Sourdough Bread Recipe (IN CUPS) - East Pine Home (2024)

Looking for a sourdough bread recipe that’s simple and easy? Don’t want to fuss with digital scales, grams, and just use cups? I am your girl. Sourdough bread can be overwhelming but I want to help you break it down to make it easy. I have a sourdough bread recipe in cups! Yes, you read that right, a sourdough recipe in cups NOT grams. Before we jump in though let’s talk about that..

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Let me tell you this comes with a set of risks and problems when measuring in cups and why measuring with grams is a thing. Flour comes in so many varieties and when you are milling or using bread flour or all-purpose it can be “Fluffier” or have more air between each piece depending on how long it has had to settle. When I measure a cup then you measure a cup… Your cup might have more flour than mine. This is why so many recipes are in grams. Also when we are talking bread and recipes seeing 1000 grams is easier to weigh than 7 cups + 2 tbsp + 2 tsp. Sometimes that extra 1 tbsp can make or break a recipe.

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION! About Sourdough in cups…

That being said this recipe when I say CUPS in this recipe dip your measuring cup in, take a butter knife’s FLAT side, and sheer off the excess for a “Perfect” cup. 

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As I mentioned above a tbsp can make or break a recipe and give different results. Having a few failed loaves is to be expected until you know what kind of texture you are looking for in a dough. I highly recommend investing in a digital scale if you want to do sourdough bread.

Sourdough Bread Recipe (IN CUPS) - East Pine Home (4)

YOUR STARTER 

If you are new to sourdough the first thing we need to talk about is what you will need. First, you need a sourdough starter. If you want to learn more about that you can head on over to this blog here. You will also want a Dutch oven. Yes, you can bake in something else, but really I think every kitchen needs one!

You will want to plan out when you want to make bread. This is not a quick, whip it up an hour before dinner kind of bread… although if you need that, I got you covered in my quick one hour bread recipe.

Sourdough bread in cups!

Sourdough is a long process. You can start it early in the morning, but it’s usually best to start the day before.

First, you will want to start around 8am the day before you want to make your bread. Feed your starter and let her get all bubbly and happy. By the afternoon you should have hit the “peak” where it is no longer doming at the top but starting to dimple down a bit (not sinking just dimpling). 

Webbing and floating

When you twirl the jar around you should see the webbing and bubbles from all sides. Scoop a small spoonful of your starter into a cup of water. If she floats, it is ready to use! Mix your water and starter than add in flour. Keep your hands wet so the dough is less sticky. When all the ingredients are combined, let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

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Next, add in your salt and work the dough until it is combined. Let the dough rest 30-40 mins in a warm place and do a “Stretch and fold”. This is exactly what it sounds like. Wet your hands, stretch the dough up out of the bowl and fold it back into a ball. It only takes about 30 seconds to do this and you should feel the dough get firmer. repeat in 30 mins. You will want to do 3-6 stretches and folds. Cover your dough with plastic wrap and let it bulk ferment for 5-8 hours in a warm spot. 

Remove the dough from the bowl carefully onto the counter and divide into two equal loaves.

To shape your loaf; You can do this several ways but I like to push and roll the dough forward and then pull it back towards me in a spinning motion to create a ball. Do push a roll motion like this for a few minutes to create tension and then let rest for 30 minutes on the counter. Place dough into floured bannteon baskets or a bowl lined with a floured tea towel. Cover with a plastic bag or plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight ( minium 12 hours).

The Next Morning

Preheat your oven with your empty Dutch oven inside to 500 and let the dutch oven heat up for one hour. Take our your dough the last 5 mins it is preheating and rub the top with flour. Take a razor blade or sharp knife and score a deep slice across the length of the bread. and you can score fun patterns in it if you like. Place your dough on floured parchment and into your hot Dutch oven. Take a small amount of water (about 1/4 cup) and pour it between the paper and pot. Be careful not to get any on your bread. This will create steam in your pot and will help make a lovely crust!

Place lid on your Dutch oven and back at 500 for 30 mins. Remove lid lower your heat to 450 for another 30 mins. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Do not cut until your loaf is completely cooled.

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Need a Dutch oven? Check out the one I use here

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Simple Sourdough Bread (IN CUPS)

Easy sourdough bread recipe in cups

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Bread

Servings 2 loaves

Equipment

  • 1 Dutch Oven

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Sourdough Starter Bubbly and active fed 5-10 hrs before
  • 2 3/4 cups Water
  • 7 cups Bread Flour add tsp at a time if it is too dry
  • 1 tbsp Fine Sea Salt

Instructions

Lets Bake

  • Feed starter 6-8 hours before you want to start mixing ingredients.

    When your starter is at its peak, has dimples and when you roll it you see webbing on all sides take 1 cup and mix it in 2 3/4 warm water.

    Mix flour with hands or wooden spoon. This is super messy but wet your hands a bit and it will be eaiser to combine.

    Let rest for 30 mins covered.

    Add in salt dimpling it in with your hands to combine.

    Knead for about 5 mins until salt combines in.

    Put in a bowl and let rest for 30 mins. Stertch and fold until dough is more firm. Allow to rest for another 30 mins. Do one more stretch and fold until the dough is firm.

    A stretch and fold really only takes about 20 seconds. It is quick and easy.

    do about 3-6 stretch and folds 30-45 mins apart.

    Cover your dough bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let bulk rise for 5-8 hours.

    Take out dough carefully and divide into two loaves. roll dough toward you on the lightly floured work surface to create a ball. Let rise on counter for 30 mins, roll dough again on surface and flip seam side up into a flour batton basket (you can use a foured tea towel too in a bowl.)

    cover with a plastic bag and place in the fridge for overnight or for 12 hours

    Preheat oven to 500 with your dutch oven inside for 1 hour.

    Place parchement paper on top of your loaf in the bannton basket. Flip over, dust with flour and score in any pattern you like with a razor.

    Place in dutch oven, add 1/4 cup of water under your parchement paper to create steam. Cover.

  • Place a large baking sheet on lower rack. This helps that bottom not burn.

    Place dough in dutch oven and bake with lid on at 500 for 30 mins. remove lid and lower heat to 450 continue baking for 30-40 mins. ( internal temp should be 210)

    Remove bread from dutch oven and allow bread to cool completely before cutting into it.

Keyword Sourdough, Sourdough bread

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Sourdough Bread Recipe (IN CUPS) - East Pine Home (2024)

FAQs

Sourdough Bread Recipe (IN CUPS) - East Pine Home? ›

Typical feeding ratios are 1:2:2 or 1:3:3 (old sourdough: fresh flour: water). However, even extreme ratios like 1:50:50 would still work. In that case, the freshly fed sourdough would just require more or much more time to grow and reach its peak, as judged by the maximum volume increase in the jar (at least doubled).

What is the secret to good sourdough bread? ›

Top 10 Tips & Tricks for Making Sourdough
  • Use your sourdough starter at its peak. ...
  • Moisten the surface of the dough before baking for more rise. ...
  • Handle with care: be gentle with your dough. ...
  • Use sifted flour to make your sourdough less dense. ...
  • Soak your flour beforehand for a lighter loaf. ...
  • Just add water for softer sourdough.

What is the best ratio of sourdough starter to flour? ›

Typical feeding ratios are 1:2:2 or 1:3:3 (old sourdough: fresh flour: water). However, even extreme ratios like 1:50:50 would still work. In that case, the freshly fed sourdough would just require more or much more time to grow and reach its peak, as judged by the maximum volume increase in the jar (at least doubled).

Is homemade sourdough bread better for you than store bought? ›

Fiber & Probiotic

Fermentation makes noticeable changes in the flour, which makes bread not only more nutritious for us but also the microbes in our gut. The health benefits of whole grain sourdough bread lie in the abundance of fiber, which is the primary food of our healthy microflora.

Why is my homemade sourdough bread so dense? ›

One of the most common mistakes is having a dough temperature that's too low for the starter to feed on all the flour in the dough, resulting in a crumb that's dense, with fewer openings. "Starter is happiest and most active at around 75 degrees. If it's a lot colder, the process will be much slower.

How do I get my sourdough bread to rise more? ›

Place your sourdough starter in a bowl or pot of warm water on the kitchen counter. This will keep it warm and allow more oxygen to circulate around it, which can help it rise more. You can cover the top of the bowl or pot with a damp tea towel to keep the moisture and warmth in.

Should you add yeast to sourdough bread? ›

Proper fermentation of bread dough requires robust yeast activity, especially if you want good oven spring and an open crumb. Adding small amounts of instant yeast to a sourdough is an easy and effective way to get there, and a practice any baker might want to add to their bread baking toolkit.

Can you use too much starter in sourdough bread? ›

And you guessed it..the more starter you use, the faster your dough will ferment - resulting in a less sour loaf. Using less starter in your recipe will help slow down the fermentation process.

What happens if you add too much flour to sourdough starter? ›

The colony of wild yeast and bacteria inside your starter jar are fairly resilient, however, like most living things, they can be overfed. When you overfeed a sourdough starter you dilute the natural population of yeast and bacteria, making your sourdough culture weak and inactive.

Do you have to discard sourdough starter every time you feed it? ›

It would be best if you discarded some portion of your starter each time you feed it unless you want to continue to let it grow. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.

Is it okay to eat sourdough bread every day? ›

Is it healthy to eat sourdough everyday? You could eat sourdough every day, but it isn't necessarily healthy to do so. A healthy diet is characterized by balance and moderation. Whether or not it is healthy for you to consume sourdough every day depends on the rest of your diet.

How many days does homemade sourdough bread last? ›

I'll share my tips on the best way to store sourdough and a plan on the best way to eat it too. Sourdough bread will keep well for up to 3-5 days at a moderate room temperature of 18-20°C or 64-68°F. The warmer and more humid the conditions become, the more chance the sourdough has of spoiling.

What is the healthiest sourdough bread? ›

“The whole-grain sourdoughs have more fiber, protein and micronutrients, making them more filling and healthier for you overall,” says Natalie Rizzo, registered dietitian and nutrition editor at TODAY.com. When choosing a sourdough loaf, look for ones that have whole wheat, spelt or rye, Rizzo adds.

When to add baking soda to sourdough bread? ›

Baking soda or bicarbonate of soda can be used in sourdough bread to create a less sour loaf. Added after bulk fermentation, but before shaping, it can help to create a lighter, more fluffy loaf of sourdough.

How to get fluffier sourdough? ›

Step 3: Cover and let the dough rise for 10-12 hours. This is called bulk rise or bulk fermentation. Step 4: After 10-12 hours, the dough should be doubled (or even tripled) in size. Many recipes will tell you the dough is over-proofed if it triples in size but I find that it makes deliciously fluffy bread this way!

What does overproofed sourdough look like? ›

Note: As loaves begin to overproof they lose their height and shape. The crumb becomes more dense. The holes become more ragged and irregular in shape. The crust begins to thin and separate from the crumb.

What is the secret behind the sour of sourdough bread? ›

There are two main acids produced in a sourdough culture: lactic acid and acetic acid. Acetic acid, or vinegar, is the acid that gives sourdough much of its tang. Giving acetic acid-producing organisms optimal conditions to thrive and multiply will produce a more tangy finished product.

Why do you put honey in sourdough bread? ›

You'll find I use honey in many of my recipes. I love to use it in my no-knead 100% whole wheat sourdough bread because it makes it much softer and less dense than it would be without it. Subbing it in recipes that call for sugar is not usually as simple as a one-to-one sub, though.

How to make sourdough bread tastier? ›

Think Beyond White Flour

Instead of going 100 percent white, try mixing in 10 percent to 30 percent of another flour. Consider rye, spelt, hard winter wheat, or whatever special wheats your local mill carries. This is a painless way to layer deep, robust notes into your sourdough.

How to make your sourdough fluffier? ›

Step 3: Cover and let the dough rise for 10-12 hours. This is called bulk rise or bulk fermentation. Step 4: After 10-12 hours, the dough should be doubled (or even tripled) in size. Many recipes will tell you the dough is over-proofed if it triples in size but I find that it makes deliciously fluffy bread this way!

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