Sourdough is an extremely nutritious way to eat bread, however, most of us don’t have time to chase a bowl of dough around all day.

Here is my recipe that allows you avoid repeated stretch and folds, skip long proofing times, while still getting a great looking loaf, all while utilizing your stand mixer.

Here are tools you need, ingredient list, and step by step instructions, for this fast and flavorful loaf of sourdough bread.

Let’s Dive In…

Sourdough Rustic Loaf Recipe

Tools You’ll Need

Stand mixer with a Dough hook
Large Bowl
Dutch Oven with lid

Ingredients

1 cup active, thick sourdough starter
1.5 cups water
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
3-3.5 cups all-purpose flour
Oil to line the bowl for overnight soaking
1/2 cup of water for steam in the oven

Instructions

Night Before:

In you mixer, first add your sourdough starter, water, salt, and sugar.
Mix with dough hook until well combined and looks milky.
On lowest setting (which is ‘stir’ on my machine) slowly add flour; add flour 1/2 cup at a time. (see tips below)
Mix until combined, scrapping sides if needed.
Dough should be sticky but holds its shape.
Knead in mixer with your dough hook for 3-5 minutes.
Take your large bowl and line with avocado or olive oil.
From your mixer, dump your dough into your large oiled bowl. It’s okay if you have to scrape it out. Turn over once so it’s all covered with oil.
No need to shape the loaf at this point, place a wet tea towel over the bowl and let soak overnight.

In the Morning:

First Part:

Dough should be doubled in size in the morning.
Punch down, and dump onto a very lightly floured surface.
Shape the Loaf into a round ball: Pull edges into the middle until you have pulled all sides in. Squeeze the seam with your hand like you’re squeezing a tube, so dough seams stick together and flip dough over.
Once dough is flipped over, you’ll need to tighten the crust. You do this by placing your hands at the bottom of the loaf and pulling towards you on the counter.
Once formed, place dough on a piece of parchment paper.
Let rest on countertop until oven is preheated.

Second Part:

After you have shaped your dough, Place your Dutch oven in your cold oven.
Preheat your oven to 415 degrees F with your Dutch oven inside. You need a hot dutch oven to bake this bread in.
Once the oven is well preheated, place a nice deep cut on the top.
Right after you cut, immediately place your dough with your parchment paper in the pre-heated Dutch oven. (You don’t have to pull your Dutch out of your oven and the loaf stays on the parchment paper)
Pour 1/2 cup water underneath the parchment paper and place Dutch oven lid on immediately.
Bake for 20 minutes with the lid on.
After 20 minutes, take the lid off and bake another 40 minutes.
Crust should be golden brown.
Cool on rack and let it cool down before slicing. Enjoy!

Troubleshooting Tips:

Be sure to add your flour slowly. My machine has a really hard time mixing if I pour all the flour in at once.
Plus, since flours all weigh differently you should pay attention to the texture of the dough. Aim for a nice pliable dough that is smooth and slightly sticky to the touch. You may find you need a little more or a little less than three cups of flour to reach this consistency.
Make sure your starter is active. This is simply where it’s really bubbly and not deflated.
If you wish to do a second proofing and shaping, you can but that’s completely up to you.
This is how I get a sourdough loaf of sourdough bread in the oven and on the table the quickest! Nobody even knows I skipped a step.