This is an easy to make, wholesome bread that makes a great accompaniment to a bowl of soup and/or a salad. The bread includes a little whole-wheat flour, which gives it extra flavor and texture. It's soft on the inside and bit crunchy on the top and sides. The bread requires no weird, hard-to-find ingredients, and it tastes wonderful in it's simplicity. You can dress it up with butter, jam, or cheese, if you'd like, but we enjoy it "as is" or toasted alongside soup. Of course, the bread also makes nice sandwiches, if you'd prefer. Enjoy!
Simple Sourdough Bread to Eat with Soup -- Makes 2 Smallish/Medium Loaves
1 cup of sourdough starter/discard
1/4 cup of canola oil
1 large egg
1/2 cup of warmish milk (i.e., not hot)
1/4 cup of dark brown sugar
1 cup of white whole-wheat flour (or regular whole-wheat flour)
In a large bowl mix together well all of the ingredients listed above. Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the mixture sit for at least an hour. I usually let the mixture sit for 4-5 hours, which is fine. When you're ready, add:
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
Stir/knead in the flour/salt, then knead the dough for 3-5 minutes, adding another 1/4 cup of flour (or so) as you knead to prevent the dough from being too sticky to knead. Spritz two medium loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. Divide the dough into two pieces and shape each piece into a loaf. Place the dough loaves into the pans. Spritz the top of the dough with a little non-stick cooking spray and cover the pans loosely with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until it increases in volume by about one-third. The time required for the rise will depend on the temperature of your kitchen (and how active a starter/discard you have). In my fairly cool kitchen, the dough needs 2-3 hours to rise. When you're almost ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. You can cut slashes across the top of the loaves with a sharp knife, if you'd like (about 1/8-1/4-inch deep), but it's not necessary. Bake the loaves for about 45 minutes or until a deep golden brown (the internal temperature of the bread should be at least 190 degrees). Let the breads cool in their pans for 10-15 minutes before turning them out to cool completely. The breads will slice best after they have cooled completely.
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