Description
This Easy Overnight Sourdough Bread recipe guides you through creating a flavorful and naturally leavened loaf with a crisp crust and airy crumb. Utilizing a simple mixture of sourdough starter, all-purpose flour, water, and salt, the dough is mixed, folded, and left to rise overnight before baking in a Dutch oven to achieve an artisan-quality loaf at home.
Ingredients
Scale
Starter and Dough
- 90 grams sourdough starter
- 520 grams all-purpose flour
- 12 grams salt
- 1 7/8 cups water (approximately 445 ml)
Instructions
- Mix the Dough: The night before baking, combine 520 grams of all-purpose flour, 12 grams of salt, and 90 grams of sourdough starter in a large bowl. Pour in 1 7/8 cups of water and mix together using your hands until the dough forms a wet, sticky mass. It won’t be smooth at this stage, which is normal.
- First Rest and Folding: Cover the bowl with a towel and let it rest for 15 minutes. After resting, perform approximately 15 folds by taking a corner of the dough and folding it over the rest, rotating the bowl each time. Wet your hands slightly to prevent sticking. This helps develop gluten and structure.
- Second Rest and Folding: Cover again and let rest for another 15 minutes. Repeat the folding process once more to further strengthen the dough. Then cover the bowl and leave it to rise out at room temperature overnight.
- Prepare for Shaping: The next morning, your dough should be risen and bubbly. Prepare a mixing bowl lined with parchment paper dusted with flour to hold the shaped dough for proofing.
- Shape and Fold: Wet your hands and gently loosen the dough from the bowl edges. Lift the center of the dough and tuck the ends underneath, rotating the bowl a quarter turn and repeating this process two more times. Finally, transfer the dough to the prepared bowl using the parchment paper, tucking the ends underneath. Sprinkle lightly with flour on top.
- Cold Proof: Place the shaped dough bowl into the refrigerator and allow it to cold proof for 5 hours. This slow proof enhances flavor and texture.
- Preheat Oven and Dutch Oven: About 30 minutes before baking, preheat your oven to 500°F (260°C), preferably using the convection setting. Place a Dutch oven with its lid inside the oven to heat up thoroughly.
- 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 surrounding it for expansion during baking. Use the parchment paper to lift and transfer the dough into the hot Dutch oven.
- Bake Covered: Bake the bread at 500°F with the Dutch oven lid on for 25 minutes. This traps steam and ensures a crispy crust.
- Bake Uncovered: Remove the lid, reduce the oven temperature to 450°F (232°C), and continue baking for an additional 12-14 minutes until the crust is deep golden and crisp.
- Cool Before Serving: Remove the bread from the oven and once cool enough to handle, transfer it to a cooling rack. Allow the bread to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing to let the crumb set and flavors develop fully.
Notes
- You can substitute other flours, but retaining a large portion of all-purpose flour helps maintain the bread’s texture.
- Experiment with baking times: longer covered baking yields a lighter crust color; shorter covered baking and longer uncovered baking results in a darker crust.
- Feeding your sourdough starter 8-12 hours before using it is optional; using unfed starter can lead to a more pronounced sour flavor.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (approximately 80 grams)
- Calories: 180
- Sugar: 0.2 g
- Sodium: 380 mg
- Fat: 1 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 37 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
