Description
This Easy Overnight Sourdough Bread recipe guides you through a simple, hands-on process to create a flavorful and crusty loaf with minimal active effort. Using a slow fermentation method and basic ingredients, this bread features an open crumb with delightful air pockets and a rich sourdough tang. Ideal for beginners and sourdough enthusiasts alike, the recipe employs a Dutch oven bake to achieve a perfectly crisp crust and soft interior.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 520 grams all-purpose flour
- 12 grams salt
Wet Ingredients
- 90 grams sourdough starter
- 1 7/8 cups water (approximately 440 ml)
Instructions
- Mix Ingredients: The night before baking, combine 520 grams of all-purpose flour, 12 grams of salt, and 90 grams of active sourdough starter in a large bowl. Pour in 1 7/8 cups of water and use your hands to mix until all ingredients are incorporated. The dough will be wet and shaggy, which is expected.
- First Rest and Fold: Cover the bowl with a towel and allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes. After resting, perform a series of folds by grabbing a corner of the dough and folding it over the rest, rotating the bowl and repeating about 15 times until the dough resists stretching. Wet your hands slightly to prevent sticking.
- Second Rest and Fold: Cover the dough again to rest for another 15 minutes. Repeat the folding process once more, then cover again and leave the dough to rise overnight at room temperature.
- Morning Fold and Shape: In the morning, the dough should have risen with visible air bubbles. Prepare a mixing bowl lined with parchment paper and dust it with flour to hold the dough. Wet your hands and gently loosen the dough from the original bowl edges. Lift the center and tuck the ends underneath, rotating the bowl and repeating the fold two more times. Transfer the dough carefully to the prepared bowl, tuck under ends, sprinkle flour on top, and cover. Place the dough in the refrigerator for 5 hours.
- Preheat Oven and Dutch Oven: About 30 minutes before baking, preheat your oven to 500°F (260°C), preferably using the convection setting. Place your Dutch oven with its lid inside the oven to heat up while preheating.
- Score and Transfer Dough: Remove the dough from the fridge. Using a sharp knife, score the dough with a long slash down the center and several smaller slashes on the sides to control expansion. Transfer the dough on the parchment paper into the preheated Dutch oven.
- Bake Covered: Bake the bread with the lid on for 25 minutes at 500°F. This traps steam to help form a crisp crust and promote oven spring.
- Bake Uncovered: Remove the Dutch oven lid, reduce the temperature to 450°F (232°C), and continue baking for an additional 12 to 14 minutes until the crust is deeply browned and crisp.
- Cool the Bread: Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool enough to handle. Then place it on a wire rack. Ideally, wait at least 1 hour before slicing to allow the crumb to set properly.
Notes
- You can substitute other types of flour, but keeping a high percentage of all-purpose flour will maintain the bread’s texture.
- Baking times can be adjusted according to your preference for crust color; longer covered baking results in lighter crusts, while shorter covered bake followed by uncovered bake creates darker crusts.
- Using unfed sourdough starter contributes a stronger sour flavor; feeding your starter 8-12 hours prior is optional depending on desired tang.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (approx. 75g)
- Calories: 150
- Sugar: 0.2 g
- Sodium: 300 mg
- Fat: 0.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.1 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 32 g
- Fiber: 1.5 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
