the countertop for 30 minutes.

This next step is optional. Sometimes I do this, sometimes I don’t. If I have time, I like to give the dough a few stretches while it’s rising on the countertop.

This is a really simple process. Think of the dough as a square shape. You are going to start with the top side, grab it with your fingers and stretch it out until it has a long rectangular shape. Fold it over to make a square again. Then turn the dough and repeat on all four sides.

When you are finished, put the cover back on the bowl and let it sit for another 30 minutes.

When the second 30 minutes is up, do another stretch, just like the first.

Then over the dough and let it sit for 6-10 hours or overnight.

Shape the Loaves

After your dough has been sitting on the counter for 6-10 hours (or overnight) you can make all kinds of baked goodies with it. You could shape it into 2 loaves for simple sourdough bread, you could roll it out for pizza, you could roll it out and make cinnamon rolls, or you could cut it into 16 pieces and make rolls.

Originally, I had planned to use this batch for pizza dough. My mother-in-law surprised us with dinner this night so I ended up making 2 loaves with it instead.

I sprinkled a bit of flour onto my countertop and then dumped my dough onto the flour. I cut the dough into 2 pieces with my scraper.

Next, I shaped the dough into round balls. This is easily done by setting the dough ball on the counter and slowly pulling it toward yourself, making the top of the dough more round.

I didn’t bake these loaves right away. I covered them and put them in the fridge, baking one each on the next 2 days.

As you pull your dough out of the fridge, you’ll want to preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

When I pulled the dough out of the fridge, I dumped it upside down onto a piece of parchment paper. Having the dough cold makes it simple to score the top so the finished product has a beautiful design on top.

To score my bread, I use a simple razor blade. Nothing fancy here, I just mosey my way to my husbands dresser and sneak one out of his stash.

Scoring the dough gives the bread room to grow in the oven. If you don’t score your bread, it will tear on the sides when it pops up while baking. This doesn’t really hurt anything but it doesn’t look nearly as pretty.

Bake the Bread

After you’re finished scoring your dough, you want to take the parchment paper and lift the loaf into your dutch oven.

If you don’t have a dutch oven you can bake in regular loaf pans without a problem. To help your bread get a good rise and a nice crust, you’ll want to add a separate pan of water to your oven to create an atmosphere similar to that of a dutch oven.

Put the lid on the dutch oven and put it in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 30-35 minutes or until the bread is nicely browned and cooked through.

While it is super tempting to eat this simple sourdough bread straight out of the oven, it really is best to let it sit for 15-20 minutes. If you try to slice it right away, you’ll end up smashing it and even though it will taste delicious, it won’t be very pretty.

My oldest daughter claims that this simple sourdough bread is the best she has ever had. She begs me to make it everyday! In our house, it disappears quickly, and I’m sure your family will love it just as much as we do.

If you’d like to watch me make this recipe, head over to my YouTube channel!