Hi Friends!
Heather here! If you know me, you know that I love to bake bread - specifically sourdough bread! I have always loved to bake, but started trying my hand at sourdough about 1 year after I partnered with Leanne here at the store. My world was spinning pretty quickly and I needed something to slow me down, force me to do something other than work, and remind me of other things in my life that I still love to do!
In a world of fast-paced living and instant gratification, there is something satisfying about the slow, methodical process of working with sourdough. For me, it has become my therapy. It connects me to tradition, reminds me of the simple joys of life and allows me to love on family & friends in a special way - gifting fresh bread!
The art of sourdough is quite the rabbit hole - if you know, you know!! Once you get going, a whole new world opens up and you will find yourself baking everything from pretzels to cinnamon buns. You can add sourdough starter to almost everything and anything - just ask my kids, it has become a joke in our house!
Below you will find my tried & true classic sourdough bread recipe. Nothing fancy. Everything simple. If you have ever wanted to try baking with sourdough, the recipe below is a great place to start! If you need some starter to get going, send me a message, my starter's name is Mildred and she loves to be shared!
Heather's Sourdough Bread Recipe
(this makes 2 loaves)
Ingredients
You'll need:
200 grams active starter
600 grams warm water
22 grams salt
900 grams bread flour
Instructions
1. Mix with your hands until your dough is shaggy
2. Cover with a damp towel (or shower cap!) for 30 mins
3. Do a set of stretch & fold
4. Cover for another 30 mins
5. Do a set of coil folds
6. Repeat 30 mins rest and coil folds 2 more times
7. Cover and leave on your counter for 6-8 hours (I leave overnight)
8. Shape your dough into 2 loaves
9. Place in floured battens, cover with shower caps and put in the fridge for 12-24 hours
10. Heat oven (with dutch oven inside) to 550C
11. Flip dough out of battons onto parchment paper and score
12. Place dough on parchment paper in the dutch oven, cover and place in oven
13. Lower oven temp to 450C and bake for 30 mins
14. Remove lid, lower temp to 400C and bake for another 15 mins.
Heather's Favourite Buns
If you don't love sourdough, but would still like your kitchen to smell like fresh baked goods - THE PERFECT WHITE BUNS recipe in the Fraiche Cookbook is my FAVORITE!
This recipe is foolproof. If you have always wanted to try baking buns, follow this recipe step by step and I promise, you will end up with the most delicious batch of buns.
This is the recipe I use for buns (white & whole wheat), cinnamon buns, hamburger buns, hotdog buns, etc when time is of the essence and I need to set the sourdough aside!
If you try making my sourdough recipe at home or "The Perfect White Buns" please feel free to leave me a comment. I'd love to hear how it turned out!
Happy Baking!
