Discover the secrets to foolproof white sourdough bread with this beginner-friendly, detailed recipe. With just flour, water, salt, and about 40 minutes of hands-on work, you can create classic white sourdough loaves your family will adore! Plus, it’s the perfect base recipe for all kinds of fun inclusions like cinnamon raisin, jalapeño cheddar, and my favorite: sundried tomato and goat cheese.

white sourdough bread recipe result

I started my sourdough journey in mid-2023 when I borrowed some starter from a local baker. I was desperate to make my first loaf of bread, but I had no clue where to begin.

Binging TikTok sourdough bread recipe videos became my new hobby, and I did my best to internalize and follow along. But every video had different measurements and steps.

I also got totally lost in the glossary of terms unique to the sourdough world. Bulk fermentation, discard, pre-shaping, cold retard – what the heck does all of it mean?

Needless to say, my first loaf was awful, and the whole thing stressed me out a bit. Here’s a look at my first hockey puck:

my first loaf of sourdough bread
My first loaf of sourdough bread

I am so glad I persevered and embraced the challenge, but I don’t want anyone else to go through that total lack of understanding and confusion.

Here’s your super detailed guide to making the perfect loaf of white sourdough bread.

A quick reading tip: if you want literally every detail of how to make white sourdough bread, follow the steps outlined in the How to Make White Sourdough Bread section. If you're somewhat familiar with the sourdough bread making process already, you can skip ahead to the recipe card at the end, but please note it's not nearly as detailed.

Note: Overwhelmed by this recipe? Consider starting here: Easy, Soft Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe (1 Day). This is the absolute EASIEST sourdough bread I’ve ever made. It’s a great entry point if you’re brand new to sourdough.

You Can Master Sourdough Bread!

You can make sourdough bread. Anyone can. I promise you.

Once you make a few successful loaves, you will never use or refer to a recipe again.

The ingredients and process are that simple.

cutting sourdough bread

It’s just understanding the process and being able to read the dough – that’s the art of sourdough that takes a little practice and patience. And that’s what I’m going to teach you here.

Let’s do this!

Sourdough Bread Ingredients

White sourdough bread only contains flour, water, salt, and a sourdough starter.

sourdough ingredients mixed together
Mixing sourdough ingredients together

Flour

For classic white bread, I recommend King Arthur unbleached bread flour.

Update: I also highly recommend Sunrise Mills flour. It’s extremely high quality, and while it needs more water (it has a higher protein content), the flavor is unmatched. I use it for special occasions since it’s pricier. You can get a discount code for it here.

I buy a 50-pound bag from my local restaurant supply store for less than 50 cents per pound of flour.

@thatsourdoughgal

Save a tonnnn of $ by buying bread flour in bulk from your local restaurant supply. It costs me $13 a month now to bake literally every day #sourdoughtipsandtricks #sourdoughtok

♬ original sound – thatsourdoughgal

Do not use bleached flour, as it may kill your starter.

I recommend against using all-purpose flour. AP flour lacks the structure and chewiness that you want in a good loaf of bread.

Update: You can actually get great bread with AP flour – just decrease the amount of water you put in your dough. Maurizio Leo uses AP flour in a lot of his recipes (highly recommend reading his book, The Perfect Loaf).

You can experiment with other types of flours, such as whole wheat, rye, or Einkorn (an ancient grain).

Water

You’ll want lukewarm water – not cold and definitely not hot. Water over 120°F may kill your sourdough starter. Cold water will prevent your dough from rising at a normal pace.

Update: the temperature of your water will impact the temperature of your dough, which will ultimately determine how long your bulk fermentation is. Warmer water = faster fermentation. Maurizio Leo has a great water temperature calculator that makes this easy!

Also, I use water straight from my faucet. I live in the country and have well water; I’ve never had any issues.

However, I’ve seen others recommend using filtered water. You can buy filtered water from the store or you can boil your own water and let it cool before using it in any recipes.

Salt

I use Redmond’s sea salt. Do not forget to add the salt to your dough or it will turn super wonky!

Update: Check the ingredients in your salt. Some brands add an anti-caking agent, which can impact your bread.

Sourdough Starter

Sourdough starter is the star of the show here. It’s a simple mixture of flour, water, wild yeasts, and bacteria. The wild yeasts and bacteria are natural (found in nature).

me with sourdough starter

There are no commercial yeast packets when it comes to sourdough baking – we’re cultivating the little microbes around us that the good Lord gave us!

You can make your own sourdough starter with flour, water, and lots of time, but I strongly suggest just borrowing some from a friend or buying some from a local baker.

bubbly active sourdough starter

You can also request some for free from Carl Griffith.

I got some from a local baker and made my first loaf of bread right away.

If you make your own starter—and you’re successful—it’ll realistically take a few weeks before you can start baking with it.

Tools You’ll Need + Basic Kitchen Equipment Swaps

You can make sourdough bread with no special tools. As long as you have basic kitchen equipment, there are workarounds for every sourdough tool out there.

However, some things are definitely nice to have and will make your experience a lot easier and smoother.

Here’s a list of what I use to make sourdough along with substitutions for items you probably already have.

  • Weck tulip jar (for your starter)
    • Substitution: a mason jar
  • Large bowl
  • Digital scale (the most important tool IMO, and the OXO one I linked here is the best scale I’ve ever owned)
    • Substitution: measuring cups, but they aren’t as accurate as measuring in grams
  • Thermometer (this is the best one on the market IMO)
    • Substitution: you really NEED a thermometer to bake great sourdough. Sourdough is entirely temperature-dependent, and all of my teaching references your dough temperature to help guide you. Here’s a good budget option if my favorite is too expensive!
  • Dough whisk (I like this one because it’s all stainless steel and can go in the dishwasher)
    • Substitution: your hands
  • Bowl scraper
    • Substitution: nothing – you’ll just have bits stuck to the sides of the bowl that makes clean-up a little more time-consuming, but it’s not essential
  • Bench scraper (dough scraper)
    • Substitution: Knife, but a knife won’t help you with the shaping process. I really like using the bench scraper to assist with the candy cane motion that helps tighten up the dough.
  • Shower cap bowl covers
    • Substitution: Plastic wrap or a damp towel
  • Bread lame (my favorites are the Breadsmart bread lame and a UFO-style lame)
    • Substitution: razor blade or sharp knife
  • Bannetons

Update: Wood pulp bannetons are my favorite! I splurged on those BULKA wood pulp bannetons and they are worth their weight in gold. The Rosehill Sourdough ones are awesome, too.

  • Sourdough baking mats
    • Substitution: parchment paper
  • Dutch oven or Bread dome
    • Substitution: Roasting pan or consider the open baking method (I’ve never done that because I have a Dutch oven, but it can be done!)
    • I happened to have a Le Creuset Dutch oven that now I use for my sourdough baking. I know they’re expensive.
    • The Challenger bread pan is highly reviewed and I’m definitely drooling over it. The same goes for the Le Creuset bread oven, which is something of a cult favorite.
    • Krustic has a bread oven that looks pretty good and is much more affordable – I’ve never used it but it seems to have good reviews.

Update: The Krustic has become my new favorite Dutch oven. It’s affordable, the bread comes out amazing, the bottom is never burnt, and they even gave me a discount code – REBEKAH20 – for $20 off.

  • Bulk flour storage container (I like buying my flour in 50# bags as it saves me a lot of money)
    • Substitution: buy 5# bags from the local grocery store
@thatsourdoughgal

One of my TOP sourdough tips! Don’t waste your money on a bunch of small bags of flour when you can buy a 50 bag for a fraction of the price. Let me know if you buy flour in bulk and from where! #sourdough #sourdoughclub #sourdoughtips

♬ UNSTOPPABLE EVENING – finetune
  • Dusting wand for rice flour
    • Substitution: Sprinkle it with your fingers
  • Rice flour for dusting the loaves
    • Substitution: Bread flour, but be careful as too much can alter the outcome of your bread
  • Bread bags for sharing with friends and family
    • Substitution: Ziploc bag

Update: I also recommend a water mister for the pre-shaping and shaping process.

👉 How to Make White Sourdough Bread: Detailed, Step-by-Step Guide

Here are all of the steps to making a delicious loaf of sourdough bread. These steps are very detailed to help you avoid any pitfalls.

I know the physical size of these instructions on the page looks daunting, but making bread is simple, I promise. Just stick with me!

If you prefer learning visually, this YouTube video shows you how to make this recipe, step by step.

Step 1: Feed Your Starter

The first step to making sourdough bread is feeding your starter and waiting for it to peak. When it peaks and is ready to use in a recipe, it’s often called a “ripe” starter.

This will become second nature once you do it a few times.

I do a 1:5:5 feeding ratio at night and in the morning, which allows me to start a new recipe before bed (great for overnight recipes) or first thing in the morning (perfect for a recipe like this one).

For this recipe, before you go to bed, mix together:

  • 25g starter
  • 123g water
  • 123g unbleached bread flour

That’ll give you a tiny bit more than you’ll need for the bread recipe. It’ll be peaked when you wake up in the morning!

Tip: If you want to feed your starter in the morning and put this dough together around lunch or early afternoon, do a 1:1:1 feeding ratio, which peaks in 4-6 hours. Mix together 90g starter, 90g, flour, and 90g water.

This will help you if you’re new to feeding ratios and want to understand them better: Sourdough Starter Ratio Calculators

Step 2: Mix Your Dough

When your starter peaks, it’s time to mix your bread ingredients.

Here’s what to look for to know your starter is ready to use:

@thatsourdoughgal

For the most consistent baking results, it’s best to start making your dough when your starter has peaked and is flat. If it’s domed, it’s still rising and needs a little bit more time to reach its full strength. #sourdoughstarter

♬ original sound – thatsourdoughgal

I always make two loaves at a time. There’s just no point in putting in all of this effort for a single loaf of bread. Freeze or gift that second loaf if you won’t eat it in time.

Here’s my recipe for two loaves of sourdough bread:

  • 1,000g unbleached bread flour
  • 640g warm water
  • 240g active sourdough starter
  • 20g salt
mixed sourdough ingredients

That’s literally it.

I like do what’s called a fermentolyse. I mix together the flour, 600g of the water, and the active starter.

Fermentolyse just means mixing the flour, water, and starter together and letting it rest before adding the salt.

You can use a Danish dough whisk to keep your hands clean, or you can wet your hands and get down and dirty!

Autolyse: This means mixing the flour and water and letting it rest before adding the salt and starter. You can do this the night before and let it sit overnight, or you can even do it just 30 minutes before adding the salt and starter.

Fermentolyse: This means mixing the flour, water, and active starter and letting it rest before adding the salt. I typically do this and let it rest for 30-60 minutes before adding the salt.

After an hour, I add in the salt and the remaining 40g of water.

I kneaded the dough and did some slap and folds for a few minutes (let’s be real: until my arms were tired). I then covered the bowl and let it rest.

Step 3: Stretch and Folds

After the dough has rested for 30 minutes, it’s time for stretch and folds!

Ideally, you would do four sets of stretch and folds, each round 30 minutes apart, but you can get away with three. Some people skip them altogether and come out with good bread, but this step helps develop gluten. I wouldn’t skip it.

Update: I have transitioned to doing two sets of stretch and folds and two sets of coil folds. Coil folds are a lot gentler on the dough and don’t disturb the beautiful bubbles that start to form during the bulk fermentation!

Tip: if you want to add any inclusions (other than brown sugar, honey, or anything else sugar-y and/or liquidy), do it during the second round of stretch and folds. My personal favorite is sun-dried tomato with goat cheese, but the most popular is probably jalapeño cheddar. Get 50+ inclusion ideas here.

Here is the process for one set of stretch and folds:

  • Wash your hands but don’t dry them off – I find using wet hands to do stretch and folds is best.
  • Pull the edge of the dough up, stretching but not tearing it, and lay it back down on top of the rest of the dough.
  • Rotate the bowl a quarter of a turn and do it again.
  • Keep doing this until the dough is very resistant to being stretched, at least four quarter-turns so every side of the dough has been stretched.
  • Optional: Flip the dough over and tuck in the sides so it’s a tidy, round dough ball again.
  • Cover the bowl with a shower cap and let it rest until the next round.

Step 4: Bulk Fermentation

Bulk fermentation begins as soon as the sourdough starter is added to the dough, not after the last set of stretch of folds (it’s a common misunderstanding).

Properly fermented dough is puffy, jiggles a little when shaken, is domed or has slightly rounded edges where the dough ball touches the sides of the bowl, it’s not sticky, and has lots of bubbles around the sides and bottom of the bowl.

bulk fermentation finished

Here’s a video showing how the dough behaves:

@thatsourdoughgal

Bulk fermentation was the trickiest thing for me to figure out. I feel like I’ve finally moved on to the other side where I know what to look for. One key for me was purposely working to warm up my dough to 78-80F. I personally find this temperature much easier to work with. It’s easier for me to gauge when the dough is ready for shaping, and the process moves a whole lost faster. I use the water temperature to help with this, and I also monitor the dough temperature throughout the process. If it’s warm, I keep it on the counter. If it’s low, I pop it on the oven with the light on. My dough has tons of bubbles, and it’s very jiggly. When I touch it, it’s not overly sticky. It’s tacky but not sticky. When I tilt the bowl, the dough wants to slide right out. I’ve also learned that at this 78-80F dough temperature, my dough is ready to be shaped between 4-5 hours after the starter is introduced into my dough. That makes planning a LOT easier for me, especially as I’m a very busy working mom of 3 little ones. I have been a bit lazy but you can also be more precise and use The Sourdough Journey’s dough temperature and percentage rise method. I hope this video helps you see what to look for. #sourdoughbaking #bulkfermentation

♬ original sound – thatsourdoughgal

It’s the hardest part of the sourdough breadmaking process to master because there’s no specific time to guide you. It could take 4 hours or 12 hours, and it’s mainly dependent on the temperature of your dough.

Other factors include:

  • How strong is your starter?
  • Is your levain overripe?
  • What was the temperature of your water when you added it to the dough?
  • What’s your altitude?
  • What types of flour are you using?

All of those things will impact your bulk fermentation time.

Here are some common bulk fermentation methods:

  • Dough Temping (probably the most accurate): Different dough temperatures require a different percentage rise to achieve equal fermentation at baking time.
    • Here’s why: when you place your shaped dough in the refrigerator for a cold retard, it can take 8-12 hours for the dough to reach “hibernation” temperature of 37F/3C. During that long cooldown, the dough continues to ferment, particularly in the first few hours when the dough is still above 50F/10C. The dough temperature, when it enters the refrigerator, determines how fast and how much the dough will continue to ferment throughout the cold retard. So, a dough temperature of 80F should aim for a 30% rise, a 75F loaf should aim for 50% rise, and so on.

Update: The Sourdough Journey came out with an updated dough temping chart that’s even more detailed. You can view it here.

  • The Aliquot Method: After mixing your dough, take a small portion (aliquot) of the dough and place it in any small container with measurement markings (like this test tube). Mark the initial level of the dough sample in the container. Let both the main dough and the aliquot sample rise together. The aliquot will rise at the same rate as the main dough. You can reference the dough temping guide above to see how much your dough should rise!
  • Aliquot 2oz condiment cup hack: Take 40g of dough and add it to a 2oz condiment cup. When the dough touches the lid, it’s ready for shaping. This works if your dough is 80°F.
  • Dough Mat: a dough mat, also called a fermentation mat, comes equipped with a built-in thermostat, which allows you to set and control your desired temperature. By providing a consistent and controlled heat source, it ensures that your dough rises efficiently and evenly. A 78°-80°F dough should take about 4-5 hours to finish bulk fermentation.
  • Visually: looking at the dough to determine if it’s done. The dough should form a dome with the dough moving away from the sides of the bowl. There are bubbles forming underneath the surface. It should have visibly risen and have a smooth surface. When you touch it, it’s light, airy, and puffy – not overly sticky and tight.

Update: I rely almost exclusively on dough temperature these days. I do my best to control the temperature of my dough using the oven with the light on to get my dough to 78°-80°F. If I can keep my dough at this temperature, the bulk fermentation takes about 4-5 hours. At this temperature, you’re looking for a 30-40% rise in the dough. Experiment until you find a method that produces consistent results each time!

Step 5: Divide and Pre-Shape

When your dough is puffy, jiggly when you nudge the bowl, has lots of bubbles around the sides and bottom of your bowl, and wants to pull away from the bowl when you tilt it, it’s time to divide it into two separate dough balls and pre-shape it.

We essentially shape our dough into a nice, tidy ball twice. The first time is called the pre-shape. Doing it twice helps with oven spring and getting a beautiful, tall loaf of bread.

Update: I no longer laminate my dough during the pre-shaping process. I’m very gentle with it and coax it into a tight round ball shape using my bench scraper. That helps preserve all those bubbles we worked hard to achieve during the bulk fermentation.

You can watch this process here:

@thatsourdoughgal

Replying to @Christine Horne #greenscreenvideo here’s a look at my pre-shaping and final shaping method these days #sourdoughshaping

♬ original sound – thatsourdoughgal
Note: I recently tried the caddy clasp shaping technique and am obsessed! Check it out if you want to simplify the final shaping.

To pre-shape the dough:

  • Mist a little water on your countertop and your bench scraper.
  • Using a candy cane-like motion, push the dough up and to the left. Then, pull the dough back towards your body until the surface is taught and you have a nice, round-shaped ball.
  • Set the dough aside and repeat the process for your second dough ball.
  • Mist the surface of the dough with a little water and cover with a tea towel.

Let that dough rest for about 30-40 minutes; then, it’s time for the final shaping!

Step 6: Final Shape

After your pre-shaped dough balls have rested for about 30-40 minutes, you’ll do the shaping process one more time.

My favorite way to shape my dough these days is the single caddy clasp.

You simply fold your dough like a book, put it in your banneton, and pinch the seam together.

@thatsourdoughgal

Replying to @Christine Horne #greenscreenvideo here’s a look at my pre-shaping and final shaping method these days #sourdoughshaping

♬ original sound – thatsourdoughgal

For a boule (round-shaped loaf), do a double caddy clasp. You’ll fold your dough like a book in both directions. Then, turn the dough onto your surface and use your bench scraper to coax it into a round shape. Flip into your banneton.

Watch me do this here:

@thatsourdoughgal

The caddy clasp is my favorite final shaping technique. This method, credited to Wayne Caddy, is as simple as they come – just fold your dough round together like a book and place it in your banneton. But this really only works for an oblong-shaped loaf, called a batard. A lot of people have asked me if you can use this simple method to make a round-shaped loaf, called a boule, and the answer is yes! This shows how I do it – not sure if this is the “accepted” way, but it’s what I’ve tried and it works great! I basically do the caddy clasp twice and then use my bench scraper to even out the round shape before flipping into my floured wood pulp banneton. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments! #sourdoughshaping #shapingsourdough #caddyclasp #bouleshaping

♬ original sound – thatsourdoughgal

Step 7: Cold Retard

Your bannetons will rest in the fridge, ideally overnight. I find the sweet spot is baking your bread the next day, but you can go several days for an extra-long fermentation.

shaped dough in fridge

Read More: How Long to Proof Sourdough in the Fridge (+ Tips)

Step 8: Score and Bake

The final step in the process is bringing the dough out of the fridge to score and bake it.

score the sourdough

Watch this process here:

@thatsourdoughgal

It’s time for scoring and baking! This is a plain loaf and my favorite, goat cheese with sun-dried tomato. It makes the BEST sandwiches…. Yum!! I feel like these are some of the best loaves I’ve made so far. #sourdough #sourdoughbread

♬ original sound – thatsourdoughgal

Preheat the oven to 450°F with your Dutch oven(s) inside on the center rack. If you can, wait 20-30 minutes after the oven is preheated to ensure your Dutch oven is as hot as possible.

Put a sourdough baking mat or piece of parchment paper on top of the dough in the banneton. Flip the banneton over and peel it off.

Using a bread lame or razor blade, score your dough.

Scoring tips: sourdough bread requires one deep expansion score. Feel free to add other decorative scores to that.

Place your scored loaves in the hot Dutch ovens. Put the lids back on and bake for 30 minutes.

Ice hack: if you want blistering on the outside of the dough, add 1-2 ice cubes to the Dutch oven, below the parchment paper, before baking.

After 30 minutes, remove the lids and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the outside of the dough is a dark, golden brown.

Place the hot loaves on a wire rack and let them cool for at least 90 minutes before slicing. You can be a rebel and dig in earlier, but you may experience a gummy texture if you cut them while they’re still hot.

Related: Sun-dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Sourdough Bread Recipe

White Sourdough Bread Recipe

white sourdough bread master recipe

The Best Foolproof White Sourdough Bread Recipe

Make delicious white sourdough bread with this beginner-friendly recipe. With just flour, water, salt, and about 40 minutes of hands-on work, you can create classic white sourdough loaves your family will adore! Plus, it’s the perfect base recipe for all kinds of fun inclusions like cinnamon raisin, jalapeño cheddar, and my favorite, sundried tomato and goat cheese.
4.89 from 9 votes
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Resting Time 17 hours
Total Time 18 hours 25 minutes
Servings 2 loaves

Ingredients
  

  • 1,000 g unbleached King Arthur bread flour 12.7% protein
  • 640 g warm water divided
  • 240 g active sourdough starter
  • 20 g sea salt make sure it doesn’t contain anti-caking agents

Instructions
 

Step 1: Feed Your Starter

  • The night before you plan to make your bread, combine 25g starter, 123g water, and 123g unbleached bread flour in a jar. Note: This is a 1:5:5 feeding ratio.
  • In my 75°F/24°C home, my starter peaks around the 10-hour mark and stays peaked for around 7 hours (at the 1:5:5 ratio from Step 1). You want the top of your starter to be flat and perhaps even starting to concave a little in the middle. It should be at least double, ideally tripled in size from when you fed it.

Step 2: Mix Your Dough

  • Our desired dough temperature is 78°-80°F or 25.5-26.6°C. Use Maurizio Leo's water temperature calculator to determine the ideal temperature of your water (see notes).
  • Combine bread flour, 600g of the warm water, and active starter.
  • Mix until a shaggy dough forms and cover for 1 hour.
  • Note: At this time, I would feed the leftover starter from my jar. You should have about 30 grams left over to feed.
  • After the 1 hour rest, add the remaining 40g of warm water and salt. Knead the dough or do slap and folds for a few minutes, or until the dough is strenghened and/or your arms are starting to hurt.

Step 3: Stretch and Folds

  • Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
  • Perform 4 sets of stretch and folds, each set 30 minutes apart. You can also switch to coil folds for the final sets, which are gentler on the dough.
  • After each stretch and fold, check the temperature of the dough. Our goal is to keep it between 78°-80°F or 25.5-26.6°C. If it is cooler, put it in the oven with the light on. If too warm, leave it on the counter.
  • Optional: during the second set of stretch and folds, you can add inclusions to your dough as long as they aren’t sugar or syrup. For two loaves, you’re looking at adding 350-400g of inclusions. You can separate the dough into two if you prefer different types of bread.

Step 4: Bulk Fermentation

  • Let the dough finish the bulk fermentation. The dough should have risen in volume by about 30%, appearing puffy and domed on top. It should jiggle slightly when you gently nudge the bowl and feel slightly tacky but not overly sticky to the touch. If you tilt your bowl, the dough should be willing to release from the sides – if it's sticking badly and hanging on for dear life, the bulk fermentation likely isn't finished yet.
  • If your dough has maintained a temperature of 78°-80°F or 25.5-26.6°C up to this point, it will take about 4-5 hours (that timer starts when you mix the starter in your dough). Please refer to the bulk fermentation deep dive earlier in this post to help you with this step.

Step 5: Divide and Pre-Shape

  • Using a bench scraper, divide the dough into two pieces. If you're experiencing any sticking, use a water mister to lightly moisten your surface and bench scraper.
  • Use your bench scraper to push the mass of dough up, around, and back toward you (like a candy cane motion). Continue doing this motion, gently, until you've coaxed the mass of dough into a round. Do this again for your second dough ball. Let rest for 30 minutes.

Step 6: Final Shape

  • Use the caddy clasp technique to easily and quickly shape your dough.
  • For a batard, fold your dough round like a book and place it into your floured banneton. Pinch the seams closed.
  • For a boule, do a double clasp (folding like a book in both directions), and flip it back onto your surface. Use a bench scraper to tighten the ball and make a more even round shape. Flip into the floured bannetons.
  • Refer to the videos earlier in this article to see how I shape my dough.

Step 7: Cold Retard

  • Cover bannetons and refrigerate overnight. Ideal cold retard: 12-36 hours. Do not exceed 96 hours.

Step 8: Score and Bake

  • Preheat oven to 450°F/230°C with Dutch oven(s) inside.
  • Transfer dough to parchment paper or a bread sling, score, and place in Dutch oven. You can add 1-2 ice cubes to the bottom of the Dutch oven if you want blistering on the outside of the bread.
  • Bake with lid on for 30 minutes.
  • Remove lid and bake for 10-15 minutes more, or until golden brown.
  • Cool on a wire rack for at least 90 minutes before slicing.

Sourdough Bread Recipe FAQs

Why add honey to a sourdough bread recipe?

I don’t personally add honey or sweetener to my white sourdough bread recipe as it doesn’t need it, and I like that my bread has no added sugars. However, if you want a little sweetness, you can add a few tablespoons of honey (no more than 100g in this recipe of two loaves). Honey will make your sourdough bread a little softer, and it offers a sweeter, more complex flavor.

How do you add sourdough starter to a bread recipe?

Add your sourdough starter along with the rest of your ingredients (flour, water, and salt) and mix with a dough whisk, a stand mixer, or your hands. You can leave back a little bit of the water and the salt for about an hour, if you like. This gives the bulk fermentation a head start since salt slows it down.

How much salt should be in a sourdough bread recipe?

Sourdough bread should have 10g of salt for every 500g of flour. That’s why my recipe for two loaves (1,000g of flour total) calls for 20g of salt. You can scale this slightly in either direction and experiment to find out what you like best.

How do you double a sourdough bread recipe?

The good news about sourdough bread recipes is you can easily double them by simply doubling the ingredients.

Conclusion

Classic sourdough bread is a thing of beauty – it’s simple, delicious, and a crowd-pleaser.

Once you’ve baked a few loaves, the process will feel second nature, and you’ll be ready to experiment with new flavors, techniques, and ideas.

sourdough boules

If you give this recipe a try, I’d love to hear about your experience!

Share your results in the comments and tag me on Instagram @ThatSourdoughGal so I can see your creations.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my email newsletter for more beginner-friendly sourdough tips, recipes, and ideas to help you on your baking journey.

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44 Comments

  1. With making the two loafs roughly how much do they weigh. I know I could eye it but just wondering if you weigh them when you split them for more accuracy . Thank you!

    1. Around 900-950 grams! I do like weighing it – it’s crazy how uneven it is when I eyeball it.

  2. I have done two loaves now a week apart following this recipe. I didn’t want to do two loaves at once – in case. So I split the recipe quantities in half. The second loaf, I increased the Kamut from 12g to 40g.
    4 hour initial rise. 17 hours cold fermentation. 2.5-3 hour rise in banneton. I made both loaves on my gas grill in my Dutch oven.
    This is the first time I had two loaves in a row work this well. I posted pics on my Facebook page.

    1. That’s amazing! You can totally split these recipes in half. It’s really more of a formula than a recipe anyway!

  3. I followed your recipe and my dough was jiggly , had a dome , pulled from the sides but I did the float test until it did floated , but still my dough was over fermented . Sticky and wouldn’t hold shape , this was my 4th attempt with a starter that’s almost 2 months old . Do you have any recommendations?

    1. When you noticed the dough was jiggly, was domed, lots of bubbles, and a tacky but not sticky surface, did you continue to wait until it floated? Or is that the point in which you did the float test?

  4. 4 stars
    How important is the 30min rest after pre shaping? I’m often making it late at night when I get home from work, and just want to go to bed. Lol
    Can I just rest it for 10 min?
    First time following your recipe, can’t wait to try the result!

    1. I would just skip the pre-shape in that case and do one shaping, put in the bannetons, and put in the fridge! The resting time helps the gluten relax so the dough is lax enough to be handled again.

  5. 5 stars
    I cant believe it!!! This recipe actually worked for me!!!
    The only thing I noticed with mine tho is that I didn’t have as much of an open crumb and the bread was a bit…moist? Any ideas what I could improve for next time?

  6. Well, I am the fool that broke your recipe. I had a very wet dough. I was not able to shape the dough very well and it turned out flat from baking. Not a hockey puck, it’s not heavy, it expanded outward, not upward.

    1. We can work through that. Was it wet the entire time with a soupy, sticky texture? Or did it start out slightly firm and transform into a wet and soupy dough as time progressed?

  7. Second option. It was never soupy, or sticky really. It just never held it’s shape. I’m guessing it needed more “kneading”. But I’m not sure. It was a good texture prior to adding the extra salt water.

  8. 5 stars
    Hi, I’ve been sharpening my sourdough bread making skills through your videos. I appreciate the time you take to give us such detailed information. This post and the link to the sourdough journey dough temping chart was a game changer! When you said that BF starts when you mix the starter and flour i realized that I have been BF for to long. And now i know what i was doing wrong. So I made your recipe, wrote down time when i mixed my dough and temperature during S&F and BF. Also used a bowl with ML on it to calculate between 30 & 50% rise. My tem0 was consistently 77 degrees. For the 1st time my dough slid out of the bowl clean. Wasn’t super sticky and felt great! I didn’t over ferment my dough. It only took 5 hours from start to fridge. That shocks me! I really appreciate this information. Thank you so much. Merry Christmas 🎅

  9. 5 stars
    Made this recipe today, and finally, finally I might have had great success, except I overproved the bulk fermentation, ugh! You have made things so much easier for me to understand, but I do still wonder about how much to “discard” daily if I am not baking? Thank you for such amazing information and videos!

    1. How much starter you discard just depends on how much you are feeding. If you feed 5g starter, 25g flour, 25g water to maintain it, you’d discard back down to 5g starter the next day when you feed again.

    1. Yes. Instead of putting the banneton in the fridge, leave it on the counter for a few hours or until the dough has risen a bit more and is super jiggly. Then bake!

  10. For this recipe(2 loaves), do you suggest to use a new jar to feed starter 25g with 123g of bread unbleached flour and 123g of water? Or use the same starter jar? To ensure that I have 25g starter to begin with, do suggest I use a new jar?

  11. How can I make this gluten free as I have celiac disease… Which flour would you recommend for the starter and the bread?

  12. 5 stars
    Thanks for all the detailed instructions! It is very helpful, especially the photos and videos. I am working on this recipe now. Have a few random questions:
    1. Since 40g water is added later, does it need heated to original temp from the calculator? How do I know how much water to add? Can it cause the denser areas in my next question?
    2. My mixing is problematic. I cannot seem to get small, hard areas full incorporated, probably from scraping the sides of the bowl. My bowl is metal (stainless) and is lighter and larger than my glass bowls. Idk if that is a contributor. I try to use extra water during S&F but it doesn’t always help.
    3, I watched another video which stated that BF was done when the center of the dough is the same as the edge of the dough when doing the poke test. Have you ever tried that?
    Thanks so much for your response and always sharing!!

    1. Glad to hear it! 1) you can take the temp of your dough and if it’s lower than the target, use warmer water. If it’s higher, then use room temp water. 2) Consider trying slap and folds. It brings dough together really well, and quickly. 3) No, I have never heard of that.

      1. Ok I’m a dork. So you mean watch the youtube and write down the times you do each task? But you don’t have a table printed somewhere. It’s fine I can probably follow your other timelines for sourdough breads! Thank you! 🙂

        1. The timeline is in the YouTube video description. I will paste it here:

          *At 8am, I fed my starter a 1:1:1 feeding ratio, or about 90g starter, 90g flour, and 90g water. That makes a little extra so you don’t have to worry about scraping out every last bit from the jar. This ratio allows me to start making my dough around 1:45pm. I usually prefer a 1:5:5 feeding ratio but didn’t plan ahead well enough for that. So in this case, a 1:1:1 feeding ratio had my starter peaked and ready to go a lot faster.

          1:45pm: 1 hour fermentolyse with flour, 600g of the water, and the active starter. (Fermentolyse just means mixing the flour, water, and starter together and letting it rest before adding the salt.)

          2:45pm: Added the salt and remaining 40g water after that hour. The water I added was 85-90F. Kneaded the dough and did some slap and folds for a few minutes (let’s be real: until my arms were tired). Covered the bowl and let rest for around 30 minutes.

          3:15pm: Usually, I do 4 total sets of dough strengthening – first two sets as stretch and folds, second two sets as coil folds. This time, I had to get my kids from school and actually only got in one set of stretch and folds and one set of coil folds. The bread still turned out amazing, so there is certainly flexibility here.

          Checked the temperature of the dough throughout the process as my goal was to keep it between 78-80F. If it was cool, I put it in the oven with light on. If too warm, I left on the counter (my home is 75F). Bulk fermentation usually takes about 4 hours if I keep it between 78-80F. This time, I had trouble keeping my dough temperature up and it slowly dropped to 75F. The BF took 5.5 hours this time.

          7pm: Pre-shaped gently, let the dough bench rest for about 30-40 minutes, and did the single caddy clasp final shaping method followed by an overnight retard in the fridge.

          Next day: Preheated oven to 450F with a Dutch oven inside. Scored and baked the bread, covered, for 30 mins. Removed lid and let bake another 15 minutes or so, until the top is golden brown and the internal temp is around 205F.

  13. Probably a stupid question but I want to make two loaves. One plain and one with some inclusions. I would just halve the recipe and make it in two bowls and add inclusions to one during stretch and folds, correct?
    Thank you.

    1. Hey! My favorite bannetons are the large batard & small boule from FLOURSIDE. I’ve tested all four of their sizes – and sizes from many other brands – and they’re my favorite for a 900-950g loaf (like this recipe). You can use code TSG5 for a discount on their stuff.

  14. 5 stars
    Hi there! I’ve made this recipe several times and absolutely love the way the bread comes out. If I wanted to add whole wheat flour to the recipe in addition to the bread flour, how many grams would you suggest I use? Thank you for your help in advance!

    1. Hey!! Love to hear that, so glad! Do 900g bread flour, 100g whole wheat flour first. You can go up to 800g bread flour, 200g whole wheat flour but any more than that, and you’ll get a more dense loaf and will need to make more tweaks with hydration and whatnot.

  15. Hi! I’m brand new to sourdough and plan to try your recipe this weekend. Would unbleached AP flour work for this recipe? It’s what I have currently and I’ve seen some say there is not much of a difference between AP and bread flour but curious if you’ve tried AP with this recipe and the outcome? Love the way you break down all the steps!

  16. 5 stars
    Oh.My.Word! I’ve been baking sourdough for over 2 years now and I’ve never baked a loaf like this one. This was the best loaf I’ve ever made – all due to this recipe!

    I’ve never had soft, silky, glossy dough and have never been able to make coil folds. This recipe is a higher hydration dough, more water and 20g more starter and WOW, what a difference. It baked up beautifully, the crumb was lovely, the crust was crispy but not hard/tough. Simply THE BEST loaf. Thank you for sharing, Rebekah!

  17. 5 stars
    Hi! A few questions.

    Do you cover during all rises or no? And do you use a damp cloth or saran wrap/plastic? Once I didn’t cover tightly enough during the fridge rise and the dough was ruined. 🙁

    Is there something I can use besides a banneton? Can I use a loaf pan? I’ve been just using the same metal bowl with a floured cheese cloth, but it’s kind of a thing to pry the dough away once I’m transferring to the parchment.

    Is it worth it to buy a lame or is a sharp knife fine?

    How do you store your bread once it’s cut?

    LOL okay that’s all! Thanks in advance!!! I love this recipe!

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