Sourdough Bread

Hi Everyone, sorry for the blogging hiatus! I am still cooking, just haven't had a ton of time to put together posts. I appreciate the emails asking if I am okay and when I will be posting again. This recipe is one I saw on pinterest from The Italian Dish that looked so good and promised to be super duper easy so I had to try it. I must say it was such a success that I have already made it twice! The beauty of this recipe - it takes less than 5 minutes to make the dough, within 2 hours it is ready to cook, you only cook what you want and put the rest of the dough in the fridge for use later (that's right....you can have fresh bread at every meal if you wanted!), the dough lasts up to two weeks in the fridge and the taste only gets better (more sourdough like) with time. I made a half batch of what was called for on The Italian Dish, which makes approximately (2) 8-10" loaves about 4" in diameter. Because you decide the size of your loaf cooking time may vary depending on what size you decide to bake. I love that I can do dinner rolls as easy as I could do a full loaf of bread for sandwiches. (this recipe is for the full batch, works well as a half batch as well!)



Sourdough Bread

2 Packets Instant Yeast (~1-1/2 TB)
3C Lukewarm Water
1-1/2TB Salt
6-1/2C Flour (I used King Arthur Brand - White All Purpose)

Instructions...get ready to be blown away. Put the yeast, water and salt in a large plastic bowl, mix together for a few seconds. Add in the flour - yes you can really just dump it all in there, no you don't sift it!, mix with a wooden spoon. Just mix until all of the water is incorporated into the flour and you can't see any dry pieces of flour. Totally fine that there are lumps and bumbs. Let it sit on the counter for 2 hours then put in the fridge until you are ready to use. You do want to put a lid on it but make sure the edge is off of it as the bread needs to breathe. (I just laid my lid on lopsided so the corners were open).

If you want to make it right away it is ready to bake after the 2 hours on the counter or anytime after you put it in the fridge. Just cut off a hunk of dough (or use the whole thing if you want a super huge loaf), coat your hands in flour and dust a bit on top of the dough so it doesn't all stick to you and gently fold it in on itself until it has a nice smooth top and all the edges are under the loaf. Place it on a piece of parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet and let it sit on the counter for about 30 minutes. While the dough is resting on the counter preheat your oven to 450°. After the dough has finished resting slice the top in a few spots (I usually do a slash through the dough every 2-3" about 1/2" to 1" deep - kitchen scissors work great for this). Place the pan in the oven and bake for approximately 30-35 minutes, the loaf will come out and nice and golden brown with a very nice crust to it.

Cut open, try not to burn your fingers on the deliciousness, serve and enjoy!

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WW: 75 Points Plus / Batch ** - Note a batch should easily make (4) 8-10" loaves that are 4" in diameter. If made into 4 loaves, each loaf would be 19 points. Each loaf could easily have 8 slices, each slice being approximately 2 Points Plus.