Description
This Easy Overnight Sourdough Bread recipe delivers a crusty, flavorful loaf with a chewy interior and beautiful air pockets. Utilizing a slow, overnight fermentation process, it combines simple ingredients and minimal hands-on time, making sourdough bread approachable for home bakers. Baking it in a preheated Dutch oven ensures a perfect crust and oven spring every time.
Ingredients
Scale
Ingredients
- 90 grams sourdough starter
- 520 grams all-purpose flour
- 12 grams salt
- 1 7/8 cup water (about 445 ml)
Instructions
- Mix Dough: The night before baking, combine 520 grams of flour, 12 grams of salt, and 90 grams of sourdough starter in a bowl. Pour in 1 7/8 cups of water and mix with your hands until fully incorporated. The dough will appear wet and shaggy — this is expected.
- First Rest and Fold: Cover the bowl with a towel and let it rest for 15 minutes. After resting, perform about 15 stretch-and-fold motions by taking a corner of the dough and folding it over itself, rotating the bowl each time. Wet your hands slightly to prevent sticking.
- Second Rest and Fold: Cover again and rest for another 15 minutes. Repeat the folding process once more, then cover the bowl and let the dough rise overnight at room temperature.
- Morning Fold and Shape: The next morning, your dough will be risen and bubbly. Prepare a mixing bowl lined with parchment paper and dusted lightly with flour. Wet your hands, loosen dough from the edges, gently lift and fold the dough by tucking the ends underneath, rotating the bowl and repeating twice more. Then carefully transfer the dough to the prepared bowl, tucking ends underneath and sprinkling the top lightly with flour.
- Cold Proof: Place the dough in the fridge for 5 hours for a cold fermentation, enhancing flavor and texture.
- Preheat Oven and Dutch Oven: When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 500°F (260°C) using the convection setting if available. Place your Dutch oven inside to preheat alongside the oven.
- Score and Transfer: Remove dough from fridge. Using a sharp knife, score the top with a long slash down the center and a few smaller slashes on each side for expansion. Use the parchment paper to lift and transfer the dough into the hot Dutch oven.
- Bake with Lid On: Bake the bread covered for 25 minutes to create steam and a great crust.
- Bake with Lid Off: Remove the lid and reduce oven temperature to 450°F (232°C). Continue baking for an additional 12-14 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
- Cool Bread: Remove the bread from the oven. Once cool enough to handle, transfer it to a cooling rack. Allow it to rest at least 1 hour before slicing to finish the cooking process internally and improve texture.
Notes
- You can substitute other flours, but keeping a high percentage of all-purpose flour is recommended to maintain bread texture.
- Baking times can be adjusted: longer covered baking for a lighter crust, or shorter for a darker crust.
- Using unfed sourdough starter provides a more sour flavor; some bakers prefer feeding starter 8-12 hours before using.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (approx. 70g)
- Calories: 180
- Sugar: 0.2g
- Sodium: 220mg
- Fat: 1g
- Saturated Fat: 0.2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.6g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 38g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 6g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
