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Now that you have an active and bubbly starter, it’s time to make your first easy sourdough loaf!

Ingredients For Easy Sourdough Loaf:

125 grams (or 1 cup) of active starter (Find my easy sourdough starter recipe here)

325 grams (or 1 1/4 cup) of room temperature filtered or bottled water

500 grams (or 4 cups) of flour-Sometimes I do 450 grams of bread flour (or all purpose) and 50 grams of whole wheat.

10 grams (or 2 tsp) of salt

Step by Step Instructions

Mix flour and water
- In a large glass bowl, mix the flour and water until a dough forms. Cover with a bowl cover, plastic wrap, or a wet towel. Let it sit for 1 hour.
Add starter and salt
- Add the starter and salt to the dough and mix with wet hands until fully incorporated. The dough will be a bit shaggy. (Note: pictures on the scale look a tad off due to the frequency of the camera and the scale being off. It is 125g of starter and 10g of salt.)
Rest
- Cover and let the dough rest for 1 hour.
Stretch and folds
- Do 4 sets of stretch and folds, spaced 30 minutes apart.
  To do a stretch and fold. Stretch your dough up and fold it over, turning the bowl a quarter of the way each time.
  
  _{Stretch and Folds}
Bulk fermentation
- Let the dough sit on the counter, covered, until it doubles in size. This can take several hours depending on the temperature of your home.

*The colder your house-the longer it will take to rise.

*Signs Your Dough is Ready

The dough may begin pulling away from the bowl and form a slight dome on top

It has doubled in size

Air bubbles are visible on the surface

It jiggles slightly when you shake the bowl

It springs back slowly when poked, leaving a small indentation

If it springs back quickly, it needs more time. If it doesn’t spring back at all, it may be over-proofed

_{Dough is ready}

6. Shape the dough

Place the dough on a floured surface (rice flour is recommended). Use the push-and-pull technique to shape it into a ball.

7. Final Proofing

Place the dough into a floured banneton (Affiliate) or a bowl lined with a floured tea towel, seam-side up.
At this point, you can cover the dough and refrigerate it overnight or move straight to baking.

Dough formed into a ball ready to make easy sourdough loaf.

8. Preheat

Preheat your Dutch oven to 475°F (245°C).

9. Transfer and prep

Turn the dough onto parchment paper or a dough sling. (Affiliate). Sprinkle the top with rice flour.

10. Score

Use a lame to score the top of the dough.

Dough with lame ready to score and bake Scored sourdough dough ready to bake.
_{Scoring skills are not the best, but I’m still learning.}

11.Bake (covered)

Place the dough into the preheated Dutch oven, cover with the lid, and bake for 30 minutes.

12. Bake (uncovered)

Remove the lid and reduce the temperature to 425°F (220°C). Bake for additional 20 minutes.

The bread should have an internal temperature of at least 200* F (93*C).

13. Cool

Let the loaf cool for at least 2 hours before slicing — and ENJOY!

Finished easy sourdough loaf. Crumb shot of easy sourdough loaf
_{Not the prettiest, but as long as it tastes good. We are learning together.}