Bread Machine Sourdough Bread Recipe
This bread machine sourdough uses discard for flavor and instant yeast for a reliable rise, so you get a soft, tender 2 lb sandwich loaf with mild sourdough flavor in about 3½ hours with no kneading required!
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough discard, stirred down 250g
- ¾ cup warm water 170g
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 25g
- 1 ½ teaspoon granulated sugar 6g
- 1 ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt 8g
- 3 cups bread flour 400g
- 1½ teaspoon instant or bread machine yeast 6g
Instructions
Bake In Bread Machine:
- Combine the liquid ingredients: 1 cup sourdough discard, ¾ cup warm water, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 ½ teaspoon granulated sugar, and 1 ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt in the baking pan of your bread machine.
- Layer the dry ingredients as follows; 3 cups bread flour followed by 1½ teaspoon instant or bread machine yeast. Either sprinkle the yeast on top of the flour, where it’s not touching the water or create a well in the flour, then add the yeast there.
- Place the baking pan into the bread machine. Select Basic, Light Crust, and 2 lb Loaf options. If your machine does not have all these settings, simply select the Basic or White setting.
- Optional: remove the mixing paddle after the final punch down.
- Once the bread machine has completed its cycle, remove the bread pan from the bread machine. It’s important to get to your machine as soon as possible once it beeps complete to avoid it kicking into keep warm mode, this will dry out your bread and make it less than pleasant.
- Overturn the baked loaf onto a wire mesh cooling rack then using a pastry or basting brush, brush the top with softened butter. Allow the bread to cool completely (if possible, I know it’s hard!) before cutting.
Bake In Oven:
- Combine the liquid ingredients: 1 cup sourdough discard, ¾ cup warm water, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar, and 1 ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt in the baking pan of your bread machine.
- Layer the dry ingredients as follows; 3 cups bread flour followed by 1½ teaspoons instant or bread machine yeast. Either sprinkle the yeast on top of the flour, where it’s not touching the water or create a well in the flour, then add the yeast there.
- Place the baking pan into the bread machine and select the dough setting.
- Once the dough cycle is complete, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and shape it into a boule or a loaf, then transfer it to a greased 9x5 loaf pan.
- Cover loaf pan with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise for 45- 60 minutes, or until nearly doubled in size. Near the end of the rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake your loaf at 350°F. for approximately 40 minutes or until golden brown on top. You can check the doneness with an instant read thermometer – the internal temperature should be 195- 200°F.
- Turn baked loaf out onto a wire rack, then using a pastry or basting brush, brush the top with softened butter.
Notes
Expert Tips
- Measure it right. Flour is very difficult to measure consistently when using cups, so to get the most accurate amount, stir the flour well in your bag or container, spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife. Alternatively, just use the weights provided in the recipe card.
- Set your expectations. This is a "quick" sourdough bread maker recipe because it uses discard and instant yeast. It doesn't have the same amount of tang as an overnight fermented sourdough loaf, but it's damn delicious either way!
- Check the age. Not all sourdough discards are equal. Fresher sourdough discard will have a much more mild sour flavor than an aged discard that's been hiding in the back of your fridge for 3 weeks. I prefer to use a discard that's been fed within the last 7 days.
- Warm up routine. If my discard is straight out of the fridge I use the Whole Wheat setting on my Breville Custom Loaf, which includes a preheat phase that I use to bring cold ingredients to temperature. Bread machine cycles vary, so check your manual to see if yours does too!
- Ready to get started? My easy sourdough starter is ready to work with in 24 hours!
