Your sourdough starter is active and bubbly, and you’re ready to bake! These eight artisan sourdough bread recipes are a wonderful place to begin, yielding delicious loaves. Here you’ll find everything from my Everyday Sourdough to a unique Toasted Walnut & Honey Sourdough Bread. You’ll also find a recipe for Rustic Rye Sourdough at the bottom of this post!
Even though I’ve been baking for quite some time, the magic of sourdough never gets old. The idea that beautiful homemade bread emerges from three simple ingredients: flour, water, and salt – is fascinating.
In addition to those ingredients, my favorite sourdough tools include:
- Large Weck Jars for holding starter
- Digital Scale
- Bench Scraper
- Round Banneton
- Bread Lame
- Challenger Breadware Pan
In each recipe, I’ve included step-by-step instructions to guide you on your baking journey. If you’re new to baking sourdough, you might find my Sourdough Starter FAQ helpful.
8 Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipes
If you're a sourdough beginner, or you're advanced baker, you're sure to to find an artisan sourdough bread in this list that you'll love. With each bake you'll learn new things, and find a sourdough process that works best in your kitchen.
Delicious Everyday Sourdough Bread Recipe
This straightforward sourdough bread recipe is a staple in our house. Made with sourdough starter, this naturally fermented bread has a fluffy, airy interior and crackly crisp crust. All the steps of making the bread are detailed out, as well as sourdough tips for beginners.
Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Recipe
A recipe for naturally fermented, whole wheat sourdough bread. You’ll notice that besides whole wheat flour, bread flour and all purpose are also used to achieve a tender crumb, and keep the bread from becoming too dense, which can happen if you use all whole wheat. The flavor is amazing!
Jalapeño and Cheese Sourdough Bread
This cheesy, jalapeño studded sourdough bread is flavorful, soft, and absolutely delicious. You’ll use active sourdough starter to make it, along with gouda cheese and pickled jalapeños. The chunks of cheese melt into gorgeous golden pockets, and the crust turns golden brown.
Fabulous All-Purpose Flour Sourdough Bread Recipe
Learn how to make incredible sourdough bread with just all-purpose flour and your starter! The rise is that of any loaf made with bread flour, and the crumb is super fluffy, the crust crisp and flaky.
Honey Sourdough Bread with Toasted Walnuts
This honey sourdough bread is lightly sweet, with toasted walnuts folded in, adding wonderful nuttiness and a little crunch. It's the perfect breakfast bread, and is best eaten with salted butter and honey.
Tart Cherry Seeded Sourdough Bread
Homemade sourdough bread with a seeded crust and dried tart cherries folded into the dough. The crunchy crust is incredible! Naturally leavened, and made with active sourdough starter, this unique bread makes the ultimate french toast.
Rustic Rye Sourdough Bread
Homemade rye sourdough bread is a glorious choice for sandwiches, or eating on its own. Made with a blend of whole wheat, bread flour, and rye flour, this naturally fermented loaf holds its shape and has a moist, chewy crumb. The rustic crust is deeply colored and boasts beautiful blisters!
Red Fife Flour Sourdough Bread Recipe
A flavorful loaf of naturally leavened sourdough bread made with 50% heritage wheat, and bread flour. Makes for an amazingly nutty and nutritious bread. The heritage grain component is red fife flour.
If you make any of these sourdough bread recipes, be sure to tag me on Instagram with hashtag #heartbeetkitchen, or @heartbeetkitchen!
7 Artisan Sourdough Breads, Plus a Rye Sourdough Recipe
A homemade rye sourdough bread recipe, made with active sourdough starter. Plus, 7 other artisan sourdough bread recipes!
Ingredients
- 55 grams active sourdough starter
- 280 grams slightly warmer than room temperature water (about 80 degrees F)
- 15 grams honey
- 100 grams fine rye flour
- 260 grams bread flour
- 40 grams whole wheat flour
- 7 grams fine salt
Instructions
- Before beginning, it will be helpful to watch these SHORT VIDEOS to see me make this bread so you see that the dough will be stickier than normal, but it will come together - you just have to trust!
- Add starter, water, and honey to a bowl. Whisk thoroughly until combined, with a fork. Add flours, and mix together first with the fork to start to incorporate, then with your hands until a shaggy dough is formed, and the bits of flour left just disappear. Sprinkle the salt on top and do not mix in, just leave it on top. Cover with a damp cloth.
- Autolyse: let dough sit for one hour, covered and undisturbed.
- Bulk ferment: Now you will knead the salt that is sitting on top, into the dough for about 1 min 15 seconds. There is no precise way to do this, just think of working the dough through your hands and up against the bowl, push and pull. You will start to feel the dough relax a bit around 1 minute. Continue for about 15 or 30 seconds more. Then leave the dough alone, covered, for 30 minutes. This counts as what would be your first set of stretch and folds.
- After those 30 minutes pass, perform a set of stretch and folds. Repeat 2 more times.
- Now you will let sit, undisturbed and covered with a damp cloth, for about 7ish hours at 70 degrees F. If the temperature in your home is above 70, this will take less time, vice versa. You will know it is finished with its bulk ferment when the dough has risen about double, is smooth and puffy on top, with a few bubbles. It will not be as jiggly as some sourdough you've made before.
- At this point, lightly dust your work surface with flour. Put dough onto the work surface, and pre-shape. This video will show you what that means. Let sit for 15 minutes on your work surface.
- Then shape your dough, using this method as a guide.
- Place dough into your flour dusted banneton, (or flour dusted linen lined banneton) seam side up. (Optional, you can wait 15 minutes after placing it in banneton, and pinch the perimeters of the dough into the center to hold the shape even more, called stitching.) The dough will now go through its final rise. You can do this on the counter, which will take about 2 hours at 70 degrees F for the dough to puff up and be jiggly. It will not quite double. OR you can do the final rise overnight in the refrigerator, with the banneton covered in a plastic bag or with a very damp cloth. You need this for holding moisture in.
- Time to bake. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F, with your dutch oven preheating inside the oven. When the oven is preheated, flip your dough out gently onto parchment paper and score your dough. If you did the final rise in the refrigerator, take it straight from fridge to scoring. You should score it cold, and DO NOT need to let it come to room temp.
- Then put dough into the dutch oven on the parchment, and put cover on. Turn oven down to 450 degrees F and slide dutch oven in. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove cover.
- Turn heat down to 430 degrees F, and bake for 25 more minutes, until crust is golden brown and crackly. Remove from oven, and remove bread from dutch oven and place onto a cooling rack.
- Wait AT LEAST one hour to cool otherwise, the interior will be gummy.
What size dutch oven works for most sourdough recipes?
Hi Rebecca! A 5.5 quart dutch oven will work for most sourdough bread recipes. You can find a lot of dutch oven options depending on your price range, here.
Thanks for getting back to me, Amanda. I have a 4.5 qt and a 7.25. I probably should get a 5.5 qt?
The larger one will work well and can take the place of the 5.5 qt! Just know it will be a little heavy for lifting.