I’ve heard rumors that sourdough is losing popularity. But I’ve also heard the Earth is flat… sooo… Here we are.
For as long as I can remember sourdough has been my favorite. If it is a choice that’s what I’m picking. And while I try to use whole grains mainly (and we really do love this whole wheat sourdough bread!) sometimes I make this for some variety. It is probably my favorite bread to make. If you ever have sourdough toasted or in a sandwich at a restaurant or pick up a sourdough sandwich loaf at a nice bakery this is what you’ll get. It is soft and pillowy with a tight crumb so it is perfect for toast, grilled cheese, sandwiches… or my families favorite, warm from the oven with some Lime Marmalade. It will stay fresh for at least a week.
This recipe does use a large amount of sourdough starter but I keep a large starter on hand. You are basically replacing a levain with straight starter. What I typically do is the day before I bake this I take 50 grams of starter out of the fridge and feed it 50 grams water and 50 grams flour. Let it do it’s thing on the counter all day and that night before bed I take the now 150 grams starter and feed it 150 grams flour and 150 grams water. I now have 450 grams starter. I leave it overnight to do it’s thing and in the morning I have a very happy bubbly starter ready to make bread with. I’ll have 150 grams starter left over (I will typically make something else or place back in the fridge now.) I don’t usually buy bread so sometimes I even make 4 loaves at a time and freeze a couple after slicing.
Ingredients
- 300 grams sourdough starter, active or “fed”
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons salt (I like using fine sea salt for breads)
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 625 grams all purpose flour (about 5 cups)
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer (starting with water and sourdough starter to aid mixing).
- Using a dough hook, mix until combined and then continue to mix on low to medium for 8-10 minutes to knead.
- Dough should be soft and tacky but not overly sticky. Add additional flour a couple tablespoons at a time as needed.
- Place dough in a lightly greased container and cover. Rise in a warm spot for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled in size. You’ll know it’s ready when you poke it with your finger and it doesn’t bounce back.
- Lightly grease 2 loaf pans and set aside.
- Divide into 2 equal pieces and shape into tight logs. (I like to gently deflate dough into a rectangle and tightly roll up, tucking in the ends as I go, until I have a snug log shape about as long as my loaf pan.)
- Place each log into a loaf pan and allow to raise for approximately 1 hour or until dough becomes a little higher than the pan.
- Bake at 375 degrees for appox 35 minutes or until bread temperature is 190 degrees.
- Immediately remove from pans and cool loaves on a wire rack.
