Squirrelly Girl Sourdough Bread Recipe | Easy Artisan Loaf
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🐿️ Squirrelly Girl Sourdough Bread
The classic loaf. The one you'll make again and again.
This is the sourdough loaf that started it all.
A crisp, golden crust. A soft, chewy center. Beautiful fermentation bubbles. And that unmistakable sourdough flavor.
The ingredient list is wonderfully simple: active sourdough starter, water, bread flour and salt.
What transforms those four ingredients into an incredible loaf is the technique — developing gluten with stretch-and-folds, allowing the dough to ferment properly, shaping it with intention, and giving it an overnight cold ferment before baking.
This recipe is beginner-friendly enough for your first loaf, but the technique gives you everything you need to keep improving your sourdough baking.
One loaf today. Sourdough obsession tomorrow. 🐿️🍞
🍞 Why This Is the Loaf to Learn First
Nothing complicated. Just the basics.
Deeply browned and beautifully crunchy.
Soft, moist and full of flavor.
More flavor and easier scoring.
🥖 The Quick Version
4–6 hours
2–4 hours
8–16 hours
38–40 minutes
1 large loaf
🌾 Ingredients
- 100 g active sourdough starter
- 400 g warm water
- 500 g bread flour
- 10 g sea salt
💧 A Quick Note About the Dough
This dough is approximately 80% hydration, which means it will feel softer and stickier than many beginner bread recipes.
Don't panic.
And don't automatically add more flour.
The higher hydration is part of what helps create a lighter, more open and wonderfully chewy crumb.
1. Mix Your Starter & Water
Add 100 g active sourdough starter to a large mixing bowl.
Pour in 400 g warm water.
Stir until the starter is mostly dissolved and the water looks cloudy.
Your starter should be active, bubbly and recently fed. If it looks flat and sleepy, give it more time before beginning.
2. Add the Bread Flour & Salt
Add 500 g bread flour and 10 g sea salt.
Mix with your hand, dough whisk or sturdy spoon until all of the flour is hydrated.
You don't need perfectly smooth dough yet.
Just make sure there are no dry pockets of flour.
3. Rest the Dough
Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for approximately 30 minutes.
This short rest gives the flour time to hydrate and allows the gluten structure to begin developing.
Don't rush this part.
Thirty minutes now makes the dough noticeably easier to work with later.
4. Build Strength With Stretch & Folds
Now we'll develop the gluten without traditional kneading.
Perform 4 sets of stretch-and-folds, approximately 30 minutes apart.
🔄 How to Stretch & Fold
- Wet your hand lightly.
- Grab one side of the dough.
- Gently stretch it upward.
- Fold it over the center.
- Rotate the bowl and repeat on all four sides.
Cover the dough and let it rest until the next set.
The dough should become progressively smoother, stronger and more elastic with each round.
5. Bulk Fermentation — 2–4 Hours
After completing your final stretch-and-fold, cover the bowl and allow the dough to continue fermenting at room temperature for approximately 2–4 hours.
This is where the dough develops much of its structure, volume and flavor.
You're looking for:
- Increased volume
- Bubbles around the sides
- A slightly domed surface
- A dough that jiggles when gently moved
- A lighter, airier feel
Fermentation speed depends on your kitchen temperature and starter strength. The 2–4 hour range is a guide. Look at the dough and learn its signs.
The dough does not need to double during bulk fermentation.
6. Pre-Shape the Dough
Lightly flour your work surface.
Gently turn the dough out of the bowl.
Use a bench scraper to help shape the dough into a loose round.
Let it rest for approximately 15–20 minutes.
Your goal is to organize the dough, not squeeze all those beautiful fermentation bubbles out of it.
7. Shape Your Final Loaf
Gently tighten the dough into a round boule.
Fold the edges toward the center, flip the dough seam-side down, and gently drag it toward yourself across the counter to create surface tension.
Rotate and repeat until the loaf feels smooth and supported.
You want enough tension to help the loaf hold its shape, but not so much that you tear the dough.
8. Into the Banneton
Place the shaped loaf seam-side up into a well-floured banneton or flour-lined bowl.
Cover the loaf well.
Now it goes directly into the refrigerator.
9. Overnight Cold Fermentation — 8–16 Hours
Place the covered banneton into the refrigerator for approximately 8–16 hours.
The cold fermentation slows the activity of the starter while allowing the dough to continue developing flavor.
It also makes the dough considerably easier to score and transfer into a hot Dutch oven.
Once shaped, cover the loaf and place it directly into the refrigerator for the overnight fermentation.
Bonus: your future self gets to wake up to bread day. 🐿️
10. Preheat Your Dutch Oven
When you're ready to bake, place your Dutch oven inside the oven.
Preheat to 450°F (232°C) for at least 30–45 minutes.
A fully preheated Dutch oven gives the loaf the powerful burst of heat it needs before the crust begins to set.
11. Score the Loaf
Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator.
Carefully turn it onto parchment paper.
Dust lightly with flour if desired.
Using a bread lame or very sharp knife, make one confident score across the top.
Don't saw back and forth. A quick, deliberate cut gives the dough a clean path to expand.
12. Bake Your Sourdough
Carefully transfer the scored dough into the preheated Dutch oven.
Put the lid on and return it to the oven.
Bake at 450°F (232°C) for 28 minutes covered.
Then remove the lid and continue baking for another 10–12 minutes uncovered, until the crust is deeply golden brown.
That final uncovered bake is where your crust develops its beautiful deep golden color and rich roasted flavor.
13. ❄️ Cool Before Cutting
Remove the loaf from the Dutch oven and place it on a wire rack.
Now comes the hardest part.
DON'T CUT IT YET.
Let the loaf cool completely before slicing.
The crumb continues setting as the bread cools. Cutting too early can make the interior gummy and compress the beautiful crumb you've worked so hard to create.
🕳️ What Should the Crumb Look Like?
A good sourdough crumb doesn't need to look like a collection of giant holes.
You want a loaf that is:
- Airy without being weak
- Moist but not gummy
- Chewy without being tough
- Filled with a mix of small and larger fermentation bubbles
Don't chase the "perfect" crumb.
A delicious loaf is a successful loaf.
🔍 Sourdough Troubleshooting
My dough barely rose.
Your starter may not have been active enough, or the dough may need more fermentation time. Temperature also has a major effect on fermentation speed.
My loaf spread instead of rising.
This can happen when dough is over-fermented, under-strengthened, or not shaped with enough surface tension.
My crumb is gummy.
Make sure the loaf is fully baked and completely cooled before slicing. Under-fermentation can also contribute to a dense or gummy interior.
My crust is too pale.
Give the loaf more uncovered baking time. That final uncovered stage is where the crust develops its deep golden color.
👩🍳 Squirrelly Girl Baker's Tips
🌡️ Temperature Matters
Dough temperature dramatically affects fermentation. A warm dough can move much faster than a cool dough.
🥣 Use a Straight-Sided Container
A straight-sided container makes it much easier to judge how much your dough has actually risen.
👀 Learn the Signs
Experienced bakers don't simply follow the clock. They watch volume, bubbles, elasticity, texture and movement.
🧊 Cold Dough Is Easier to Score
Keeping the dough chilled overnight makes scoring cleaner and easier.
🔥 Preheat Your Dutch Oven
A fully heated Dutch oven helps give the loaf the powerful burst of heat needed for good oven spring.
⏳ Be Patient
Sourdough rewards patience. Let the dough tell you when it's ready rather than forcing it to follow the clock.
Baker's Warning
You are about to enter a dangerous phase of your life.
You will make one loaf.
Then another.
Then you'll start changing hydration, experimenting with flour, obsessing over fermentation and taking pictures of your crumb.
There is no known cure. 🐿️
Welcome to sourdough.
🧈 What To Do With Your Fresh Loaf
- 🧈 Slather it with butter while it's still slightly warm.
- 🧀 Make the ultimate grilled cheese.
- 🥑 Turn it into avocado toast.
- 🥣 Dip it into soup.
- 🥪 Make sandwiches.
- 🧄 Toast it with olive oil and garlic.
- 🍳 Serve it alongside eggs.
Or just tear off a piece and eat it standing beside the kitchen counter.
We won't tell anyone.
📚 Continue Your Sourdough Journey
You've made the loaf. Now learn what makes sourdough work so you can confidently adjust recipes, troubleshoot problems and bake better bread.
Ready to Make Better Sourdough?
Every great loaf starts with an active, healthy sourdough starter. Squirrelly Girl Sourdough Starter makes getting your starter ready to bake simple and beginner-friendly.
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Start your next loaf with a starter you can count on.
❤️ Your First Loaf Is Just the Beginning
Sourdough isn't about making one perfect loaf.
It's about learning what your dough is telling you.
Every bake teaches you something.
Keep baking. Keep experimenting. And most importantly, enjoy the bread. 🐿️🍞