Every Day Dough - Sourdough made Simple
This really is my everyday dough. That does not mean that I have to make it everyday, nor does it mean that it rules my everyday. I call it our everyday dough because we use this dough in one form or another almost everyday.
I am by nature a perfectionist on certain things and food is one of them. There is little I enjoy more than amazing food. I am willing to go to some amazing lengths for great food, but on the other hand I have a farm and homeschool three kids. For something to be doable in the long run it ultimately has to be practical.
I love sourdough and I love even more fresh milled, einkorn, sourdough. But as yummy and healthy as they are I couldn’t keep up with making enough for my family and not making my life be ruled by bread. So more often than not we just didn’t ever seem to have enough bread. This led to requests to buy bread from the store and when I told my family, “No, I’ll make it.” Their response was, “But you don’t!”.
I needed something so simple even my kids could learn to make it on their own, that could meet our bread needs for the week, and was flexible enough to turn into lots of things. This dough is the answer to all of those things.
I do double, triple, and even quintuple this recipe, but you better have a big bowl! Again another reason to use the scale, it makes multiplying or dividing recipes so much easier! For a smaller family or maybe a family without teens you could divide it in half. On an average week, I double this recipe to meet our needs. It is no more work to make more, it just takes a bigger bowl. I use one of the giant, commercial stainless restaurant prep bowls and it holds anything I throw at it!
I can make the dough once a week. I can also do it in just a couple of minutes, while my husband brews coffee in the morning. I mix up the ingredients and set my timer for thirty minutes and have coffee and Bible time with my husband, then in thirty minutes do a super quick stretch and fold, set the timer for another thirty minutes, go let out the chickens, stretch and fold, start breakfast, then one last stretch and fold. The last step for the dough is to shape into a loaf or make into dough balls for later.
Dough balls? Yes beautiful little dough balls, hanging out in your fridge ready to turn into whatever you need them to be. Need pizza? It will be ready to be a personal pizza in or even more deliciously a pizza pocket in moments. Need the most fluffy, delicious, sandwich, they have you covered. Need a beautiful, flat bread for hummus, tzatziki, babganoush, or just beautiful butter. They only take as long as it takes for your oven to heat up.
My kids love having filling options that they can make on a whim. (My 14 year old boy, who was definitely on a growth spurt made and ate 8 homemade pizza pockets. While I was a little dismayed at how he possibly managed to consume that much and probably in need of a little conservation on self-control. I was happy to know that at least they were filled with fresh garden tomatoes, herbs, and grass-fed mozzarella cheese.
There are tons of recipes I can write about filling them, but for now here is the dough basics!
Tip:
To make your entire life so much simpler, improve your baking, and make this a very practical habit, please, please buy a digital kitchen scale! If I could implore any kitchen gadgets, it would be a kitchen scale. I fought getting one for years and would be very miffed if someone wrote their recipes by weight instead of by measure. I finally broke down and gave it a try and never looked back. The scale is way more accurate, easy to use, and you don’t have to hunt down cups, half cups, quarter cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, etc. You simply put your bowl on the scale hit TARE, which makes the scale go to zero, and pour your ingredient in. If you refuse to listen to me and would rather play hide and seek with the measuring cups all over your kitchen, I did begrudgingly give you standard measures.
Ingredients
650 grams Water (2 3/4 Cups)
5 grams Dry Active Yeast (1 TBS) or 200 grams Active Sourdough Starter/Levain (3/4 Cup)
20 grams Sea Salt (1 TBS) I prefer Celtic Salt
1040 grams All- Purpose Flour (8-1/4 Cups)
Olive Oil, As needed
Basic Dough
Mix water, yeast or levain, and salt till incorporated.
Add flour and mix until completely incorporated though shaggy.
Cover with damp towel or plastic wrap.
Rest 30 minutes.
Stretch and fold 4-5 times.
Rest 30 minutes.
Stretch and fold 4-5 times.
Rest 30 minutes.
Place dough on counter or cutting board avoid adding any more flour if possible.
Portion dough as needed. We usually double the recipe and do two loaves and the rest dough balls for our family of 5. Divide dough in half and then divide one half again for two loaves.
For Loaves
Heat oven to 420* and place dutch in oven to heat up.
Gently flour banneton baskets or use olive oil to coat a mixing bowls.
Shape loaves gently working on counter or cutting board into loaves.
Place loaves upside down into floured baskets or bowls.
Let rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour, proof time will depend on room temperature.
Once proofed flip loaf onto parchment paper or directly into hot dutch oven.
Score top with Lame or sharp knife.
If using parchment paper place dough and parchment into dutch oven.
Replace lid on dutch oven and bake for 25 minutes.
Remove lids and bake for an additional 10-20 minutes until browned and cooked through.
For Dough Balls
Continue dividing dough portions in half until dough pieces are in palm sized amounts. Gently tighten and shape each ball using the slight stick of the cutting board or counter to gently shape and tighten each dough ball. Do not add flour to shape!
Options - either store and refrigerate dough balls in a muffin pan or wrap each ball in plastic wrap. If using wrap, pre-cut pieces of wrap to individually wrap each ball.
Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil into a small bowl.
Roll each dough ball in olive oil to coat, adding olive oil, as needed.
Place on ball in muffin cup or wrap individually in plastic wrap.
Cover muffin pan tightly with plastic wrap or I use a large disposable shower cap.
Refrigerate for 8+ hours. These can be made and refrigerated for up to a week.
Once ready to bake, pre-heat oven to 450* and place a cast iron pan or pizza stone in the oven to heat. If you don't have cast iron or stone you can make due with a baking sheet.
NOTE: Let oven come to temperature completely, don't rush it!
Gently rub olive oil on a cutting board or plate.
Place dough ball and use finger tips to gently stretch dough or roll dough flat without tearing. Any bubbles in dough are good, don't try to pop.
For sandwiches, wraps, pitas, rub the top of the dough with olive oil and fold in half. Do not press edges together!
For "pizza" pockets - fill with desired toppings, leaving 1/4" from edges clean. Once filled fold in half and press edges together to seal
Place in oven and bake until brown and puffed up!
Recipe
Every Day Dough - Sourdough Made Simple
Ingredients
Instructions
- Mix water, yeast or levain, and salt till incorporated.
- Add flour and mix until completely incorporated though shaggy.
- Cover with damp towel or plastic wrap.
- Rest 30 minutes.
- Stretch and fold 4-5 times.
- Rest 30 minutes.
- Stretch and fold 4-5 times.
- Rest 30 minutes.
- Place dough on counter or cutting board avoid adding any more flour if possible.
- Portion dough as needed. We usually double the recipe and do two loaves and the rest dough balls for our family of 5. Divide dough in half and then divide one half again for two loaves.
- Heat oven to 420* and place dutch in oven to heat up.
- Gently flour banneton baskets or use olive oil to coat a mixing bowls.
- Shape loaves gently working on counter or cutting board into loaves.
- Place loaves upside down into floured baskets or bowls.
- Let rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour, proof time will depend on room temperature or for a long ferment cover and place in fridge over night or for a couple of days.
- Once proofed flip loaf onto parchment paper or directly into hot dutch oven.
- Score top with Lame or sharp knife.
- If using parchment paper place dough and parchment into dutch oven.
- Replace lid on dutch oven and bake for 25 minutes.
- Remove lids and bake for an additional 10-20 minutes until browned and cooked through
- Continue dividing dough portions in half until dough pieces are in palm sized amounts. Gently tighten and shape each ball using the slight stick of the cutting board or counter to gently shape and tighten each dough ball. Do not add flour to shape!
- Options - either store and refrigerate dough balls in a muffin pan or wrap each ball in plastic wrap. If using wrap, pre-cut pieces of wrap to individually wrap each ball.
- Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil into a small bowl.
- Roll each dough ball in olive oil to coat, adding olive oil, as needed.
- Place on ball in muffin cup or wrap individually in plastic wrap.
- Cover muffin pan tightly with plastic wrap or I use a large disposable shower cap.
- Refrigerate for 8+ hours. These can be made and refrigerated for up to a week.
- Once ready to bake, pre-heat oven to 450* and place a cast iron pan or pizza stone in the oven to heat. If you don't have cast iron or stone you can make due with a baking sheet.
- NOTE: Let oven come to temperature completely, don't rush it!
- Gently rub olive oil on a cutting board or plate.
- Place dough ball and use finger tips to gently stretch dough or roll dough flat without tearing. Any bubbles in dough are good, don't try to pop.
- For sandwiches, wraps, pitas, rub the top of the dough with olive oil and fold in half. Do not press edges together!
- For "pizza" pockets - fill with desired toppings, leaving 1/4" from edges clean. Once filled fold in half and press edges together to seal
- Place in oven and bake until brown and puffed up!