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Sliced loaf of crusty bread wrapped in linen on warm marble surface

Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe

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So your sourdough starter is finally ready, you've baked all the discard recipes, and you're ready to tackle your first beautiful, crusty loaf of real Artisan Sourdough Bread. This beginner friendly recipe is for you!  I provide both weight and volume measurements so you can make this recipe with the tools you already have. This is a friendly, inclusive recipe - no scary or snooty sourdough rules here! Make sure to read the blog post for step-by-step details, sample schedules, and process photos.

  • Total Time: 2 days
  • Yield: 1 loaf of sourdough bread

Ingredients

I provide both Gram and Volume measurements because I like to make sourdough an inclusive and friendly journey. These are not down-to-the-decimal-point exact conversions, but I found in my testing that these both gave satisfactory and equivalent results.

If this is your first time making an artisan loaf, read the entire recipe, go back up and read the blog post thoroughly and look at the pictures throughout the process. Make sure you have the time and the tools, including an active starter, before you begin. 

GRAM measurements:

360 grams water

113 grams peaked sourdough starter

10 grams kosher salt

30 grams whole wheat flour

450 grams white bread flour

CUP measurements:

1 and 1/2 cups water (you may need up to an extra 1/4 cup)

1/2 cup peaked sourdough starter

1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

3 and 3/4 cups white bread flour

Instructions

  1. Mix water and sourdough starter in a large mixing bowl until combined. Add flours and salt and mix again with a wooden spoon or Danish dough whisk until all flour is combined. Scrape down sides, cover, and let rest for 30 minutes.
  2. After 30 minutes perform first set of stretch and folds (see detailed instructions with photos in blog post). Cover and repeat 3 more times at 30 minute intervals for 4 total sets of stretch and folds.
  3. After your fourth and final set of stretch and folds, you will cover the dough and leave it at room temperature until it has risen by about 75%. This takes about 5 hours in my kitchen but it will vary quite a lot depending on the activity level of your starter and the temperature of your kitchen.
  4. When dough has finished rising, turn out onto floured surface and shape to desired shape. For a batard, gently stretch into a rectangular shape. Beginning on the short end closest to you, roll the dough up into a log popping any very large bubbles as you roll. Dust the top with flour and flip over so that the floured side is down and the short end is facing you. Roll up again into a tight loaf shape. Pinch the ends to pop any large bubbles and seal the edges and pull dough across your work surface to create some tension in the dough. *For a boule or round loaf, shape dough into a ball as instructed in this video.
  5. After shaping, dust top of loaf with flour.
  6. Lift your loaf and flip it, placing the floured side down into a floured banneton. Stitch dough if desired to create a bit more tension.
  7. Cover and place in refrigerator for 12 hours or up to 24 if covered well to prevent drying out.
  8. When ready to bake, do not remove dough from refrigerator until oven is preheated. Preheat oven to 475 F with Dutch oven inside for 1 hour. When oven is ready, remove dough from refrigerator and turn out onto a piece of parchment paper. Score your loaf. For a simple score, make one quick cut along the top of the dough - do not go down the sides. Feel free to experiment with other scores but this is the simplest and quickest and in my experience helps with the best oven spring. If you plan to do an elaborate/decorative scoring pattern, freeze dough for about 30 minutes beforehand.
  9. Carefully transfer dough by lifting it in its parchment paper and lowering into preheated Dutch oven. Cover with lid and bake at 475 for 30 minutes.
  10. After 30 minutes remove lid, lower oven to 425, and bake for another 30 minutes. Tent loosely with foil if you don't want your loaf to get dark.
  11. When time is up, remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.

Notes

I used King Arthur Organic for both the whole wheat and bread flour when testing this recipe.

You can omit the whole wheat flour and use all bread flour.

If you choose the overnight rising option or you need to leave your dough for longer than 5-6 hours, make sure to reduce the amount of starter by half so the dough rises a bit slower. Don't worry if your dough ends up doubling though - you will still have a great loaf of bread. 75% is my preference but I often do overnight and it rises a bit past or even doubles and it turns out great.

Because it is easy to over-measure flour when measuring by volume, I found that I needed a touch more water when measuring this way. You'll know when you're mixing if you need a bit more.

  • Author: anita | wild thistle kitchen
  • Prep Time: about 24 hours
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Category: sourdough, breads
  • Method: baking, sourdough
  • Cuisine: American

Find it online: https://wildthistlekitchen.com/artisan-sourdough-bread/