Sourdough Bread (Bread Machine Recipe)

Good day!

I can’t believe we are at the end of the school year!  I am now starting year 2 out of 3 for school counseling and LPC license hence the few and far between recipes.  After completing a Master’s program right after undergrad and doing one now, I would highly recommend completing a Master’s program right after undergrad.   It was WAY easier!

Books I’ve Read: 

I’m currently reading “The Power of Regret” by Daniel Pink.  He never disappoints and provides oodles of interesting studies about the human condition.

I finished “Such a Quiet Place” by Megan Miranda which is a page-turning mystery fictional piece that I would recommend.

“A Molecule Away from Madness” by Sara Manning Peskin was my favorite so far this year.  A non-fiction piece written by a neuroscientist who covers several neurological diseases.  After much research into these diseases and going through the fascinating history, the conclusion is that one molecule is the difference between healthy and non-healthy.

Recipe:

I use my bread machine for EVERYTHING dough making.  I received it 20 years ago for a wedding present and have been baking bread in it ever since.  If the house is too cold, the dough doesn’t rise well.   Too hot, it rises too fast.    We make cinnamon rolls, pizza, bread rolls, and more all in the bread machine.  It kneads and allows the dough to rise at just the right temperature.   It is too big to keep on the counter, but over the weekends or holidays, I’ll get the machine out to mix and rise our ingredients.  I never bake bread in the machine.  I tried a couple of times and the loaves come out in a funny shape and very tough on the outside.  My Oster bread maker is a 2 lb. machine and is no longer manufactured.  I believe I used our wedding gift money to purchase it.

You can certainly make this recipe by hand or in a Kitchenaid mixer!

Timeline for how I make this sourdough recipe:

Note: When I say “equal amounts” I do not measure or weigh.  I eyeball when I feed my sourdough and it works so much better.  I only use a scale when I am baking a recipe.

7:00pm – Remove my sourdough from the fridge and feed it.  Allow to feed overnight equal amounts flour to water to starter

6:00am – Feed sourdough (discard half if you need to!) equal amounts flour to water to starter

9:00am – my starter has already doubled in size.  He is fed!  I place all the ingredients into the bread machine and hit start on “Dough” cycle

10:30am – Dough cycle is finished and allow to rise another 2 hours.

12:30pm – Form dough into a ball on floured surface.  Place on parchment inside the Dutch Oven and rise 4 hours.

4:00pm – Preheat oven to 450 degrees

4:30pm – Place Dutch Oven and bread into the oven and turn oven down to 400 degrees.  Bake 25 minutes

4:55pm – Remove lid and bake 20-25 minutes.

5:15pm – Check the bread is golden brown and remove from oven

5:45pm – Eat sourdough bread with dinner!

**To make this without a bread machine, you will follow the same rise times and everything.  Simply knead by mixer or by hand for 5-6 minutes at the beginning.  Rise 45 minutes.  Knead 1-2 minutes.  Rise another 45 minutes.  Then, follow the rest of the steps beginning with rise an additional 2 hours.