Updated March 26, 2025
Ingredients
1/2 cup starter, active and bubbly
3 cups bread flour
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt
Directions
Add the water, butter, salt, and sugar to a mixing bowl and stir together to combine.
Add your sourdough starter to the water mixture and stir until combined.
Add your last ingredient, the flour, and mix until everything is combined.
Let the dough rest on the counter for 30 minutes with a lid or damp towel over the mixing bowl to prevent the dough from drying out.
After the 30 minute rest, wet your hands and stretch and fold the dough. You'll do this by grabbing one edge of the dough and pulling it up in the air and holding it for a few seconds to give the dough time to stretch out and then folding the dough in your hand back over the dough in the bowl. Sometimes a good shake while holding the dough helps it stretch. You'll turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat the stretch and folds 3 more times until you've done all 4 sides of the dough.
Repeat the stretch and folds every 30 minutes until you've done four complete sets.
Allow to bulk rise for 8 hours in a warm place at room temperature.
Take a pad of butter and rub it all over the inside of a loaf pan to grease the pan and keep the loaf from sticking while baking.
Dump your dough out onto the counter. Using your loaf pan as a guide, stretch and pat your dough down with wet hands into a flat rectangle shape that will fit into your loaf pan. Grab one edge of the rectangle and roll the dough up into a log shape. Use your hands to tuck the ends of the log under the dough.
Place your dough into the loaf pan. It should fill the loaf pan about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way up.
Let the dough rise again on the counter covered with a lid or damp towel to prevent drying. This will take about 2 hours or until the dough is starting to peak over the top of your loaf pan.
After the second rise I cut a line down the center of the loaf to give it room to expand upward while it is baking. You don't have to do this, but the loaf may expand in random shapes otherwise.
Bake the loaf at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
Dump the loaf onto a cooling rack right as you take it out of the oven and allow to cool completely before slicing. Slicing the bread while still warm can cause it be gummy.