How to Make Homemade Artisan Sourdough Bread
This delightfully crusty loaf of artisan sourdough bread is one that brings a smile and very proud feelings each time I bring it out of the oven. I can’t believe that I can make such a beautiful loaf with such simple ingredients and a little bit of patience.
It took me way too long to try an artisan loaf of sourdough after first making my sourdough starter. I was so intimidated by it. The beautiful crusty outside and a soft inside. I didn’t think I could do that.
But I was wrong.
This loaf does take some time. But it really is pretty simple and something anyone can do with just a few ingredients and minimal kitchen items. This loaf should be started in the evening to finish up with the next day or started first thing in the morning to bake later in the evening.
You will need an active bubbly starter that has been fed within the last 12 hours.
As I said in my post about making sourdough starter, I am not one for fussy sourdough management. I like things to be pretty simple and laidback. This recipe is the same way. There is no scale involved to measure ingredients as many artisan recipes call for.
Yet there are steps to follow with timelines to keep in mind. But there is room for movement. I have found that with sourdough, I just have to keep trying and if something doesn’t come out, I learn from it and move on.
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Still Need to Make a Sourdough Starter? Click Here for Recipe
So Let’s Get to It
For this recipe you will need a few kitchen items:
- Big bowl (I like to use my handmade ceramic bowl but any works)
- Something to mix with (I love my Danish dough wisk, but a fork works too)
- Tea towel
- Proofing basket or back to the bowl if you don’t have one
- Dutch oven with a lid
This is a basic list. If you are interested in baking artisan sourdough loaves often, I would suggest getting a sourdough bread baking kit, like this one, that has the dough wisk, proofing baskets, and many other supplies that come in very handy.
Ingredients for Artisan Sourdough Bread
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 cup active sourdough starter
- 3 cups organic bread flour or high quality all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Step by Step Instructions for Sourdough Bread
Mixing It Up
In a large bowl add your water and sourdough starter. Mix it up (it will look like a milky liquid)
Add the flour to the bowl and mix. I either use this dough mixer or my hands.
Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together. I do this with my hand.
Then cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and let rest for 1-2 hours.
Uncover and sprinkle the salt over the top of the dough.
Using wet hands, squeeze the salt into the dough.
Let It Rest
Cover the dough again and let it rest for an hour.
Next you will start the stretch and fold process. Wet your hands and do 4 stretch and folds – 1 on each side. Repeat 3 more times every 30 minutes for 4 total stretch and folds over a 2 hour time.
Here is a quick video for the simple stretch and fold process.
Let it rest again after the last stretch and fold for 1-2 hours.
Shape Your Loaf
Turn out your dough onto a lightly floured surface to shape it into a loaf. There are many ways to shape a loaf and you will find your favorite way with practice. Here is a quick video that shows a simple way to shape and create a bit of tension.
You can leave your dough on the counter to proof, or add it to a proofing basket (with bottom side up). I always add it to the basket, but if you don’t have one, don’t let it stop you.
Proof anywhere from 2 to 6 hours depending on the temperature of your house. I find that the longer the better, but you can rush it a bit if needed.
When the bread is about done proofing, turn on your oven to 500 degrees. Put the lid on your Dutch oven and pop it into the oven to warm up for about 30 minutes.
Score and Bake the Bread
While the oven is heating, take your loaf out of the proofing basket and put it facing up onto a sheet of parchment paper. It should be holding its shape for the most part at this point.
Lightly flour the top. Then score the top with a scoring tool or knife to create a way for steam to escape while baking. There are lots of fancy designs you can do, but one long cut is all you really need.
Take the Dutch oven out of your oven and carefully lower the bread on the parchment paper into the Dutch oven. Return the lid and put into the oven.
Bake at 500 degrees for 20 minutes.
Now turn down your oven to 450 degrees and remove lid for the rest of the bake. Bake for another 20 minutes until golden and crispy.
And finally take it out of the oven and oh and aww over the amazingness of your loaf!
Tips for Baking Sourdough Artisan Bread
- Sourdough is a living, growing thing. It changes with the temperature and humidity of our homes and also the wild yeast in the air. It is hard to have our starter be the same every time. Know that sometimes this loaf and any sourdough bread recipe will change and you will get a feel for what is right the more you make it.
- If you find that you are running out of time and need to go to bed, there is a good time to stop the recipe and let it rest in the fridge. After the stretch and fold, but before shaping. This is where you can cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and leave in the fridge or counter overnight. I have done both methods to see which works best and found that there isn’t much a difference in the end product leaving my dough on the counter in a cool house. I would not leave it out overnight on the counter if it were in summer or your house is pretty warm.
- My suggestion for the first time you make this loaf is to make it for fun, not an event. Don’t make it stressful on yourself. Give yourself time to learn.
- You can double the recipe if you want to make 2 loaves at the same time.
- If you do not have parchment paper, you can use aluminum foil in a pinch. I was so worried it wouldn’t work when I ran out of parchment (and I’m not too close to the store), but I found it worked just fine.
Artisan Sourdough Bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 cup active sourdough starter
- 3 cups organic bread flour or high quality all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Mixing It Up
In a large bowl add your water and sourdough starter. Mix it up (it will look like a milky liquid)
Add the flour to the bowl and mix. I either use this dough mixer or my hands.
Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together. I do this with my hand.
Then cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and let rest for 1-2 hours.
Uncover and sprinkle the salt over the top of the dough.
Using wet hands, squeeze the salt into the dough.
Let It Rest
Cover the dough again and let it rest for an hour.
Next you will start the stretch and fold process. Wet your hands and do 4 stretch and folds - 1 on each side. Repeat 3 more times every 30 minutes for 4 total stretch and folds over a 2 hour time.
Let it rest again after the last stretch and fold for 1-2 hours.
*This is where you can cover with a damp towel and plastic wrap and leave in the fridge or counter overnight. I have done both methods to see which works best and found that there isn't much a difference in the end product leaving my dough on the counter in a cool house. I would not leave it out overnight on the counter if it were in summer or your house is pretty warm.
Shape Your Loaf
Turn out your dough onto a lightly floured surface to shape it into a loaf. There are many ways to shape a loaf and you will find your favorite way with practice.
You can leave your dough on the counter to proof, or add it to a proofing basket (with bottom side up). I always add it to the basket, but if you don't have one, don't let it stop you.
Proof anywhere from 2 to 6 hours depending on the temperature of your house. I find that the longer the better, but you can rush it a bit if needed.
When the bread is about done proofing, turn on your oven to 500 degrees. Put the lid on your Dutch and pop it into the oven to warm up for about 30 minutes.
Score and Bake the Bread
While the oven is heating, take your loaf out of the proofing basket and put it facing up onto a sheet of parchment paper. It should be holding its shape for the most part at this point.
Lightly flour the top. Then score the top with a scoring tool or knife to create a way for steam to escape while baking. There are lots of fancy designs you can do, but one long cut is all you really need.
Take the Dutch oven out of your oven and carefully lower the bread on the parchment paper into the Dutch oven. Return the lid and put into the oven.
Bake at 500 for 20 minutes.
Now turn down your oven to 450 degrees and remove lid for the rest of the bake. Bake for another 20 minutes until golden and crispy.
And finally take it out of the oven and oh and aww over the amazingness of your loaf!
More Sourdough Recipes
How to Make a Sourdough Starter
Pin for Later
I love this recipe! I’m new to sourdough and both loaves I have made have been fantastic! I was wondering if I could use the same recipe to make bread bowls?
I am so glad to hear it! I haven’t made bread bowls with it yet, but I am sure you can. One recipe would probably do 2 nice sized bread bowls.
Hi, new to my sourdough starter and it will be about 3 weeks of strengthening and I am ready to start my first sourdough loaf. I feed it in the morning, I am still trying to figure out how you have a full cup of sourdough starter. After feeding, I have maybe 1/3 at best. Do you use accumulated discard for this? Thanks!
If you only have 1/3 of a cup, feed 2 times a day without discarding anything. Just feed it larger amounts and it will keep active and bubbly. I actually rarely measure anything, but I know that when I want to bake, I feed it larger amounts, like a cup of flour. Nothing needs to be discarded when you are trying to build up amounts, but just fed bigger amounts of flour and water. I hope that makes sense. Or if I miss a day that I wanted to bake and it is already on its way down from its peak, I just feed again, but a larger amount because of how much starter there is in the jar at that point.
My very first loaf using your recipe and my finally mature enough starter and wow, this loaf came out amazing! The outside came out nice and crunchy and the inside was soft and pillowy. Thank you for the recipe and easy to follow instructions 🤗
I am so glad to hear it!!!
OK it is my first time making sourdough and I read the recipe incorrectly
I added my starter in the water to the bowl, and then I mistakenly put the salt in with the flour and added it to the Dough!
Is this going to ruin the dough? I hate to think I wasted all that starter. I have it in a bowl, covered with a damp tea towel and I guess I’m just waiting to see. Any suggestions?
I would just go with it and see! I don’t think it will ruin anything as some recipes put salt in earlier. I wouldn’t throw it away! Good luck and if it doesn’t turn out great, try again. You can always cut the bread up into croutons.
I accidentally added the salt at the beginning, as well. I followed all the rest of the instructions. I baked it after a 5 hour proof….but I was concerned as the dough seemed so wet. I added a little flour but didn’t want to overdo it. It was very sticky but I managed to get an attractive loaf on the outside. Inside it is pretty dense and a little gummy, though it has nice air holes. I wonder if it’s because I used good quality all-purpose flour and not bread flour. Should I add more flour if my dough is too sticky? I think it could have used another cup of flour to keep it’s shape. I’ve actually got another loaf in the works right now that is spending the night in the fridge.
It shouldn’t change too much with the bread flour versus the all purpose flour. Salt timing doesn’t usually change it too much. I have had this happen before where it is too sticky and wet, and so I do add a bit more flour until it comes together the right way. It usually happens when I have too many things going on and don’t give it quite enough attention or leave it to proof too long in a cold house. Great job for giving it another go and I hope you enjoy the process of learning the dough and how it should feel.
Can u double the recipe? If so can we freeze it?
Yes I have doubled it several times. You can freeze the bread easily. You can freeze it whole, but sliced is nice too.
Can you provide weight measurement for the flour? It doesn’t say how you measured with cups- spoon and level, fluff or no fluff etc., and cup measuring is generally super inaccurate and only really done in the US. What is the weight for the flour in grams?
Sorry, I don’t use those measurements. I don’t do fussy with sourdough so I find that it doesn’t really matter a whole lot how I measure and it turns out about the same. I do scoop with my measuring cup out of my jar of flour and level it off. I know a lot of people use a scale with sourdough to measure but I don’t do that.
And weight in grams for the start as well?? Starter can weigh wildly different amounts even if it measures 1 cup.
How sticky is the dough supposed to be when stretching/folding. Mine is really sticky and wondering if I should add more flour? It’s possible I measured wrong. Lol
I find the more stretching and folding I do, the less sticky it becomes, but you can add a little if it feels too sticky. It could also be that your starter was more liquid than mine is.
If you want to do a long ferment, can you do that? Would you let it rise in fridge then take out and shape and put in proof basket? Then would you proof again while oven is heating?
Yes, that’s what I would do. Hope it worked out for you. There is a lot of grace in this recipe, which I love!
Great recipe!! I have been making sourdough breads for a couple of years and stumbled upon this little beauty. I’ve been doing my final rise in fridge overnight with beautiful results. Having no issues with measuring ingredients as opposed to weighing either. Super simple. Great bread. Thank you so much for sharing.
So glad to hear it! Thank you!
If I put the dough in the fridge overnight, do I proof it on the counter in the morning for so many hours and let it rise and then bake or just bake it straight out of the fridge cold?
What did you end up doing? If I put it in the fridge, it is in the bowl and not shaped yet, so I take it out and shape it and let it go for the second rise for a few hours. Would love to hear how it worked.
Not sure where i went wrong with this recipe, but my loaf was a flop. It was super loose and didn’t hold its shape at all. By the time i got to placing it in the dutch oven, the proofed dough was basically a pancake. The post had a lot of great tips though.
SAME!!! i was so disappointed. hoping it recovers somehow while baking
What size Dutch oven should I use for this recipe. I just purchased a 7 quart Le Cruset Dutch oven. Will that work for this recipe?
That should work great. I think mine is a 6 quart.