Bairdell Sourdough Starter Bread Loaf
This is my grandmother's recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Sourdough starter
- 5 1/2 cups Flour
- 2 1/2 cups Warm water
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1/3 cup Honey
- Olive oil for pans (plus extra for hands for handling dough)
Instructions
- Combine starter, 2 cups of warm water and 3 cups of flour. Mix well and put in a large glass bowl and allow to rise 6-12 hours.
- With a wooden spoon, stir dough. It should be very sticky and elastic. Pour into mixer with a dough hook attached. Add 2 cups of flour and 1/2 cup warm water along with the salt and honey. In small increments, add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour, being careful not to form a stiff dough. The dough should be wet and sticky. It will be ready when it is still very sticky, but is no longer sticking to the edge of the bowl.
- Prepare either a flat surface or large bowl lightly coated with olive oil.
- Pour dough into the bowl or flat surface and cover with a kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size, between 4-8 hours.
- Once dough has doubled in size, punch down for 2-3 minutes. Dough will not be sticky, but should handle easily with your hands. Evenly divide dough into 2 pieces.
- Prepare 2 loaf pans lightly coated with olive oil. Form each dough piece into the shape of the loaf pan. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size, at least 1 -2 hours.
- Slash the tops of the loaf pans with a knife.
- Preheat oven to 425* F. Bake each loaf for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before removing. Wait to slice until completely cool for a more perfect slicing experience. But, if you can't wait to eat a slice, go ahead and do it while it's warm and enjoy a perfectly delicious imperfectly cut slice.