Look. It was a grey, snow-rainy Monday, and I don’t have a long post to share today. But I did bake off two loaves of bread, and I can attest that the bread is delicious. I love my staple recipe for sourdough bread. It has brought me and my family so much joy in These Times. Check out my recipe for the best vegan sourdough bread below.
Vegan Sourdough Bread Recipe
Quantity: 2 loaves
Total Time: 24 hours
Day Before:
Feed your starter
Spoon 10 g sourdough starter to a small container with a lid.
Add 40 g flour (10 spelt and 30 bread) and 40 g water.
Stir together until smooth.
Cover and let sit for 12 hours. (This allows the yeast in the starter to get nice and active.)
Day Of:
Create Leaven
In a small bowl stir together 100 g flour (50 g spelt, 50 g bread), 100 g water, and 25 g starter.
Set in a warm place (like an oven set to “proof” or a bread proofer).
Wait 3-4 hours, until bubbly.
Autolyse
To a large bowl add 850 g bread flour, 150 g whole wheat flour, and 50 g rye flour.
Stir to combine.
To your 1000 grams total flour add 635 g water, and all 225 g of your leaven.
Mix together with your hands.
When the mixture is a “shaggy mess” and most of the flour has been incorporated from the bottom of the bowl, scrape off your hands with a bench scraper and put the bowl back in the proofer.
Wait 30 mins.
Bassinage (salt bath)
Remove the bowl from the proofer and set on a countertop.
Dust the mixture with 20 g salt.
Pour 100 g water on top of the salt.
Gently pinch the bread to incorporate the salt.
Knead (Slap and Fold): 4 hours
Clear a space on a wooden counter top.
For 1 continuous minute, slap and fold the bread.
Place the dough in the bowl and back in the proofer.
Repeat the slap and fold every 30 minutes four more times.
*Optional: During one of these slap-and-folds, add any add-ins you’d like (e.g. sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pitted olives).
Rest: 2 hours
Allow the dough to rest (sit in the bowl in the proofer)
Pre-Shape
Divide the dough into two even halves
Rest: 30 minutes
Shape
Coat two bannetons with all purpose flour
Shape the loaves one at a time
Add loaves to the bannetons stitching together the bottoms, if necessary
Cover with plastic bags
Proof for 2 hours or overnight in the fridge
Bake
Preheat oven to 500 degrees with bread oven or dutch oven inside
Remove base of bread oven and place on counter.
Dust with pinch of semolina flour.
Remove one banneton from the fridge.
Flip shaped dough into the bread oven.
Cover and cook at 500 degrees 25 min
Lower the temperature to 425 degrees and remove the lid.
Cook for an additional 15 min until golden brown and crispy.
Repeat for loaf #2