Baking the Sour Dough Bread.

Have you been feeding your sour dough bread starter? I hope so. I seem to have forgotten I was posting about this and didn’t give the recipe for finally making some of the best bread you’ll ever eat. Forgive me? Thanks.

On one of the days you feed your starter and after you’ve let it sit out for 8-12 hours you’re ready to make up a batch of bread.

In a large bowl (I’m talking really large here!) add the following ingredients IN THIS ORDER:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 cups of Bread Flour (I found that Pillsbury Bread Flour works best)
• 1/2 c corn oil
• 1 1/2 c warm water
• 1 c of your starter (this should leave you with a cup that you can put back in the fridge and continue to feed as scheduled)

Mix all this until it forms a dough ball. You may have to get in there with your hands, it’s definitely more fun that way. Once that’s mixed, pour a little corn oil over the top of the bowl.Cover the bowl loosely with aluminum foil. Let this sit in a warm place for 8-12 hours. For all my fellow night oils, I time it out so that I can make up the dough and let it sit overnight.
After the 8-12 hours is up, you’ll notice your dough has risen to the top of your bowl or at least gotten waaay larger in size. If, for some reason, the dough hasn’t reason then you may have a yeast problem.
Punch this down and knead just a little. Then divide the dough into 3 loaf pans.
Let these sit and rise 4-5 hours.

When they are ready to pop in the oven, cook these bad boys at 325 for 35-45 minutes.

Tip: Right after I pull these loaves out of the oven I run butter over the tops of them. It gives them a super nice crust and a great shine. I could go for a slice of this right now.

Jess