Soft Sourdough Bread Recipes

Steps:

• Mix together the first 5 ingredients and 1 cup of flour. Cover and leave in a warm place for at least 1 hour, it should start to rise a little.
• Stir in the remaining flour. Knead for 10 minutes or until a soft dough forms that springs back when gently pressed.
• Turn the dough in 1-2 teaspoons of oil in a clean bowl. Cover with cling film and leave to sit for another hour or more, until doubled in size.
• Shape dough on a lightly oiled tray. Cover with a large container with room for it to rise without touching the sides. Leave in a warm place until doubled in size.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 410 degrees (210 deg celsius) for 12 minutes.
• Cool on a wire rack.

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients together and knead dough for about five minutes. If dough is too sticky, add slightly more flour but dough should be soft and not dry and stiff. Place in oiled bowl and allow dough to rise for 3-4 hours or until nearly doubled in size.
• Divide dough into two pieces and shape into loaves and place in two greased bread pans or proving baskets. If a free form loaf is desired, place on greased baking sheet. Spray with oil and cover with plastic wrap to keep from drying out. Allow to rise for 2-3 hours. About 30min before the bread is ready pre heat your oven to 450f/250c.
• When dough has risen, slash the top of the loaf. Place in pre heated oven at the high temp for 10min ( this will give lovely crust with great colour, do not fear it will not burn in this time) then reduce temp to 375f/190c for a further 20 minute.

Steps:

• For the levain: Combine the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, water and starter in a medium bowl and mix to combine. Cover and let sit at room temperature until bubbly and increased in volume by about 20 percent, about 8 hours.
• For the dough: Add the all-purpose flour, water and whole-wheat flour to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Weigh out 7 ounces of the levain (about 1 cup) and add to the mixer (discard any remaining levain). Mix on low until a shaggy dough forms. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Add the salt to the dough and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes; the dough should feel a bit sticky and wet but look smooth and very stretchy. Scrape the dough into a plastic or glass container about twice its size. Cover and let sit at room temperature until puffed, about 45 minutes.
• Put the dough on a floured work surface, flatten it gently, then fold in thirds like a business letter. Transfer it back to the container. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes.
• Repeat the folding process one more time, transfer back to the container, cover and let sit at room temperature for another 45 minutes. After the third 45-minute rest, the dough should feel soft and pillowy; when pressed with a finger, it should leave an indentation that begins to spring back.
• Gently scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide in half using a bench scraper. Shape each piece loosely into a round by gently tucking the edges under. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Drape 2 kitchen towels into 2 medium (8-inch) bowls and dust very generously with flour. Dust the top of the dough rounds very lightly with flour and flip over using a bench scraper. Flatten one piece of dough into a circle, then fold the left and right sides of the dough over the center. Keeping tension in the dough, begin folding down from the top edge in 3 segments, sealing the bottom edge with the last fold. Loosely cup the dough and, using your hands and the tension between the board and the dough, pull the bread very slowly towards yourself while creating a taut ball. Gently flip the dough ball over and into one of the prepared bowls. Cover loosely with another kitchen towel. Repeat the process with the second piece of dough. Place both in a warm place to rise until about 1 1/2 times their size, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
• About 20 minutes before baking, position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven, put a 4-quart Dutch oven and lid on the rack and preheat to 500 degrees F. When preheated, carefully transfer the hot Dutch oven to a heatsafe surface with oven mitts (leave the lid in the oven). Flip one round of dough over into the Dutch oven. Using a sharp knife, scissors or bread lame, score the top of the bread in a cross or desired pattern. Return to the oven, immediately cover with the lid and bake for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 425 degrees F, uncover and bake until dark brown, about 10 minutes more. Transfer the bread to a cooling rack to cool completely. Return the empty Dutch oven to the oven, raise the temperature to 500 degrees F and let heat for 10 minutes before repeating the baking process with the second dough round.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a large baking sheet.
• Mix 2 cups of flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add sourdough starter, egg, and vegetable oil. Mix well. Add remaining flour as needed. Dough should not be very sticky; if it comes out sticky, add more flour as needed, until it reaches a consistency that can be easily kneaded.
• Knead dough until smooth, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Roll dough out until it is fairly thin, roughly 1/4 inch. Place dough on the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes.