Sourdough Soft Bread Recipe

Yield: 1 Loaf

Ingredients

⅓ cup (65 grams) sourdough starter, bubbly and active (fed within 12-24 hours)

1⅓ cups (300 grams) warm water, filtered (95º to 100º F)

¼ cup (56 grams) granulated sugar

3½ -4 cups (500 grams) bread flour I recommend weighing your flour, see notes for using measuring cups

1½ tablespoons (20 grams) extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons (9 grams) sea salt

Directions

Add the starter to a large bowl. Mix in warm water and sugar, stirring until dissolved. Add bread flour, oil, and salt. Stir with a dough whisk or wooden spoon until a thick, shaggy dough forms.

Flour your hands, and finish mixing dough by hand until most of the flour has been absorbed. Don't worry if there is flour on the sides or bottom of the bowl. Cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 30 to 45 minutes.

Coax the dough from the bowl and stretch and fold the dough by stretching 4 inches then pushing it down the middle and turning 1/4 until you make a circle. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a damp towel, and let rise at room temperature overnight (at least 8-10 hours) until double in size. Do not refrigerate dough.

In the morning, lightly flour your counter top. Remove the dough from the bowl, gently stretching it into a rectangle, then your fingers to dimple the rough to release the air from the dough (as shown in photo). Roll up dough into a log shape. Cover and let the dough rest 10 minutes.

Spray bread pan with cooking spray. Tighten the dough log by gently pulling it towards you along the counter top for 5-8". Place it in your loaf pan, seam side down. Cover and let rise for 1-2 hours, until dough has doubled in size. Press the corner edge of the dough in 1/2" and if the indentation remains, it's ready to bake.

Preheat your oven to 375º. Bake in the center of the oven for 40 minutes. The top of the loaf should be golden in color. After 10 minutes, tilt the pan to remove the bread to cool on a cooling rack. Wait at least 1 hour before cutting (to prevent the loaf from deflating).

Notes

Using measuring cups: I have 3 1/2 to 4 cups of flour in the ingredients because measuring is not as reliable as using a food scale and weighing flour. Be sure to stir your flour, then scoop your flour and level it with a knife. Start with the lower end of flour and add up to 4 cups if needed. Updated 2/2/2023.

If your bread “blows out on one side,” I recommend using a long bread pan that is 12″ x 4.5″ in size. Then bake at 375ºF for 30 minutes.

Let cool for at least one hour before cutting.

Store bread at room temperature in a bag for up to 5 days.

Nutrition