13 Sourdough Bread Recipes For Home Bakers • Heartbeet Kitchen (2024)

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By Amanda Paa – Updated November 7, 2023

5 from 5 votes

6 comments

If you're looking for delicious sourdough bread recipes, start here! From a basic sourdough for beginners, to Jalapeno Cheese Loaf, and a Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich bread, there are so many great options for using your sourdough starter. Each recipe has step-by-step instructions to help you learn how to make beautiful sourdough at home.

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Your sourdough starter is active and bubbly, and you’re ready to bake! These 10 sourdough bread recipes are a wonderful place to begin, yielding delicious loaves. Here you’ll find everything from my Everyday Sourdough to a unique Dill Pickle Sourdough, Spelt Sourdough, and Toasted Walnut & Honey Sourdough Bread. Plus a recipe for Rustic Rye Sourdough at the bottom of this post!

What is a sourdough starter?

A sourdough starter is a mixture of flour (I use organic all-purpose) and filtered water that has captured and cultivated wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria from the environment. It is used to naturally leaven bread and other baked goods, giving them a distinctive sour flavor and helping them rise. Sourdough bread is known for its unique taste and texture, which is achieved through the fermentation of these microorganisms.

Even though I’ve been baking for quite some time, the magic of sourdough never gets old. The idea that beautiful homemade bread emerges from three simple ingredients: flour, water, and salt is fascinating.

As you get started, here are my favorite sourdough tools:

In each recipe, I’ve included step-by-step instructions to guide you on your baking journey. If you’re new to baking sourdough, you might find my Sourdough Starter FAQ helpful.

If you’re a sourdough beginner, or you’re advanced baker, you’re sure to to find an artisan sourdough bread in this list that you’ll love. With each bake you’ll learn new things, and find a sourdough process that works best in your kitchen.

13 Sourdough Bread Recipes For Home Bakers • Heartbeet Kitchen (2)

1

Delicious Everyday Sourdough Bread Recipe

A naturally fermented sourdough bread that has a fluffy interior and golden brown crust. This is a great recipe for sourdough beginners, and walks you through the entire process of making a basic sourdough bread.

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13 Sourdough Bread Recipes For Home Bakers • Heartbeet Kitchen (3)

2

Rustic Rye Sourdough Bread

A light rye sourdough bread with a soft crumb that you can make at home with active sourdough starter. Wonderful flavor and perfect for making rye sandwiches!

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Easy Whole Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Soft and tender whole wheat sourdough sandwich bread that's easy to make with an overnight bulk fermentation. And the stand mixer does all the kneading for you, no stretching and folding!

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13 Sourdough Bread Recipes For Home Bakers • Heartbeet Kitchen (5)

4

Top-Rated Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough Bread

This homemade sourdough bread has cheddar cheese and pickled jalapeños folded into the dough that give it fabulous flavor! The loaf is a little spicy with pockets of melted cheese.

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13 Sourdough Bread Recipes For Home Bakers • Heartbeet Kitchen (6)

5

Homemade Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread (beginner friendly)

A basic recipe for naturally fermented, whole wheat sourdough bread. Using a blend of whole wheat with bread flour and all purpose flour give the loaf a nice structure with tender crumb, and nutty flavor.

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13 Sourdough Bread Recipes For Home Bakers • Heartbeet Kitchen (7)

6

Dill Pickle Sourdough Bread

This sourdough bread has chopped dill pickles, pickle brine, and dill mixed into the dough for incredible flavor! Soft crumb, golden crust. Uses active sourdough starter and an overnight cold retard makes this recipe convenient to make.

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13 Sourdough Bread Recipes For Home Bakers • Heartbeet Kitchen (8)

7

Toasted Walnut and Honey Sourdough Bread

A delicious sourdough bread recipe that is lightly sweetened with honey and studded with toasted walnuts. The crumb is soft and the flavor is incredible! Naturally leavened with sourdough starter.

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Simple Spelt Sourdough Bread

Made with whole-grain spelt flour, this sourdough bread has the most delicious nutty flavor and soft, chewy crumb. The outside is crisp and beautifully golden brown.

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13 Sourdough Bread Recipes For Home Bakers • Heartbeet Kitchen (10)

9

Easy Seeded Sourdough Bread Recipe

Add extra flavor and nutrition to sourdough by folding in toasted pepita and sesame seeds. It's an easy technique, folding in the seeds during the stretch and folds. The finished loaf has a golden crust and soft, chewy crumb.

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13 Sourdough Bread Recipes For Home Bakers • Heartbeet Kitchen (11)

10

Using active sourdough starter, you'll make the tastiest loaf of Sun-Dried Tomato & Cheddar Sourdough, with pockets of cheese and pops of sweet-tart tomatoes in each bite!

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13 Sourdough Bread Recipes For Home Bakers • Heartbeet Kitchen (12)

11

Whole Grain Sourdough Bread with Red Fife Flour

A naturally fermented sourdough bread recipe made with red fife flour, which is a heritage wheat. The mild, nutty flavor is fantastic!

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13 Sourdough Bread Recipes For Home Bakers • Heartbeet Kitchen (13)

12

Tart Cherry Seeded Sourdough Bread

Homemade sourdough bread with a poppyseed and sunflower seed crust, and dried tart cherries folded into the dough. The flavor is dynamite.

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13 Sourdough Bread Recipes For Home Bakers • Heartbeet Kitchen (14)

13

5-Ingredient Einkorn Sourdough Bread

This healthy loaf of homemade einkorn sourdough is full of deep, rich flavor and has a golden brown crust. It's absolutely perfect for toast, with smaller holes and soft crumb. The tang from the natural fermentation and sourdough starter is lovely, too!

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13 Sourdough Bread Recipes For Home Bakers • Heartbeet Kitchen (15)

13 Sourdough Bread Recipes for Home Bakers, plus Rye Sourdough

A homemade rye sourdough bread recipe, made with active sourdough starter. Plus, 13 more tasty sourdough bread recipes for home bakers!

5 from 5 votes

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Prep Time :10 minutes minutes

Cook Time :45 minutes minutes

Yield: 1 loaf

Author: Amanda Paa

SCALE:

Ingredients

  • 55 grams active sourdough starter
  • 280 grams slightly warmer than room temperature water, about 80 degrees F
  • 15 grams honey
  • 100 grams fine rye flour
  • 260 grams bread flour
  • 40 grams whole wheat flour
  • 7 grams fine salt

Instructions

  • Before beginning, it will be helpful to watch theseSHORT VIDEOSto see me make this bread so you see that the dough will be stickier than normal, but it will come together – you just have to trust!

  • Add starter, water, and honey to a bowl. Whisk thoroughly until combined, with a fork. Add flours, and mix together first with the fork to start to incorporate, then with your hands until a shaggy dough is formed, and the bits of flour left just disappear. Sprinkle the salt on top and do not mix in, just leave it on top. Cover with a damp cloth.

  • Autolyse: let dough sit for one hour, covered and undisturbed.

  • Bulk ferment: Now you will knead the salt that is sitting on top, into the dough for about 1 min 15 seconds. There is no precise way to do this, just think of working the dough through your hands and up against the bowl, push and pull. You will start to feel the dough relax a bit around 1 minute. Continue for about 15 or 30 seconds more. Then leave the dough alone, covered, for 30 minutes. This counts as what would be your first set of stretch and folds.

  • After those 30 minutes pass, perform a set ofstretch and folds. Repeat 2 more times.

  • Now you will let sit, undisturbed and covered with a damp cloth, for about 7ish hours at 70 degrees F. If the temperature in your home is above 70, this will take less time, vice versa. You will know it is finished with its bulk ferment when the dough has risen about double, is smooth and puffy on top, with a few bubbles. It will not be as jiggly as some sourdough you’ve made before.

  • At this point, lightly dust your work surface with flour. Put dough onto the work surface, and pre-shape.This videowill show you what that means. Let sit for 15 minutes on your work surface.

  • Then shape your dough,using this method as a guide.

  • Place dough into your flour dustedbanneton, (or flour dusted linen lined banneton) seam side up. (Optional, you can wait 15 minutes after placing it in banneton, and pinch the perimeters of the dough into the center to hold the shape even more, called stitching.) The dough will now go through its final rise. You can do this on the counter, which will take about 2 hours at 70 degrees F for the dough to puff up and be jiggly. It will not quite double. OR you can do the final rise overnight in the refrigerator, with the banneton covered in a plastic bag or with a very damp cloth. You need this for holding moisture in.

  • Time to bake. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F, with your dutch oven preheating inside the oven. When the oven is preheated, flip your dough out gently onto parchment paper and score your dough. If you did the final rise in the refrigerator, take it straight from fridge to scoring. You should score it cold, and DO NOT need to let it come to room temp.

  • Then put dough into the dutch oven on the parchment, and put cover on. Turn oven down to 450 degrees F and slide dutch oven in. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove cover.

  • Turn heat down to 430 degrees F, and bake for 25 more minutes, until crust is golden brown and crackly. Remove from oven, and remove bread from dutch oven and place onto a cooling rack.

  • Wait AT LEAST one hour to cool otherwise, the interior will be gummy.

13 Sourdough Bread Recipes For Home Bakers • Heartbeet Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

Is homemade sourdough bread heart healthy? ›

Sourdough bread's fiber, potassium, phosphorus, and sodium content all support a heart-healthy diet. The soluble fiber found in sourdough bread binds to dietary cholesterol in the small intestine, helping pass this fat through the system instead of absorbing it.

What is the secret to sourdough bread? ›

The secret to sourdough is simple: water. The more water you add to your dough will affect how open the crumb (bigger holes and softer texture) will be once it's baked.

Is it cheaper to bake your own sourdough bread? ›

So if you look solely at the ingredients, it is cheaper to make your own sourdough. But if you bring other factors into it - it might not be as cheap. This post aims to show you how you can bake a classic sourdough loaf with a little work and no fancy equipment.

How long does homemade sourdough bread last on the counter? ›

I'll share my tips on the best way to store sourdough and a plan on the best way to eat it too. Sourdough bread will keep well for up to 3-5 days at a moderate room temperature of 18-20°C or 64-68°F. The warmer and more humid the conditions become, the more chance the sourdough has of spoiling.

What is the healthiest flour for sourdough bread? ›

Compared to whole wheat flour, rye flour is said to be the most nutrient- and amylase-dense option for a sourdough starter. Overall, it has a lower gluten protein content than wheat flour, which means it produces slack, sticky, and dense doughs.

Is it OK to eat sourdough bread everyday? ›

Is it healthy to eat sourdough everyday? You could eat sourdough every day, but it isn't necessarily healthy to do so. A healthy diet is characterized by balance and moderation. Whether or not it is healthy for you to consume sourdough every day depends on the rest of your diet.

What is the best flour for sourdough bread? ›

Whole wheat flour is an excellent choice for creating a sourdough starter due to its nutrient-rich composition and potential for fostering a robust microbial community. However, it's important to note that the quality of whole wheat flour can vary between brands.

Why do you put vinegar in sourdough bread? ›

In fact the acidity is a dough conditioner that softens the texture of whole grains and makes the bread more pliable. Hack: apple cider vinegar. I often add about a tablespoon of ACV to bread as a dough conditioner.

What is the best flour for sourdough starter? ›

The best flour blend for creating a new sourdough starter is 50% whole-meal flour (whole wheat or whole rye) and 50% bread flour or all-purpose flour. I recommend a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and bread flour. Why do you need to use these two types of flour?

Is bread flour or plain flour better for sourdough? ›

Bakers all over the world insist on using bread flour to create incredible homemade sourdough bread. It's prized for its high protein and gluten content, which typically gives sourdough bread recipes a lofty, high rise.

Is it better to use bread flour for sourdough? ›

In a nutshell, these are the benefits of using high-protein white bread flour: Provides extra structure and support to a dough. Makes a dough that better handles long fermentation times before breakdown. Gives the final product a taller rise and more volume.

Will a bakery sell sourdough starter? ›

If you want to purchase a starter, I would recommend: Asking at your local bakery (this is a good idea because the starter will be liquid so you don't have to hydrate it, and it will be a local starter). Purchase from a reputable baking company, rather than a random Etsy seller.

When should you not eat sourdough bread? ›

It is edible for around 3 days. Between days 3 to 5 it would need to be toasted or warmed before consuming. After day 5 your sourdough bread would be stale (but not moldy).

Can I leave sourdough discard out overnight? ›

I left my sourdough discard out at room temperature for a few days. Is it okay? As long as your kitchen isn't too warm (I'd say 78°F or higher) your starter/discard will be fine stored at room temperature for at least a few days without feeding. The flavor will get more acidic the longer it sits.

Can you use sourdough discard the next day? ›

You can store sourdough discard in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. It's fine to leave it on the counter for up 24 hours, however if you aren't planning to use it straight away it's always better to store it in the fridge.

Is sourdough bread good for heart patients? ›

May reduce the risk of heart disease

Typically, diets high in fibre are associated with a lower risk of heart disease. Sourdough appears to offer additional benefits thanks to the natural fermentation process these benefits are enhanced when wholegrain rye flour is used.

What is the healthiest bread for heart patients? ›

Whole-grain breads are good sources of nutrients that help maintain a healthy immune system. They also provide dietary fiber that can help improve cholesterol levels and lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

Is home baked sourdough bread healthy? ›

All types of sourdough are relatively healthy, says Largeman-Roth, but the healthiest type of bread — sourdough or otherwise — is whole wheat or whole grain. Whole-grain bread is made with flour containing the entire wheat kernel.

Is homemade sourdough bread high in sodium? ›

Sourdough bread should have between 1% and 2% salt. In a 1kg loaf that would be 10–20 grams.

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