Sour Dough Bread

Sourdough Starter

Years ago a friend gave me a recipe for making homemade bread that was easy and convenient to have on hand everyday.  Not only did the starter make great everyday bread but could also make delicious homemade sweet rolls, coffee cake, apple and blueberry braids, etc.

To make the starter mix together:

3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp. instant potato flakes
1 cup warm water
1/4 tsp. active yeast (this is optional)


Let the mixture sit on your counter or in a warm area of your home for about 3 days. Every 3 – 5 days you need to feed your starter. This means that every 3 – 5 days you can make your bread. Or, you can feed it once or twice before baking your bread. If you feed it more than once, you will have extra starter to either give away to a friend or bake extra batches of bread.
The day (8 – 12 hours) before you want to bake your bread, you need to feed the starter. You will feed the starter the above mixture except you do not add the yeast. Keep your starter in a warm place to allow it to “grow” and sour. On the days you are not baking bread, you can leave it in the refrigerator or on your counter. Putting it in fridge slows the sourdough down.


To make the bread:

1/3 cup sugar (this optional, but I like to add it)
1 1/2 cup warm water
6 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup starter
1 tbsp. salt

Mix all the ingredients together into a smooth rounded ball.  Then place this ball of dough in a bowl.  Toss the ball around in about a tablespoon of oil and cover.  Let rise in a warm spot for about 8 hours.

After this, punch down dough and knead just enough to get out the air bubbles.  Divide dough into about three balls and place into bread pans if you are making just bread, or you can also spilt the batch and make some sweet breads as well.

Let rise for another 5+ hours and then bake at 350 degrees for about 35-45 minutes.  I tend to underbake mine slightly to have a thicker density.
1 tbsp. yeast (optional – the bread will rise higher)