What do you love most about a homemade loaf of sourdough bread? Is it the taste of the final product, the smell that fills your home from baking it or the process of making delicious bread from scratch? For me, it’s all of the above! I hope you too will fall in love with my rustic sourdough bread recipe that works overnight while you sleep.

_{This post may contain affiliate links. When you click an affiliate link, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.}

Ingredients

Using high-quality ingredients is key to baking the perfect loaf of rustic sourdough bread. You will want a simple kitchen scale for weighing ingredients.

Sourdough Starter

Feeding your Starter

For this recipe, you need a live, active sourdough starter. To feed my starter, I typically like to use equal parts of flour and water, usually about 100 grams of each, added to my unfed starter (maybe about 150-200 grams). You will want to wait until this roughly doubles in size before using it in this recipe. The amount of time this takes will greatly vary. In the winter, it can take 6+ hours, whereas in the summer it can take about half that time or sometimes even less.

Sourdough Starter Float test

There are a few ways to know if your sourdough starter is ready to use. You can use a rubber band to mark your starting point on the jar or you can try the float test. The float test is a way to test that enough CO₂ has been trapped in your starter from yeast and therefore will be capable of making your bread rise. This test is as simple as filling a glass with water and dropping a little bit of your sourdough starter in. Do NOT stir your starter before this test (or before using it in your bread recipe). If the starter floats, you are good to go. If the starter sinks to the bottom, you should either wait longer for a better rise or feed your starter again. This can be done by dumping out some starter as “discard” and then following the steps above over again.

Water

The key here regarding water is just to ensure you are using clean and filtered water. Not only for the best taste but also to make sure you are not introducing something to your sourdough starter and bread that could hurt the strength of your yeast.

Flour

This recipe calls for two types of flour; bread flour (or a good quality all-purpose) and whole-wheat flour. The combo of the two types of flour gives this rustic sourdough bread a soft, light yet complex flavor, in addition to the rich tang that sourdough is known for. When working with sourdough starter and sourdough bread it is SO important to make sure you are using unbleached flour. Bleaching flour causes it to lose some of its nutritional value and is often coupled with added artificial preservatives. All of this could not only impact the flavor but also the yeast population in your starter. Whenever possible, my personal preference is also to use organic flour.

Salt

Salt helps to tighten gluten, thus making it stronger. Stronger gluten will help your dough hold more CO₂, giving it a better rise. I like using finely ground pink Himalayan salt but any good quality salt will work.

Process

Mixing

I love using a dough whisk for mixing my bread. You can start by adding warm water and starter to a large bowl, whisking until well combined. Then add in the remaining ingredients. At this stage, you can continue to use the dough whisk or combine by hand. (I combine until a shaggy dough has been created).

Stretch and fold

After about 30 minutes you will begin your stretch and folds. Personally, I tend to do about 3-4 of these over the course of a couple hours. A stretch and fold occurs by pulling on one end of the dough, folding it over itself and repeating from each side of the dough. The dough will remain in the bowl during this process, no need to take it out.

Overnight bulk ferment

Sourdough bread takes much longer to rise than compared to bread that uses store-bought yeast. I find that an overnight bulk ferment is typically perfect. I leave my bread on the counter covered in a damp towel (you can also use plastic wrap or beeswax wrap) to prevent the top from drying out. If you notice the top of your dough is drying out overnight, you may prefer to bulk ferment in the refrigerator overnight with a layer of plastic wrap on the top. This can mean your bulk ferment will take a little bit longer. In fact, if I ever have a busy morning and need to bake my sourdough later in the day, or even the next day; I will do the bulk ferment in the refrigerator, taking out an hour or two before I plan to move it to the proofing basket. If you are not in a rush to eat your sourdough bread, I encourage you to experiment with a longer bulk ferment in the fridge. In my opinion, it helps to create an even more tangy loaf.

Shaping & Proofing

After the bulk ferment, you will want to shape and then proof your dough. Shaping should only take a few minutes. This can be done by removing the dough from the bowl and onto a floured surface. You will fold the dough on itself to create a round ball shape and then pull the ball towards yourself a few times to make it smooth. See this video for a visual representation of dough shaping.

From here you will place the dough ball upside down in a proofing basket and allow to sit for about two more hours.

Baking

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees, and if using a cast iron Dutch oven, place that, empty, in the oven during the preheat.

Lastly, flip your dough onto parchment paper and score before placing into preheated Dutch oven.

Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on and another approximately 15 minutes with the lid off.

My Typical Schedule

12 pm (Noon): Feed your starter

6 pm: Mix your dough

6:30-8:30 pm: Perform your stretch and folds

Overnight: Allow dough to bulk ferment (I leave mine on the counter covered by a damp towel)

8 am: Shape your dough and move to a proofing basket

10 am: Preheat your oven and dutch oven

10:30 am: Remove dough from proofing basket, score, and put into hot Dutch oven to bake

Rustic Sourdough Bread – The Ultimate Artisinal Overnight Recipe

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

45

minutes

Resting time

12

minutes

Ingredients

• 85-90g of active, fed sourdough starter

• 350g warm water (or whey)

• 430g bread flour (or all-purpose, unbleached)

• 75g whole wheat flour

• 10g salt

Directions

• Whisk, in a bowl, starter and water
• Add in flours and salt, combining until a shaggy dough forms
• Let rest for about 30 minutes and then begin to stretch and fold the dough. Repeat this 3-4 times, waiting 20-30 minutes between each
• Cover bowl with damp towel and set somewhere to bulk ferment overnight for approximately 12 hours
• In the morning shape your dough into your preferred loaf shape on a lightly floured surface
• Transfer to a proofing basket for about 1-2 hours, with the top of the loaf face down
• About 30 minutes before you plan to bake your bread, preheat your oven to 450 degrees, with your empty Dutch oven in it
• Flip your loaf out of the proofing basket and onto parchment paper, score using a bread lame
• Add dough to the pre-heated Dutch oven and place back into the oven for 30 minutes, with the lid on
• Remove the lid and bake for another 15-20 minutes until bread begins to turn golden brown
• Enjoy!

Notes

• If you do not have a proofing basket, a bowl with a floured towel will work just as well for you.
• While this is one of the hardest parts of bread baking, be patient both through the entire process and upon pulling your bread out of the oven. Bread will slice nicely after it has cooled down first.