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A loaf of bread sitting on top of a piece of wax paper

Lisa's Sour Dough Bread

Lisa May
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 days 20 hours
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 5 days 20 hours 35 minutes
Course Breads and Rolls
Cuisine American

Equipment

  • cheesecloth
  • glass canning jar

Ingredients
  

Starter

  • 1 pkg dry yeast
  • ½ c lukewarm water ((115 °F))
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 2 c warm water
  • 2½ c all purpose flour

Starter Feed

  • 3 tbsp instant potato flakes
  • ¾ c sugar
  • 1 c warm water

Bread

  • ½ c sugar
  • ½ c vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1 c starter
  • 1½ c warm water
  • 6 c plain flour

Optional (bread)

  • ½ c warm whole milk or cream

Instructions
 

Making the starter

  1. Mix 1 pkg dry yeast with ½ c lukewarm water .
  2. In a separate bowl, mix 2 c warm water, 2 tbsp sugar, and 2½ c all purpose flour.
  3. Put in a glass mason jar. Cover the top with cheesecloth and secure cheesecloth with rubber bands or a mason jar ring.
  4. Keep at room temperature for 5 days. It should be foamy and have a yeasty aroma.

Feeding the starter

  1. Mix ¾ c sugar, 3 tbsp instant potato flakes, and 1 c warm water well. Add to starter.
  2. Let fed starter stand at room temperature all day or overnight (12 hours).
  3. Either reserve 1 c starter for bread or sharing, or refrigerate for 3-5 days. Make bread anytime by allowing 1 cup to reach room temperature.
  4. Feed once a week, whether you make bread or not.

Bread

  1. In a large bowl blend ½ c sugar, ½ c vegetable oil, 1 tbsp salt, 1 c starter, 1½ c warm water, and 6 c plain flour to make a stiff batter. If too sticky add more flour. Optionally, in place of ½ c water use ½ c warm whole milk or cream for sweet rolls.
  2. Grease another bowl, add dough and turn to grease on all sides. Lightly cover and let stand all day or overnight at room temperature.
  3. After letting dough stand or on the next morning, punch down the dough and knead a few times.
  4. Divide dough in half, kneading each part 8-10 times. Place in 2 greased bread pans.
  5. Brush tops with melted margarine. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
  6. Uncover, and bake at 350 °F for 30-35 minutes until done.

Notes

You can vary this as much as you want, adding more cream and butter for Parker House rolls, roll out into cinnamon rolls, etc.
Keyword Sourdough
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