I don’t know about you, but the idea of having sourdough starter in my fridge for the rest of forever seems like way too much commitment to me. I’d much rather just have a Tamagotchi or something. Because I like delicious things, though, I am definitely willing to leave a bowl of stuff around for just two days when necessary for some pretty delicious sourdough bread.

I considered not sharing this recipe, as my bread came out weirdly flat, but my coworkers thought it was super delicious, and it worked well to eat pizza dip on, so if nothing else, they might want this recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 3 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F to 115 degrees F), divided
• 7 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Cornmeal

In a large plastic or glass bowl combine the yeast with two cups of the warm water. Let it stand for five minutes. Add two cups of flour and stir until smooth.

Cover loosely with a clean towel and place somewhere warm – in the oven with the oven light on is perfect. Let it stand for 48 hours, stirring several times a day. When you wake up, get home from work, and go to bed should be enough. Liquid will separate out and it’ll smell tangy, but just stir the liquid back in and put it back in the oven – it’s fine.

Stir in the milk powder, butter, sugar, salt, the remaining cup and a half of water, and 4 cups of flour. Stir in as much of the remaining cup of flour as necessary to make a soft dough – I put it all in.

Cover and let rise in a warm place (back in the oven’s good!) until doubled, about an hour and a half. Mine rose all the way to fill that bowl.

Heavily grease two baking sheets, then sprinkle them with cornmeal.

Punch down the risen dough, then knead briefly to get out any remaining air. Divide the dough in half and shape each into a round loaf. Put each on one of the prepared pans. Mine was sort of more of a gloop than a dough, so ball was out of the question.

Cover and let rise another half an hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the bread is risen, cut three slashes across the top of each loaf and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with cold water, then back a further 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.

Cool on wire racks.

I’m not sure why mine was so flat (I think I made this a few years ago and didn’t have that issue?) but thinly sliced it was good for dip or appetizers!

Sourdough Bread

From allrecipes.

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 3 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F to 115 degrees F), divided
• 7 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Cornmeal

In a large plastic or glass bowl combine the yeast with two cups of the warm water. Let stand for five minutes then stir in two cups of flour until smooth.

Cover loosely with a clean towel and place somewhere warm to stand for 48 hours. Stir several times a day.

Stir in the milk powder, butter, sugar, salt, remaining  water, and 4 cups of flour. Stir in as much of the remaining cup of flour as necessary to make a soft dough.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour and a half.

Heavily grease two baking sheets and sprinkle them with cornmeal.

Punch down the risen dough, then knead briefly to get out any remaining air. Divide the dough in half and shape each into a round loaf. Put each on one of the prepared pans.

Cover and let rise another half an hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the bread is risen, cut three slashes across the top of each loaf and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with cold water, then back a further 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.

Cool on wire racks.