Farmhouse Kitchen Recipe: Simple Sourdough Starter Guide + Farmhouse Sourdough Bread

Ashley Marie Farm and Bakery is a small homestead in Mid West Michigan where we hope to pass down a love of crafting good food and good land with our own hands. We chose to share this recipe with you because historically when packaged yeast was not available our ancestors would turn to their sourdough starters to bring fresh, tasty bread to the table. This is the loaf we bake weekly for our children to enjoy. It is perfect for toast, sandwiches, or just slathered with butter fresh from the oven!

Simple Sourdough Starter Guide

Ingredients

½ cup flour

½ cup water

Instructions

Place the flour and water in a quart mason jar or equivalent sized container, stir until well mixed. Cover with a loose lid and leave at room temperature for approximately 8 hours.
After 8 hours, scoop out approximately half of the flour/water mixture and compost or throw it in the garbage. Then again add ½ cup water and ½ cup flour to the remaining mixture in the jar. Cover and leave for another 8 hours.
Repeat the discarding of half of the mixture and feeding it more flour and water every 8 hours for approximately 3 to 5 days.
After about 3 to 5 days your starter should be rising to double it’s size, have bubbles, and smell slightly sour or yeasty. This is when you know it is ready to be used. If it isn’t there yet, continue feeding it (be sure to discard half before feeding!) until it is doubling and bubbly.
Once your starter is doubling and bubbly consistently, you may place it in the fridge until you are ready to bake with it, taking it out 8 hours beforehand and feeding it. Or you can bake the Farmhouse Sourdough Bread recipe that follows.

Farmhouse Sourdough Bread

Serving: Makes 2 Loaves

Prep Time: 1 hour active, up to 20 hours inactive

Cook Time: 20 to 30 Minutes

Ingredients

1¾ cup milk

4 tablespoon sugar

4 tablespoon butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

3½ cup bread or all purpose flour

¾ cup sourdough starter

Instructions

Place all ingredients into a large bowl. Mix thoroughly until all ingredients are incorporated and you have a shaggy dough.
Cover and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
After the rest period, knead in the bowl by folding the dough in half over onto itself for about 5 to 10 minutes. It will be a bit sticky, do not add more flour.
Cover and let rest again for 20 to 30 minutes.
Next dump the dough onto an un-floured counter and knead again for 5 to 10 minutes. It should be less sticky now and leave a mostly clean counter. It should ever so slightly stick to your fingers. If it is still very sticky, let it rest and knead again.
Place the dough back into the bowl, cover and let rise until double in size for about 8 to 10 hours.
Once doubled dump dough out onto a floured surface and divide in half.
Shape the two halves of dough into logs then place into two lightly greased 8”x10” bread pans. Cover with plastic or place in a plastic bag and let rise again until double, for about 8 to 10 hours.
When the loaves have risen to about 1/2” over the top of the bread pan, preheat the oven to 375*F.
Once oven is preheated place loaves in the oven and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes then remove from bread pans to finish cooling. Enjoy!

Want to try your hand at making and baking more sourdough recipes? You can find Ashley Marie online practicing the traditional craft of making sourdough EVERYTHING along perfecting the art of Healthy, Simple, Sustainable Living!!

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