We are bread makers! We bake our own sourdough bread, and we’ve been doing it for the past several months. Every Friday evening I make the dough, let it rise overnight, and on Saturday morning I heat the oven to the max and bake the bread. It’s surprisingly satisfying experience. I was afraid of the whole process, and I’m happy to report that it’s actually not that difficult.
It’s true that the process of starting a sourdough starter can be intimidating. At least it was for me. But after I realized that it’s not that much work and the only investment is a bit of flour, water and two-minute increments of my time, I gave it a try. I was anxiously watching my starter to start bubbling and felt discouraged after two days when “nothing” was happening. But then, on day three, I began to see bubbles, and since then our sourdough starter is a part of the family 😉 It has its place in the fridge, and I’m happy to use it in bread or pizza dough every week.
Easy Sourdough Bread
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Persons: 4
- Difficulty: Easy
- Ingredients
- 1/3 cup sourdough starter
- 1 1/4 cup water (room temperature)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/4 cup ray flour
- 2 handfuls sunflower seeds
- 2 tablespoons flaxseeds
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Instructions
- In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients – flours, sunflower seeds and flaxseeds, cumin, and salt.
- In a separate bowl combine the starter with water and stir until the starter is fully dissolved.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine. Start with a spoon, then continue with your hands until you can form the dough into a wet ball.
- Leave the dough in the bowl, cover it with a plastic wrap, and let sit on the counter for 10 – 14 hours.
- After the dough rested, transfer it to a well-floured surface and form a loaf (circle or oval) with your hands.
- Place the loaf on a baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to make a shallow slash (or three) on top of the loaf. Cover the baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Bake at 260 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes, then remove the aluminum foil and bake uncovered for additional 15 minutes.
- Remove the bread from the oven and let cool completely before cutting.
