Use a good sourdough starter, one you have tended to, for best flavor.
I haven't tried this recipe yet, I just wanted to point out that sourdough starters made in different places have different levels of sour flavor - my starter will taste differently than one made in another state, for example. Therefore, unless you're IN San Fran, you're unlikely to make a sourdough that tastes like San Fran sour; this may explain why some folks think the recipe produces bread that is not sour enough.
Read More This didn't taste like sour dough bread but it DID taste like good white bread. I blame my starter for this b/c it was only 3 days old. I will try it again in a few weeks and report back.
Read More I haven't tried this recipe yet, I just wanted to point out that sourdough starters made in different places have different levels of sour flavor - my starter will taste differently than one made in another state, for example. Therefore, unless you're IN San Fran, you're unlikely to make a sourdough that tastes like San Fran sour; this may explain why some folks think the recipe produces bread that is not sour enough.
Unfortunatly, my established starter was dumped down the drain by a well meaning daughter-in-law so this was made with a newly established starter. It only had a mild "tang" but I would suspect that was because of my immature starter. The texture of the bread was awesome. If you spray water on your oven walls a few times in the first few minutes of baking,the steam will encourage a thicker and crustier crust. It also helps to put a shallow pan containing water on the bottom rack and leave it during baking. This makes lovely loaves and can't wait to try it when I have a good strong starter. Thanks for the recipe, Donna!
As usual, I'll share my KitchenAid Mixer version. My starter is 20 years old and came from King Arthur Flour. Several times it has been put to sleep by dehydrating and reawakened. The current one is only 4 weeks old. The day before I bakes I took 3/4 cup of starter from the fridge and added 3/4 cup warm water and 1 cup AP flour. Set it 6 feet from my wood stove and let it awake overnight. I now had a bubbly 2 cups of starter. Followed the directions to end of sentence in line one (except reserved the salt and used only 1 tbs sugar) and then into the mixer bowl with the dough hook. Added 1 cup flour at a time until I hit 4 cups of flour and then slow speed for 6 minutes. Turned the dough out onto my lightly floured bread board and l inverted the bowl over the top for 20 minutes. This 1st rest period is called the autolyse. Remove the bowl, flatten out the dough with your hands, and sprinkle about 1/2 the salt over it. Begin kneading the salt into the dough. After a few turns, sprinkle on the rest of the salt and continue to knead for 2 to 4 minutes, until the salt is completely incorporated and the dough is soft and smooth. When done with step 3...try this variation. Instead of chopped onion I VERY thinly slice an onion and sautee w/ butter and 1 tbs fresh thyme for 8 minutes. Even though it may look like lots use it all sprinkled over the top of the bread, then bake as timed. The tips may blacken but the taste is awesome. I do not do an egg wash with the thyme/onion mixture.
I used the "Sourdough Starter" by Esther Nelson, from this website. I replaced 1-1/4c of the bread flour with 1c of King Arthur Whole Wheat White Flour (for healthier bread), and 1/4c of vital wheat gluten (to help with rising). I used butter rather than margarine. And rather than an egg/water wash, I brushed butter on the loaves after they were done baking, and omitted the onion topping this time. I formed this into two baguettes. They had a distinct sourdough flavor, and a great texture with a good crusty crust and soft inside! Thanks so much, Donna!
First, a reminder....sourdough sour taste depends on YOUR STARTER, not the bread recipe. Mine is only week old, still a baby. Another reminder....you need to let your starter get to room temp and to PROOF before using. I let mine sit proofing/fermenting for about 6-8 hours before using each time. Then start the bread recipe As for the bread.........yum! Followed the ingredients, except didn't have onions. Egg and water go together to make a wash, don't add to recipe. Used my stand mixer to stir and knead, made a round loaf and an oval loaf, slashed the top with a razor blade before the second rise, cornmeal sprinkled on parchment paper instead of oiled pan. Also put a pie pan, half full of water, on the bottom rack of the oven during baking. This should be put in during the preheat time to allow steam to build up. Started checking for doneness at about 25 mins. Loaf size can reduce/increase baking times Straight to cooling racks when taken out to prevent sogginess. Bread was wonderful!! Great texture, great crust. Can't wait to try it again as the starter matures.
Excellent sourdough bread. Makes wonderful croutons. Used the "Sourdough Starter II" recipe for starter.
This is by far the best sourdough bread I've made. I place sesame seeds on top instead of chopped onion, it's great!
This didn't taste like sour dough bread but it DID taste like good white bread. I blame my starter for this b/c it was only 3 days old. I will try it again in a few weeks and report back.
I really don't know how to rate this bread. I made it per the directions with the exception of using AP flour instead of bread flour and butter in the place of margarine. I also used only an egg wash on top; no onions. This bread turned out amazingly good. I think that as a sourdough it probably flunks. It wasn't very sour, which I attribute to using a relatively young starter. Also, although the egg wash produced a lovely presentation the bread was in no way crusty like a true sourdough. It had a nice chewy crust and a super tender crumb. I made three small baguettes and baked them after the second rise. I formed the rest of the dough into 24 rolls, slashed the tops and froze on a baking sheet. When they were solid I put them in a zipper bag. I can take out any number I need, let them thaw and rise and bake. I've now made wonderful fresh, hot rolls with a minimum of effort and just a little forethought. What made these a real winner for me was that the rolls and bread were so good on the second day. Lots of yeast bread recipes are good coming out of the oven but the real test is how good they are the next day. These were just as good - still tender and delicious. All in all a great recipe I plan to use often.
Since the 1st time I made this recipe, I've been getting requests from friends, family, and neighbors to make more. Its gotten to the point that I'll have 3 different starters at all times in my kitchen. I make about 8 loaves a week using this recipe. So far, I've found that using an electric mixer when adding the milk/butter and then (seperately) again when adding the starter makes for a "spongier" and more well together bread. When mixing in the additional flour, I substitute 1 cup of whole wheat flour for added flavor. For the egg wash, I use both the yolk and whites from the egg and add a teaspoon of salt, then blend the egg/salt just until smooth. Brush (do not use spoon) the wash onto the final bread. Using this wash technique has produced the best results so far and provides a nice crispy texture to the crust. Spray down the sides of the oven with water just before baking to get a thicker crust.
I think I have made nearly every sourdough bread on this website. THIS one is the winner, hands down. I have made it over and over, and it always yields a perfect loaf of bread, crisp on the outside but light and fluffy inside. If you have been searching for the perfect sourdough recipe, your search ends here!
The bread was good! I am new to sourdough so my started needed to be a little better. The recipe was easy and tasty! I'd definitly recomend it.
For the folks who aren't getting "sour enough" bread... it is most likely your starter and not this recipe! Starters get more sour with age. If you want to help this along, add 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water every other day to your starter for 7 days. On the 8th day you will have enough starter to make a big batch of bread or you can give starters to friends. This will help jump start the "souring" of your starter. I used this recipe with my 100+ year old starter and it was great! Excellent sourness but not to the bitter point, great crust, and for a change I like to put kosher salt and rosemary on top instead of onions. Happy Baking Everyone
After got my starter right this bread turned out fantastic. Gave it to my mom for Moms Day
Love everything about this recipe, except for one thing: I can't add nearly the amount of flour the recipe specifies! Maybe it is a matter of how wet your sour dough starter is, but my dough is about right when I've added three cups of bread flour, rather than the 4-3/4 called for in the recipe. I also add two tablespoons of vital wheat gluten, to make the dough rise better and be lighter in texture. Of all the sourdough recipes I've tried, this is the one my family prefers! I did a side-by-side taste test with three different recipes, and every member of my family liked this one best. Great flavor, light texture, nice crust. . . If you are an inexperienced baker, add the flour slowly. If you are using a dough hook, watch for when the dough begins to form a ball around the hook, and cleans the sides of the bowl. If you stop the mixer, it should relax into the bowl, but still hold a shape, rather than look like a stiff batter. Softer doughs will give a more tender bread.
This was a good bread but it didn't taste like sourdough bread and I used a great sourdough starter. If I was to rate this as a white bread then I would give it 5 stars.
Excellent flavor! I made this to go with my potato soup and it was surprisingly chewy on the outside like the sourdough you buy.We will make this a lot!
Moist and delicious.
I think I have just found my signature sourdough bread--this recipe deserves every rave review it has received, and it gets mine also! I used a starter from King Arthur that I've been nurturing and I finally got that good sourdough tang with this loaf. Like Tunisianswife, I used honey to replace the sugar, and like LadyJayPee, I used butter instead of margarine. To reviewer CHRISTYDAWNE, I'm just learning the basics about starters, and I thought starter should take the place of yeast also; but from what I've read, it just takes a lot longer using starter only, and the yeast is supposed to help produce a lighter finished product. My thanks to Donna for sharing this wonderful recipe!
I take three days to make this bread. The first day, I measure out my starter and add 3 TBLS flour, stir (leave it chunky!), and let rest until day two. On day two, I mix up my dough, using water instead of milk, oil instead of butter, 1 full TBLS of salt instead of 2.5 tsp., and I add 1/4 C vital wheat gluten. I use my KA mixer, add all the ingredients except the last 3-ish cups of the flour, and using the paddle beat the out of the batter to get the gluten forming. I add the rest of the flour, knead, put it in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight for a slow rise. On day three, I remove from fridge, form my loaves, let rise, and bake. If I'm feeling extra-adventurous, I form the loaves, cover, and refrigerate them overnight for another slow rise. I don't use the onion or egg wash.
Delicious bread. I only used half of the ingredients and used my bread machine. The result is outstanding. My starter was too young (only 7 days) so I expect the sour taste will get better with time.
This recipe was a descent starting point. Following the recipe exactly was yummy, but with modifications, it can be even better! If you want a bigger cell structure like what you find in SF or in other artisan breads, you want the dough to be kind of goopy so you can barely handle it. After the initial 1 cup, I put around 2 cups instead of the 3.75 is calls for. Don't punch it down! Handle gently to keep the air bubbles. In the morning I let it rise for the suggested hour so it is easier to handle, carefully form it into balls, and let it rise all day tented under a towel so it's ready for dinner. Huge air bubbles throughout, nice and soft, and ready so scoop and soak up my soup! Adding more flour, punching the dough down, and shorter rise time all lead to more dense bread. If that's what you like, disregard this comment. Also, I started using this recipe when I began my starter three months ago. Even when the starter is young and doesn't have much of a funk, this recipe is still good as a not-very-sourdough bread (more like your basic white bread). This recipe is to give the right texture, and YOUR starter is what gives it the right flavor. Once my starter had taken off, I cut out the dry yeast so it wouldn't compete (I think it's included as an insurance policy) and more than halved the sugar to give the bread more oomph. Don't completely cut it out because yeast needs a food source, but 3 Tb is a lot of sweet when you're trying to make sour. 1 Tb will suffice.
I have made biscuits using this recipe and baked them in a seasoned and greased cast iron pan. The crust on the bottom as well as the top have always been a delight. If steam is used you will not get that crust you are looking for (dry heat is better). Rather than round loaves, I make mine oblong. Also, that Sourdough Starter has to get to that essence of 'sourdough' fermentation to truly have the taste one is looking for and each climatical location will have it's own flavor. I have also made this receipe in a bread machine, following manufactures instructions layering each ingredient.
Very good. I halved the recipe to make 1 loaf and followed the ingredients exactly. I did use my bread machine on the dough cycle and then put into a loaf pan and set in oven with bowl of boiling water, for the second rise (for an hour).
This is a great sourdough bread recipe. I will now be the only one I will use. The thing I've found with other recipes is that they are usually good to use as a side with soup or stew, but really not the right texture for sandwiches. This makes great bread for either!!! The starter recipe I used was from this site by Esther and it was only 7 days old when I made my first batch of bread. I followed the instructions exactly in preparing the bread except I used dehydrated onion flakes on the top. I did make a few changes to the way I baked the bread. I put a pan of water on the rack under the bread and I put it in while I preheated the oven to let the oven get nice and steamy. I also scored the top of the bread right before I added the egg wash and onions. I then lightly misted the bread with water before I put it in the oven and then every 10 minutes while it was baking. The result was an amazingly crispy on the outside, soft and tangy on the inside loaf of wonderfulness!!! The first loaf lasted about 3 hours between 3 of us. I just can't say enough good things about this recipe!!
When our local bakery closed leaving me with the only option of driving 45 minutes to get my Sourdough Bread fix, I started searching for recipes. I came across this one and wanted to give it a try. So after growing Sourdough Starter for a week I made this bread today... it was a HIT! I had several friends try it and they all loved it. Cudos to the author!
Ok so i made this twice. first time just the same as the recipe and it was great! second time i decided to play a bit....added tsp. kosher salt.. tbs. garlic powder....1 cup shredded chedder cheese..and chopped pepperoni. AWSOME!!!!! I also create a proof box in my oven by warming it on the lowest setting(170degees) then turn it off and add a sauce pot with boiling water. Let it get all steamy and add your dough. Remove pot before baking but the steam that's left will give your bread a super crust!!! Promise!
Great Sourdough bread! The key to making your bread taste sour and to have that great soft inside, is to let it rise for as long as possible. Try proofing your (tried and true) starter for a day or two and then put together your bread dough and let it sit over night. I like to knead it one more time in the morning and let rise for another few hours and bake the next afternoon. It takes a few steps, but well worth it! Wonderful recipe - Thank you so much!
WOW! This is the best bread i've ever made, even with my starter only being 2 days old. I made 2 hugh round loves. My family was fighting over the last pieces. I didn't use the onions but I did spray a little water in the oven for a crispy crust. I also made an egg wash of 1 egg and 1 teaspoon salt to brush over the top. On one of my loves I slashed the top with a knife before I let it rise the second time and the other one I shashed after the second rise because I didn't know how to do it. The one I slashed before the second rise did better. the other one deflated a bit and didn't look as pretty, now I know.***update** I made this again and this time I kneeded in sundried tomatoes into half the bread and the other half I used garlic cloves cut into 1/4th and They were both so good we had them half gone while they were still warm!
GREAT recipe! I liked it better than the recipe that brewed for 12+ hours! It was not necessarily a traditional sourdough, as it was quite soft and fluffy, but that is what I prefer. I also loved the amount of time it took compared to other recipes. I will definitely try this recipe again once my starter is more established and has more sourdough flavor :)
I had to use 2 cups of starter to get it to pull together, other than that it turned out great. I did omit the onion because true sourdough bread has none. The flavor was excellent. Those people who have said that it did not have a true sourdough flavor should blame their starter not the recipe. If you are working with a young starter, it is not going to have the deep sourdough flavor. My starter is over 25 years old so I found exactly what I was looking for with this recipe. Thanks for sharing, it is a great recipe.
I couldn't wait for this to cool to try it, and I'm in bready goodness heaven! I used the sourdough starter recipe on this site posted by Esther. I know this will only get better as my starter ages. This was not as chewy as what I got at Boudin in San Fran, more light like what they serve at Sear's (wonderful French toast!). Even tho I knew better, I made the dough in the bread machine and it overflowed the pan a bit, so make sure you have a larger than 2 pound machine to do that with this one. Made rounds and baked on a silpat sprinkled with cornmeal. Update: If you cut the recipe back to 18 servings, it fits perfectly in the 2 pound machine, and you can shape it into one really large round, or two smaller loafs to bake.
I made this bread 2 days ago. I followed the recipe to a T when it comes to contents, though I put the bread loaves into 2 bread tins simply because I like the shape. Also, I always leave an extra hour when making bread as I like to have one extra rise, it makes the bread even, light and fluffy. I also spray the oven walls right before and twice during baking with cool water underneath the wire rack. It makes for a crispy crust. These loaves came out wonderful, light, fluffy, and with just the right sourness to them. One thing I regret is having put onion on both as it would have been nice to use one as breakfast toast with preserves!
The bread came out great, made it in 2 loaf pans. I didn't use an eggwash, just brushed it with water when I put it in the oven and brushed it twice more while baking, which gave it a great crunchy crust. Also did not put onions on top.
Ty for sharing this recipe with us at AR. The crust and texture of the bread was perfect! this was the first time I have ever used sourdough and if my starter gets better with age then I say oh my stars!!!!
I love this recipe. I have been using my sourdough starter (amish friendship bread starter) for the past three years. It just gets better every time I make bread. I think the onions on top are very tasty addition.
Dilemma…should I rate this 1 because it does not resemble San Francisco Sourdough at all and I was disappointed, or 5 because it is a nice, very soft and tenderly chewy bread that resembles a very sour buttermilk loaf? All the pictures attached to this recipe verify that the results are uniformly fine grained and smooth, the opposite of SF Sourdough, which has a substantial chewiness, course uneven holes and a very crisp crust. I made this exactly per directions using my 30-year old starter, making it into 2 loaves to take to a birthday/St. Patty’s Day party as a spinach dip bowl with the second loaf cut up for dippers. After the dip and dippers were gone, people hovered around like vultures to grab the remains while I cut up the actual bowl. People loved the bread for itself, making comments that it wasn’t like a typical crunchy sourdough. (This is CA and we get SF Sourdough straight from 1st prize winning SF’s LaBrea Bakery.) So, they liked it. I might make it again and rename it “Soft Sourdough Sandwich Loaf” with some slight changes for my own file. So, a compromise between good taste and failed expectations…I give it a 3.
This was my first time ever baking bread. After lots of research I chose this recipe & the sourdough starter recipe from this site by Esther. My starter was 3 weeks old. I used my kitchenaid mixer so took a lot of tips from the breadguy's review. The bread came out FANTASTIC! If you're using a stand mixer then follow the tips from the breadguy's review. THANKS BREADGUY & DONNA! I'll make this again following the same directions except next time I'll use water instead of milk just to test out the differences. I also left off the onion. I'm not a big fan of onion on bread but it still came out great. My very picky husband & daughter loved it! Oh yes, it was sour. I'm excited to see what it will taste like as the starter ages more.
this was my first attempt at sourdough, very good. Nice buttery flavor with just the right sourness and hint of sweetness (which I love). Nice chewy crust as well.
This bread turned out perfect. I followed the instructions exactly. I am a beginner bread maker. Oh my godness, it turned out perfect! I used the King Arthur sourdough starter, but have fed it with 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 cup bread flour (instead of the instructions it came with). Even my sister was impressed who is an excellent cook and baker! Thank you Donna!
I made this recipe a couple of times and the second time I used one cup of 50/50 wheat flour and put kosher salt on the top after the egg wash. It was spectacular! Thanks for the recipe.
A great recipe, but not for sourdough! It was amazing bread: Very sweet and tasty, but not sour at all (and my starter was well matured and a great in other recipes)!
I have a very established starter and I added some citric acid (1/8 tsp per cup of flour) to give it a more sour taste. I didn't use as much flour but this is dependent on a lot of factors. You just have to add water until you have the right consistency. This recipe was absolutely wonderful!!! I loved it!
Fantastic! I found I actually like it more using half bread flour and half AP flour. We don't use the onions on top, but that's personal preference. Everyone who has tasted this bread loves it!
I also used the same starter recipe, Sourdough II, which was about a week old. I omitted the onions but followed the rest of the recipe. Amazing! It was so delicious! I made one load and other half in rolls. I ate three rolls right out of the oven and had a breakfast sandwich in the morning. Wonderful flavor and texture!
Very good. Light and delicious. I added onions and garlic to the dough as well as on top of it. Made two loaves, gave one to friends and kept one for my husband and myself. Will definitely make this one again!
YUMMMMMMMMMMM!!! MY wife made this and it was good. She put olive oil in for the butter added some garlic and italian seasoning. My 5 boys couldn't get engough the are still asking for her to make more.
this is a great bread. I disagree with other reviewers who said it did not have much of a sourdough taste. Remember your bread is only as good as your starter. I will make this many more times. It makes great toast and great for sandwiches as well. Oh I made it in two loaf pans.
Good bread! I used a new starter (6 days old) so the flavour was not super sour-doughy but still very good. I made one with onions and one without and the one with onions was much more flavourful. Will update if changes with an older or better starter. Thankds for the recipe.
Since I made this on a rainy day, I allowed for two rises before forming it into loaves. It turned out very good, but not very "sour" tasting, like other reviewers stated. Like other reviewers, my starter is new, so I'm hoping with age the flavor will come out. I braided one loaf and the other just left on a baking sheet in the shape of a loaf. The braided one turned out very pretty and golden with the egg wash. One question - I thought the purpose of a starter was to not have to use yeast. Is this not the case? Anyway, this was a very good recipe and made the house smell wonderful on a gloomy day. I look forward to trying it again with a more mature starter.
Just made this (using a two-year old Sourdough Starter II from this site), and my fiance wanted to propose to me again (as he solo-finished the first loaf). Would give it 5 stars, except I did tweak it a tiny bit: used half whole wheat flour and butter and skipped the egg wash and onions. That said, it was an absolutely perfect yeast bread-baking day (hot and humid), and our starter is probably really interesting because we live in a 100 year old house AND we brew beer.
I've made it a few times a few different ways. I had the best results when using the suggestions of other posters: omit yeast, increase starter to 2c, use water not milk, use just the egg white & skip the onion. I like to let it rise all day & punch it down a couple times to build flavor but it also turns out good when you hurry the rise in a warm oven. The sourness depends on your starter but is definitely stronger the next day. It will also be stronger if you don't use freshly fed starter.
I live in the Bay area and this did not come out tasting like sourdough bread. This was a great white bread, but I was disappointed because I fed my starter over the course of two months just for this recipe. I ended up turning these into soup bowls by hollowing out the rounds and coating the inside with provolone cheese before adding the soup. I then heated the rounds in the oven for a few minutes and they came out great.
Regarding a previous comment that your location creates different sour flavors doesn't apply. Starters are usually kept in the refridgerator, not at room temperature. Like others comments, this is a good starter for white bread, but this is not true sour dough.
Used warm water instead of milk, butter instead of margarine, no onions, only egg white with no water for the wash. I sprinkled sea salt onto the wash before placing in the oven. I took the loaf out twice during baking to add more egg wash and spritz the oven with water. Got a really beautiful crust that did not get at all soggy overnight or the following day (laid loaf cut side down on a cutting board, unwrapped). The loaf didn't last longer than that though since it was all eaten! My starter is a couple weeks old but it still had a great flavor. I'm excited to repeat this recipe. ** Edit: the first time I made this recipe I halved it and mixed then kneaded in my standard sized Kitchenaid stand mixer; made one loaf. The second time, I made this with the exact servings for two loaves. There was too much content to appropriately and easily mix and knead in my Kitchenaid. I also made three loaves out of it instead of two. Otherwise it makes a very large artisan loaf. ** Edit 2: I made this dough into rolls and it came out beautifully. 1/2 of the recipe made 8 large rolls. I probably should've tried for 10 smaller rolls instead! I baked them in a greased round cast iron 10-12 minutes @ 400 degrees, no wash. They were wonderful and soft yet slightly browned on the outside.
Finally, a fluffy sour dough bread that is crisp on the outside!! I think my starter needs to get a little more established, but this is the fluffiest bread I've ever made. Through all the research I've done and the little practice I've had, I've learned that making the full amount of the recipe makes a huge difference. Trying to cut it in half did not work as well. The yeast needs to dissolve in warm water, but since this recipe doesn't include water, I just put it in a 1/4 cup of the warmed (100-110 degree) milk and added the rest after letting it dissolve for about ten minutes. And by spraying the oven with a spray bottle a few times while cooking and/or leaving a shallow pan with hot water on it, the steam helps the outside become crispy. I did use butter instead of egg on the outside, and omitted the onions on top. Very good!! And happy to finally not have one issue with the outcome of my bread!!
After 4 days of feeding and taking care of my starter I made my first loaves (rounds) of bread. Without a doubt some of the best bread I have ever made! One round was eaten up in minutes and only me standing guard prevented the other loaf from being eaten up! I think I will be making this bread VERY often. Thank You. If we could we would give it 5++++ stars!
This was good but it tasted more like regular white bread. I made the starter 4 days ago and thought it'd be ready but it wasn't very sour. Any ideas on how to get it more sour?
The first bread I have ever made but do I love it!! Only issue I had was I tried to cut it straight out of the oven and ended up with very dense slices of bread. Need to make sure they cool prior to cutting.
I made this for the first time today. I have never made sourdough bread before. I think for my first try it came out wonderful. I let my starter ferment for 5 days. It smelled wonderful like beer. I kept 1 cup of the started and will add to it daily for 4 more days and then store in the fridge. I highly reccomend this recipie.
Excellent recipe! I goofed up on it by not THOROUGHLY reading the directions first, and it STILL came out wonderfully! For those of you who are unhappy with the end result not being "sour" enough, it's because your starter doesn't have the acidity it takes to make true sourdough bread. I have two starters: One with flour and water only and the other with flour, water and yeast. The one that was started from flour and water is the most sour. If yours is started with a commercial yeast, your bread is going to taste exactly like the yeast you put in it. The flour/water starter is a bit more high maintenance, but well worth the effort and time you put into it. I would give this ten stars if only it were possible!
I made this bread today using the sourdough starter from Esther. It was awesome!! The rising took more than an hour but who cares! The bread was restaurant quality if not better than the restaurant. Instructions were easy. A beginner could make this and have great Results. Thank you for posting!! I am looking forwards to taking it To the church potlucks. :)
I have made this a couple times now! This morning my husband, Who spent MANY years in Germany and LOVES his German style breads, told me this is the best bread he has eaten since he returned home from Germany many years ago! He is already asking me to start more! I made 1 loaf w/onions and 1 w/out and we love them both. Going to add MORE onions next time! Some people might say it is not "TRUE San Fracisco sourdough", Oh Well!!! It is still AMAZING! Thank you for sharing it with us!
Deelicious! I used this recipe because it calls for so much starter and I didn't want to have to throw any away. The flavor was just a little sour, more yeasty, but it was nice having a fast, enriched sourdough bread for a change. Didn't do the onion part. I baked my loaves in a preheated dutch oven, smeared with lots of butter. Next time I'll use loaf pans because this bread makes such wonderful toasted sandwiches.
I mistakenly used 1c warm water instead of milk, but it still turned out wonderful! Didn't realize the mistake until I read the recipe well after it was eaten up.
I must say I was excited to try this recipe and am very disappointed! I make bread every other day for my family, and the DH has been bugging me to make a sourdough. I chose this one from the rating. I have always proofed my yeast but chose to forgo it and followed this recipes instructions. I was left with a dough that had little lumps of undissolved yeast and I believe the only reason it rose was because of my starter. I will try this recipe again, but will use my way and proof the yeast first.
Very good,easy recipe for tasty bread.Just halfed the amount of sugar and yeast. Experimented with rye & spelt flour and have a lovely wheat free loaf! A "bestseller" for my family and friends.
Best sourdough I have ever tried. I just use dried milk powder as a substitute and it works out great!
Delicious! I don't know if "San Francisco" has a different taste than anyother bread; but this one was a delicious sourdough bread, even without the chopped onions. I used my own starter that I prepared for 5 days prior to making the loaves.
I used my bread machine to mix and knead this dough and it came out wonderful! It was enough to make one loaf and four smallish bread-bowl sized loaves. I did not use the egg wash or the onion, but I did put a ramekin of water in the oven with the bread. This is a keeper!
This does make a really good sourdough bread. The ratio of dry/wet ingredients may need adjusting as I ended up with what looked like biscuit dough at first until I added some warm water to it to make it a bit stickier. If you're not from the West coast you will not get that trademark San Fran flavor but you can make a really tangy sour bread by cultivating your own yeast in a sourdough starter. Do not add dry yeast to a sourdough starter recipe and let it gather it's own wild yeast naturally and it will get sour and tangier much faster.
I LOVE making bread, and this was easy and fun to make. I would make it again anytime!
I made this with my 5-day old starter and they are fabulous! I halved the recipe and made rolls with it, baking them in a muffin tin. The rolls are a great alternative, with less baking time and more of the yummy crust:bread ratio. Recipe is definitely a keeper.
I have to say I was a little dissapointed with this bread. I am from San Francisco, but am living in Holland so I was really craving some sourdough. I followed the recipe exactly, including the onions, but my loaves turned out with no real sourdough taste. I also had to take the loaves out a full 10 minutes early or they would have been completely overcooked. I think I will try a different sourdough recipe next time.
This was a great recipe. The inside texture was soft and perfect. Great sliced thin and toasted too! I made 2 large loaves. Will definately make again.
I've made this recipe several times, and it is very adaptable. I've used honey in place of sugar, made it with sugar, bake it with a pan of water in the oven and without. Doesn't matter - it turns out perfectly EVERY time.
I have never baked bread before this. It was my first time and it has turned out great every time I make it! I didn't use any egg or onion. I wanted a more plain bread and I love it. I even forgot the sugar once and it was still very tasty.
I have been searching for a great sourdough recipe and finally found it! I made it in my mixer, adding ingredients as listed, then let it mix/knead for a few minutes. I made one loaf with the onions, and one without; both were great. I will be making this bread at least once a week, thanks for sharing!
Awesome bread! I omitted the onions on top though and they turned out not only delicious but also beautiful! I will be making this in mini versions during the winter months to make mini chili bowls! I will be using this recipe over and over!
The bread tastes great, but the sourdough taste is too mild for me. Maybe it's my starter, which is only a few weeks old... I'll try a different sourdough because I like it stronger, but this is a really yummy bread.
For what it is, with an added commercial yeast, it's a nice sandwich bread. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
This took twice as long to raise as the recipe said it would (maybe my house is too cold?).. The loaf came out beautiful but we hardly tasted the sourdough flavor at all.
This is THE best recipe for real sourdough bread! Of course the most important ingredient in sourdough bread is your sourdough starter, so make sure you use a good one! It's what gives sourdough it's flavor, so the older and more developed the starter it, the better flavor you will have.
This bread came out great and was so easy. I put the two loaves into two stone bread pans that I have. I tried a whole wheat version last week and it was great as well. I used a cup of white flour and 3 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour.
I made this into rolls with a young starter and it was quite good. Can't wait to try again in a few weeks! If anything, this is a great white bread recipe - great bakery texture. The only thing I did differently was add 1T of vital wheat gluten for every cup of flour. This was my first time adding gluten, and it made breadmaking easier for me. I'll be adding it when making bread from now on.
Mmmmm!!! This just gets better every time I make it, as my starter gets older. I made it into rolls last time, split them, and put barbecued shredded beef on them and they were to die for. I have used all purpose four, because that's what I had on hand, and they still came out great. Next I will try with the bread four, as the recipe calls for. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
used sauteed shallots ... rich and delish. with the egg wash i did not get a tough crust like one might expect with SF sourdough ... but it was a fabulous flavor and great sandwich bread
I found this recipe to be very tasty. It had a good texture. I was worried about trying to make it here in Georgia because the atmosphere (humidity and the like) is so different from San Fran. But it was really, really good. I'll definitely make it again!
OMG, I made bread! This was my first attempt and after reading all the different things to adjust, I admit I was somewhat terrified. However... I used the sourdough starter video as my jumping off place (I let it ferment on the counter for about 5 days without feeding it) and then used this recipe. After sifting through the suggestions these are the ones I took: I used warm water instead of milk, only used two cups of flour before turning it out to knead (which probably added another cup during the 9 minutes of kneading I did). I think the egg wash (egg white + water) should either be left off or used on the entire loaf because it looked a little silly by only putting a little on the top. Next time I will add a little water in a pie pan to the oven because I think I like the idea of "steam" in the oven while cooking (I simply forgot to do it). I used my silicone baking pads instead of oiling the baking sheets and then put the loaves directly on a cooling rack straight from the oven. The consistency is more like good white bread, but it definitely has that "sour" taste I was going for. I ended up with two regular sized round loaves. Yum!
This recipie is one of the best I have used for sour dough. I was a little weary about the onions but now....... I love it. As long as you have a good starter, this recipie is great.
Tried cooking for the first time for my Food Microbiology class. Turned out way better than hoped. I do want to point out that all sourdough could be nicknamed San Francisco sourdough because the bacteria that gives its distinctive taste is called Lactobacillus Sanfranciscensis.
This is a tangy white bread. It's a very good tangy white bread that raises beautifully. I just picked up fresh starter from Acme (the Boudin rival in San Francisco) and made this recipe... in San Francisco... I used the best possible starter, straight from an amazing SF bakery and it's still flat white bread. It's essentially a white bread roll recipe with some starter thrown in. If you're looking for an excellent, true sourdough, look for a recipe that does not call for yeast. It will take 15 hours of rise time and to it right and you'll be incredibly glad you did!
Great recipe and directions, my batch of sourdough small round rolls turned out perfectly the first time. A family favorite immediately!
I made this recipe as written. It is a very good recipe! I've had my sourdough starter for over a year and that contributed to a nice sourdough flavor and the bread itself turned out soft and delicious the way that the recipe was written. (I have no complaints over how the author named the recipe!) The only changes I made for myself was to add a container of water to the oven while proofing and baking. My home in winter is too cool for proofing so I heat the oven to 115 degrees and let the bread rise inside. Also, I used sesame seeds on top rather than the onion; personal preference.
Made my first 2 loaves tonight and everyone was happy. Mild sourdough flavor, very easy to make and looked terrific!
