Impress your family and guests this fall with this Artisan Sourdough Boule. This effortless bread is sure to become a family favorite! It makes the perfect companion to your favorite fall soup.
I have a confession to make; I have owned my sourdough starter for about six years now and I had never before made an artisan bread. Why? Well, because it looked so fancy I was sure it must be hard to make! I had the wrong assumption that I would need macaron-making level skills. I am here to assure you I was wrong. Rest assured that if a mother of five almost six little ones can make this amazing artisan boule so can you!
Sourdough Starter
The first thing you will need is a bubbly or active sourdough starter. This might sound intimidating but once again it is quite a simple ingredient that I enjoy having on hand. If you want a more detailed how-to on starting a starter here is a post about it.
Getting Started
Start by feeding your starter at least a couple of hours before you start your dough. How long it takes for the starter to bubble or become active will depend on how warm your kitchen is.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of active starter
- 4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups of water
- 2 tsp salt
How to make Artisan Sourdough Boule
Add the cup of active sourdough starter to a large bowl. To this, you are going to add the 4 cups of all-purpose flour and 2 tsp salt, do not mix yet. Add 1 1/4 cup warm water. If your house is warm or its summer time I use room-temperature water to slow down the fermentation process. Mix well it should feel like a really thick batter or a very loose and shaggy sticky dough.
Now we wait. Cover your mixture and let it sit for about half an hour.
After about 30 minutes you will do your first stretch and pull. All you have to do is stretch the dough. Pull the dough from the edge stretch and bring it to the center do that about eight times while doing one-quarter turns around your bowl; that is one round. You will do this every 15 minutes for 4 rounds.
Bulk Rise
Your dough should have gone from shaggy and disintegrated to smooth and stretchy. Now it is time to cover it up and let it rise until it doubles in size. Anywhere from 8 to 24 hours. If your house is warm in the summer like mine is I recommend doing this in the fridge overnight to prevent over fermenting.
Shape the artisan sourdough boule loaf
The next day punch the dough down and make it into a nice round ball by pulling and stretching like you did before.
Place the dough into a bannenton basket that has been lined and floured. Be generous with the flour to prevent sticking. Make sure you place the boule seems side up.
Second Rise
Allow the dough to once again until it mostly doubles in size for about 2 to 4 hours.
Prepare the Oven
Heat up a Dutch Oven at 500 degrees for about an hour. Why a Dutch Oven? You want to create lots of steam to get that classic crusty exterior. If you do not have a Dutch Oven you can opt to put a tray with ice cubes in the oven to create a lot of steam as you bake the bread.
Next, sprinkle some cornmeal on the now-risen boule and gently turn it over some parchment paper.
Using a very sharp knife or a bread knife score the bread.
Slowly lift the parchment paper and place the boule into the preheated Dutch oven including the parchment paper. Use caution it will be very hot. Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and reduce heat to 425 and bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes.
Enjoy your artisan sourdough boule
Voila! take the bread out of the oven and allow to cool! You will be tempted to dig in but it is much better to wait.
Easy Artisan Sourdough Boule
Ingredients
- 1 cup of active starter
- 4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups of water
- 2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Start by feeding your starter at least a few hours before so it is nice and active by the time you start.
- To a large bowl add one cup of active starter, four cups of flour, two tsp salt, and one and a quarter cup of water. Mix well. The dough will be shaggy-looking and not elastic at all. Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes uncover and do the first round of stretching. To stretch the dough start at an edge and pull up and press to the middle. Go around the bowl. doing the same process. Repeat 3 more times that is one round.
- Rest for 15 minutes and then repeat the stretching. Do this 3 more times.
- Bulk rise for 6 to 8 hours or until doubled in size. You can also put it in the fridge overnight for a slower rise if your kitchen is too warm. The longer you let the dough ferment the easier it is to digest but it will also be tangier in taste.
- When you are ready or the dough has at least doubled in size; punch the dough down and shape it into a nice ball. Use plenty of flour to prevent sticking.
- Place the boule seem side up into a prepared breadproofing basket also known as a bannenton basket. Prepare the basket by sprinkling plenty of flour on the liner if using one or directly to the basket to prevent sticking when you are ready to flip it over.
- Proof bread until doubled in size about another 2- 4 hours
- Once doubled or mostly doubled, (the boule might not look that much bigger but I promise you that it is working) sprinkle corn meal and flip into parchment paper.
- Score the bread and gently and carefully place it into the preheated Dutch oven. Cover and bake for about 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes lower the temperature to 450 and uncover the bread. Bake for 35 more minutes.
- Check the color to see if it is ready. if it is pull out of the oven and allow to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- While this is an easy recipe it will not be ready the same day unless you start in the morning so some planning ahead is required.
- You do not need a mixer to make this recipe which makes it a great starter bread recipe.
- The longer you ferment the easier it is for your body to digest the bread however there is such thing as over fermenting.
Pin it for Later
Leave a Reply