Description
This easy overnight sourdough bread recipe yields a deliciously tangy and crusty loaf with minimal hands-on time. Utilizing a simple mix of sourdough starter, all-purpose flour, salt, and water, the dough undergoes slow fermentation and gentle folding to develop texture and flavor. Baking the bread in a preheated Dutch oven ensures a perfectly crisp crust and soft interior, making it an ideal homemade artisanal bread.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- 90 grams sourdough starter
- 520 grams all-purpose flour
- 12 grams salt
- 1 7/8 cups water
Instructions
- Mix the dough: The night before baking, combine 520 grams of all-purpose flour, 12 grams of salt, and 90 grams of sourdough starter in a bowl. Pour in 1 7/8 cups of water and use your hands to mix until a wet, shaggy dough forms. The dough will be sticky and not smooth, which is expected.
- First rest and folds: Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rest for 15 minutes. Then, perform approximately 15 stretch-and-folds by pulling a corner of the dough over itself and rotating the bowl each time. Wet your hands slightly to prevent sticking. After folding, cover the bowl and let rest another 15 minutes.
- Second set of folds and overnight rise: Repeat the series of stretch-and-folds again. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise at room temperature overnight. The dough should rise and develop air bubbles on the surface.
- Prepare the proofing bowl: The next morning, line a mixing bowl with parchment paper and dust the bottom with flour to create a surface for the dough to rest on.
- Final fold and shaping: Wet your hands, loosen the dough from the bowl edges, and gently lift the middle, tucking the ends underneath. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and repeat this folding process twice more. Carefully transfer the folded dough onto the prepared parchment paper in the lined bowl, tucking the ends underneath to shape it. Sprinkle the dough’s surface lightly with flour and refrigerate for 5 hours.
- Preheat oven and Dutch oven: About 30 minutes before baking, preheat your oven to 500°F (260°C) using the convection setting if available. Place your Dutch oven inside to heat up as well.
- Score and bake the bread: Remove the dough from the fridge and lightly score the top with a knife as desired, usually a long central slash with smaller side slashes. Using the parchment paper, carefully transfer the dough to the preheated Dutch oven. Bake for 25 minutes with the lid on.
- Finish baking: After the initial bake, remove the lid and reduce the oven temperature to 450°F (232°C). Bake for an additional 12-14 minutes until the crust is golden and crisp.
- Cooling: Take the bread out of the Dutch oven and let it cool enough to handle. Place it on a wire rack and allow it to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing to set the crumb structure and enhance flavor.
Notes
- You can substitute other flours but maintain a high proportion of all-purpose flour to preserve the bread’s texture.
- Baking times can be adjusted to your preference: longer covered baking will produce a lighter crust, while shorter uncovered baking times yield a darker crust.
- Feeding your sourdough starter 8-12 hours before use can make it more active, but using unfed starter results in a more sour flavor in the bread.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (approx. 75g)
- Calories: 150
- Sugar: 0.2g
- Sodium: 320mg
- Fat: 1g
- Saturated Fat: 0.2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 30g
- Fiber: 1.5g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
