THE BEST ARTISAN SOURDOUGH BREAD RECIPE

This is the absolute best artisan sourdough bread recipe. It’s the recipe I make any time I’m needing or wanting any type of bread. It’s super easy, looks beautiful, and turns out sooo tasty every time!

The artisan loaf is the classic, beautiful sourdough bread that has the beautiful designs, golden ear, and the perfect crunch.

We actually eat this bread nearly every single week – it’s that good!

We love it as avocado toast, dunked in soups and chili, served with a salad, and my husband loves a late night snack with a slice covered in Nutella.

Whatever we don’t eat throughout the week, I just toss in the freezer and take out as needed. And it still comes out tasting delicious!

Artisan Sourdough Bread Ingredients:

My mom gifted me my sourdough starter back in 2021 and scribbled down a recipe similar to this one. I added what I had in my own pantry, modified it a little, and now I love how this recipe turns out.

This recipe actually ended up being my very first sourdough creation ever – and I still use it every week!

• 265g water
• 150g active starter
• 500g bread flour
• 25g Avocado oil
• 10g Himalayan salt

As a reminder, this recipe calls for active starter – here’s some helpful links if you need a refresher!

Easy Sourdough Starter Feed Schedule for Beginners and How to Feed Your Sourdough Starter

Pro tip: I usually feed my starter two nights before I plan to bake my loaf. If I don’t get around to making my dough the following night, I leave my fed starter in the fridge for 1-3 days and can still use it on this recipe (or any other recipe that requires active starter) any time within that 1-3 days. If I still don’t get to it by the third day, I count it as discard and start over with re-feeding my starter to make it “active” again.

How to Mix Your Dough:

Now the fun part, we get to actually make the dough – so long as you have active starter ready to be used!

I use my Nutrimill Artiste Mixer which I absolutely love, but you don’t need any fancy equipment and can mix with your hands in a large bowl if you’re just getting started.

Honestly, this recipe is super easy. Measure out all the ingredients – I use a food scale for ease. Then mix all the ingredients in a bowl or your mixer.

I let my mixer run on level 1-2 for roughly 4-6 minutes, but you can knead by hand for the same about of time or until the dough is thoroughly mixed.

I know my dough is ready when I press my finger gently into the dough and when I remove my finger, the dough slowly springs back up again.

How to Shape Your Dough:

• Perform one round of quarter stretch and folds in a large bowl
• Pro tip: Check out my How to Stretch, Fold, and Shape Your Sourdough post here!
• Cover with a damp tea towel or bowl cover and let rest for 45min – 1 hour
• Perform another round of quarter stretch and folds
• Let sit for another 45min-1 hour
• Depending on the consistency of your dough, you may need to repeat this process another 1-2 times. The dough will eventually get to a thicker consistency and you won’t be able to stretch it anymore. Then you know your dough is ready to shape
• Take the dough out and place it on the counter
• Place your hands cupping the dough and pull towards yourself at an angle, allowing the dough to build tension against the surface of the counter
• Perform this technique roughly 4-8 times until your dough is in a nice ball shape
• Place dough back in a large, covered bowl in the fridge for at least an hour (or for as long as you need until you’re ready to bake)

How to Bake Your Dough:

• Preheat your oven to 425deg F (I do NOT preheat my dutch oven)
• Take your dough out of the fridge roughly 15-20 minutes before baking
• Reshape your dough as needed and place on parchment paper
• Score and design your dough — see my How to Make Beautiful Designs
• Place your dough in your Dutch Oven or other cooking alternative, and place 1-2 ice cubes inside
• Bake with the lid on for 20 minutes on 425deg F
• Remove the lid and make for another 40 minutes on 425deg F

• Pro tip: When I remove the lid, I make another deep cut right on the border of the ear so that it continues to rise and get a really good lip on the top of my loaf.
• Ensure that the internal temperature of your bread is roughly 205-210deg F
• Let rest for an hour and then slice and enjoy!

Hope this recipe serves you as well as it does for me and my family! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments.