The Easiest sourdough bread you’ll ever make!

Have you been wanting to start making sourdough bread but you’re completely freaked out by the entire process? I was too.

Don’t be fooled. When I first started making sourdough bread, both my sandwich loaves and my artisan loaves were dense and hard. Though still edible, I kept trying to perfect my bread. At last, I finally found a recipe that I was able to nail every time. There was only one problem, as a busy mom of a new born and a toddler, I did not have the time to baby sit my sourdough starter and time my dough on the counter exactly so that it would double in size, not over ferment, make sure the temperature in my house was perfect, and so many other variables that I thought were required of me to make the “perfect” loaves.

After so long of this routine, I couldn’t keep up but I knew I did not want to go back to store bought bread. That’s when I decided to do some testing of my own and simplify my routine.

Now my way of making sourdough will not be for everyone. Are my loaves amazingly perfect every time? No. But are my loaves yummy, fresh, and manageable as a busy mom. Yes. Absolutely yes.

After so many of my family and friends kept asking me to teach them how I do, what I call, “busy mom sourdough”, I have decided to write it all down and share it with every single mom that craves to make sourdough but truly does not have the brain capacity left to babysit her dough.

How I make artisan sourdough sandwich bread

Yes, you read that right. I make artisan sourdough sandwich bread.

I love the simplicity of artisan loaves. It is only 3 ingredients, so it is much more cost effective to make and it is healthier as well. But my family loves having sandwich shaped bread for of course sandwiches, but also toast and buttered bread.

That’s when I decided to try and combine the two. It taste and has the same texture as artisan bread. But it is shaped like a sandwich loaf and it doesn’t have any large bubbles like a regular artisan loaf. Because who wants bubbles when trying to make buttered toast or a sandwich!

Cold Proofing Technique

A bit of background on my method. The way I am able to avoid babysitting my sourdough starter and dough is because I utilize the fridge for almost 90% of the entire process. To start, I keep my starter in the fridge and bake about 1-2 times a week.

I will feed my starter either both times I bake or just one of those times if I have a good stash of starter. (I always keep a ton of extra starter to make pizza crust with.

Next, I make my dough with cold starter. Yes you read that right, I do not let my starter get to room temperature before making my dough. I do not even let my dough double in size before I put it in the fridge for 3 days. That’s why my method is so unbelievably easy!

Get my Busy Mom Sourdough Method!
For the moms that want simple and fresh bread without the headache of babysitting your starter!
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Sourdough Bread Recipe

Okay you’re probably thinking, this is all great information, but where might the recipe be? Well, of course, you could support my small business and purchase my entire sourdough recipe guide. However, I do want to get you started with my staple recipe that I use weekly!

My sourdough bread recipe book also includes my whole wheat recipe along with the easiest and absolute best sourdough pizza crust you will ever make! Oh and my super realistic baking schedule for busy moms! Did I mention it’s only $7?

Okay, on to the recipe you’re hear for! The easiest sourdough bread recipe you’ll ever make. Thank me later.

INGREDIENTS:

• cold sourdough straight from the fridge 50 grams
• Hot water (100-110 degrees)
• 280 grams salt (I use seat salt or Himalayan salt)
• 8-10 grams high gluten bread flour 500 grams

DIRECTIONS:

I use a scale to measure all ingredients. Some people think its daunting to think in terms of grams but my goodness, it helps my brain so much. It could just be me, but a scale makes it a no brainer. I just watch for the correct number on the scale to pop up and bam, the measurement is done.

Step 1: get out your scale, put a large bowl on the scale and zero it out. Make sure it is set to grams!

Step 2: Add 50 grams of cold sourdough starter straight from the fridge.

Step 3: Add 280 grams of hot water (100-110 degrees) to the same bowl. The temperature does not need to be perfect. I use slightly hotter water to help kickstart and activate my cold starter.

Step 4: Add 8-10 grams of salt. I say 8-10 grams and not an exact number because, again, this is supposed to be easy with no stress. If I pour 9 grams and I meant 8, oh well. It wont make a difference in your bread unless you start adding way way too much salt. Don’t do that.

Step 5: Add in 500 grams of any brand high-gluten bread flour. I use Bouncer or King Arthur. Just make sure it isn’t bleached flour, because why do they even sell bleached flour. Gross.

Step 6: Mix all ingredients together with a dough whisk if you have it. Trust me, its so much easier to mix dough with a dough whisk. If you don’t have one, you can get one HERE. Don’t over mix and don’t stress if not all the flour is seamlessly mixing in. It will in later steps.

Step 7: Once the dough is mixed, keep it in that same bowl and cover with a bowl cover or a towel.

Step 8: Every 15-30 minutes stretch the dough out and fold together, about 4 times. Rotating the way you stretch and fold. This step helps break down the gluten and allow the dough to form together more so. Through this step is where you will see all the flour come together more so.

*A note: Some days I do one 15 minute interval, then I forget about it and do another stretch and fold 45 minutes later then another 30 minutes later then another 15 minutes later. What I am saying is, do not overthink it, remember, we are not here to babysit our dough. Work the dough when it works for you. Just try to get all 4 stretch and folds within 2-3 hours.

Step 9: After all 4 stretch and folds, simply put your cover or towel back over the dough bowl and leave it sit on your counter all day. Don’t worry about the temperature in your house. It really doesn’t matter since we plan to cold ferment it.

Step 10: At the end of the day, literally whenever it suits you, take the dough out of the bowl, lay it out on the counter and flatten it and release all bubbles (if any) out of the dough. Then fold it over on itself and roll it up into a log. You can pull it towards you to tighten the log and create tension but its not a huge deal as long as its a log shape.

Step 11: Tear a piece of parchment paper that will fit into a bread pan. place your log shaped dough onto the parchment paper and place it into the bread pan. Then cover the bread pan with a shower cap. Yes, you need a shower cap or plastic bag to keep moisture in the bread or else it will dry out the top and your crust after baking will be super hard.

Step 12: Leave the dough in the fridge for 3 nights in the bread pan to cold ferment and grow in size.

Step 13: Take the dough out of the fridge while your oven is preheating. Make one long, 1-in cut on the top of your dough. Take a second bread pan and put it on top of your pan with the dough in it to create a steaming effect in the oven.

Step 14: Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes with lid on. Bake for an additional 5 minutes with the lid off if you want a more golden and crispy crust. Note: your crust will be already crispier than a sandwich loaf so keep that in mind. Sometimes I often will leave the second bread pan on top as a lid, even after I take my bread out of the oven to keep the crust from hardening.

The reason the crust is harder than a normal loaf of sandwich bread, is because it is still artisan bread. There is no honey or sugar and no oil to soften the crust like there is in typical sandwich bread.