Sour Dough Bread

Delicious, fresh bread. There is great satisfaction in creating a beautiful loaf with your own nurtured starter. The aroma, flavor, and texture are amazing.

  • 1/4 cup sour dough starter
  • 1-1/2 cups warm water
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats (not cooked)
  • 1 cup Einkorn flour, or whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour, or whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup bread flour (unbleached)
  • 2 teaspoons salt

The day before baking day, in the morning, measure 2 tablespoons of your happy, healthy sour dough starter. Add this amount to ½ cup flour and ½ cup water. Stir well, and allow this to sit all day.

In the evening, when the super fed starter is bubbly, proceed to creating the bread dough.

Mix together all of the ingredients from the above list – except the salt.

Allow the dough to sit for at least one hour, to let the flour and oats hydrate. Then, fold in the salt.

Cover the mixing bowl with a plastic bag, or vinyl topper and let the dough sit overnight.

In the morning, the dough should be bubbly and at least doubled in size. Give the dough a bit of kneading on a lightly floured surface. Line a medium bowl with a towel and dust well with flour. Or, if you want to bake the bread in a loaf pan, oil the pan. Either way, set the dough in the bowl or loaf pan. Allow this to sit for at least one hour.

If you are baking a round (boule) loaf, set a cast iron dutch oven, with lid into the oven. Preheat the oven to 450oF. If using a loaf pan, preheat the oven to 400oF Allow the dutch oven time to heat, even after the oven has heated.

Remove the dutch oven from the oven, remove the lid, and tip the loaf carefully into the dutch oven. Replace the lid, slide it back in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

If baking in the loaf pan, bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

When the bake time is up, check the interior temperature of the loaf. It needs to be at least 190oF. Return it to the oven for another 5 minutes if it isn’t done.

Allow the bread to cool before removing it from the pan

Enjoy.

Recipe by Jane Blaisdell, 2020. Inspired by Sandor Ellix Katz, Wild Fermentation, 2016.

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Author: madesimplybyjane

I have had a passion for cooking and eating healthy food for most of my life. My professional training includes a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Culinary Arts from Bastyr University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Home Economics and Secondary Education from Western Washington University. As a lifelong teacher of all ages, my focus is teaching people how to cook simple meals for their families. My belief is anyone, even children, can learn to prepare healthy, inexpensive, delicious meals for themselves and those they care for. I absolutely love to help unravel the mystery of bread making, combine whatever produce is on hand to prepare a delicious soup or stew, or create something new with whomever is interested in participating. As a former preschool teacher, I still enjoy playing in the kitchen with children. I am also an ovarian cancer survivor, and a team leader and fund raiser for a local organization funding ovarian cancer research. My home is in Lake Forest Park, Wa. where I live with my husband, Mark, and our cat, Gilbert. When not teaching, I like to garden, hike, kayak, and cook for friends and family.

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