Easy Artisan Sourdough Bread

The best artisan sourdough bread has a crusty, delightfully chewy exterior with a light, porous texture inside. Flour, water, sourdough starter and salt are combined together, fermented, and baked in a Dutch oven to make a perfect loaf.

What’s better than freshly baked, crusty, artisan, sourdough bread? 

You guessed it. Nothing. Nothing is better.

Especially when it’s sliced up and served with butter, cozied up alongside skillet pork chops or a roasted chicken.

Once you have the flavor of sourdough, it’s hard to go back to its unfermented counterparts. Except, I highly recommend this easy einkorn sandwich bread.

The flavor from the fermented grains adds an extra dimension: sour. Hence, the name sourdough. Yet, somehow, this dimension is absolutely mouthwatering and addictive.

When I’m kneading and folding the dough between my hands, I like to imagine the generation of mothers before me creating bread to feed their own children.

These days, there is such a disconnect from our food. Most people are entirely unaware of how our food is grown, raised, or otherwise made. Little is known of even the ingredients used.

Recipes like this artisan sourdough bread seem daunting or complicated. But many of the best things in life take time, love, and nurturing.

I promise this isn’t as hard as it may seem. You simply need a little time and patience.

This is just like my whole wheat sourdough loaf recipe, but without the oil and honey, and it’s baked in a Dutch oven. I eliminated the oil to step up the crispiness, and I used a proofing basket to make this a more artisan-style loaf. 

Benefits Of Sourdough

Sourdough has many benefits. From better digestion to better nutrient absorption, it’s easy to see why it has become a popular ‘trend’. 

Sourdough is the process of fermenting grains, allowing the natural yeasts to raise the bread and break down the anti-nutrients.

The anti-nutrient, phytic acid, breaks down with fermentation, increasing nutrients like folate, while helping other nutrients to be more bioavailable.

The fermentation process in sourdough bread and other sourdough products helps lower the amount of gluten present, and helps increase the digestibility of the grains. (source)

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

Is sourdough bread better for you?

Due to better digestibility and more bioavailability of naturally-occurring nutrients in the grains, sourdough is a better choice than typical bread.

What type of flour can you use to make crusty sourdough bread?

This can be made with all-purpose flour, unbleached all-purpose, and also freshly milled whole grain. 

If you use whole wheat flour, you may need to use a little less flour.

You can even use einkorn flour, but you may need more flour and make sure to follow the einkorn baking rules I discuss here.

What is artisan bread?

‘Artisan’ bread refers to fresh, small batch bread- crafted using traditional methods and natural ingredients. 

How To Know Your Sourdough Starter Is Ready To Use:

In order to make a delicious loaf of sourdough bread, you need to use an active starter that has been fed within 4-12 hours before using. When you feed your starter, it should double or triple in size. 

Take a spoonful of your active starter and drop it into a cup of water. If it floats, then it is ready to use for bread.

Tools you may need:

Stand mixer

Scoring tool

Banneton

Dutch oven

Large glass bowl

Measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients

1 cup starter

1 1/4 cup water

2 teaspoons salt

4 cups flour more or less depending on the hydration of your starter.

Watch How To Make It:

How To Make Artisan Sourdough Bread

Knead all the ingredients in a stand mixer until stretchy and pulling away from the sides of the bowl. 

• It should pass the ‘windowpane’ test. This is when you can take a small piece of dough between your fingers and stretch it out. If the gluten is formed properly, you should be able to stretch it out into a thin layer that you can see through.
• If it doesn’t pass this test and is breaking apart, then place it back into the stand mixer and knead for a few more minutes. You could also do this by hand, but it takes a little more time.

Place in a large, oiled bowl and cover. Cover with plastic wrap, beeswax wraps, or something that is air tight to prevent the dough from developing a hard crust.

Allow to ferment for 8 to 24 hours in a warm place. If you are gluten sensitive and you need that extra fermentation for digestion, then I suggest letting it ferment for 24 hours.

The next day, punch down the dough, shape it, and put in a banneton basket. Allow to rise until doubled (about two to four hours, depending on temperature of house).

Preheat oven to 500 degrees with cast iron Dutch oven inside. 

Turn the dough out onto parchment. This just makes it so much easier to lift into the Dutch oven and prevents any sticking.

Optional: Sprinkle with flour and score with a pretty scoring pattern.

Place into the preheated Dutch oven (parchment paper and all). 

Optional: Add steam and spray top for a crustier exterior.

Bake 20 minutes with lid on. Remove lid, reduce heat to 450, and bake an additional 20 minutes. 

Examples Of Baking Time

10 am: Feed sourdough starter. If your sourdough starter is in the fridge, you will want to feed it at least two times before baking bread.

3-9 pm: Check if sourdough starter is ready for use. It should be bubbly and at least double or triple in size. If you take a small amount and drop it in a glass of water, it should float.

3-9 pm: In a stand mixer with a dough hook, place flour, salt, active sourdough starter, and water. Knead for 5-10 minutes until the dough is stretchy and pulling away from the side of the bowl. Place in a large oiled bowl and cover.

8 am: Punch down dough, shape in the glass bowl, and place in a banneton basket. Allow to rise until doubled (about 2-4 hours depending on temp of house). 

10 am: Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place Dutch oven, with a lid on it, inside the oven while it preheats.

11 am: After the Dutch oven has been preheating for 1 hour, place sourdough bread dough onto parchment paper, dust with flour, and score.

Place dough in Dutch oven and cover with lid. Place it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove lid, reduce heat to 450, and bake for 20 more minutes until the bread is golden brown.

Allow it to cool and then slice.

How Long Will Sourdough Bread Keep?

Wrap the bread with beeswax wraps, or in a plastic ziplock bag, and store up to two weeks at room temperature.

Fermented whole grain bread keeps longer than unfermented whole grain bread at room temperature. This is because the fermentation process makes the bread less susceptible to mold and fungus. The same scientific principles that make sauerkraut and lacto fermented salsa keep for several months are at work in the sourdough bread.

For longer storage, you can also keep it in the fridge or freezer.

Find More Of My Sourdough Favorites:

• Sourdough Banana Bread
• Sourdough Chocolate Rolls
• No-Wait Sourdough Recipes
• Sourdough Ciabatta Bread
• Sourdough Buns

Pin It For Later