Sourdough French Bread

This Sourdough French Bread is crusty on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside, with delicious tangy sourdough flavor. A simple, no-knead recipe to add to your sourdough collection!

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French bread is a delicious addition to almost any dinner. Whether enjoyed simply warmed and sliced with butter, or dressed up into garlic bread, it’s a favorite side for many meals – from steak to spaghetti.

This Sourdough French Bread is so easy to make, you’ll never need to buy store bought French bread again! It also freezes well, making it even easier when you’re not planning ahead for dinner.

This is a simple, straightforward recipe that produces a loaf that’s just a bit crusty on the outside and soft on the inside, thanks to a little olive oil and honey. And in my opinion, you just can’t beat that wonderfully tangy sourdough flavor that comes from the fermentation process of sourdough bread.

Find More Sourdough Recipes at Quail Creek Homestead:

• Easy Sourdough Dinner Rolls
• Sourdough Sandwich Bread
• No-Knead Sourdough Bagels
• Soft Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread
• Sourdough Slider Buns
• Sourdough Buttermilk Sandwich Bread
• Favorite Sourdough Bread – 70% Hydration Recipe

What You’ll Love About This Recipe

No-knead recipe. This recipe is a simple sourdough recipe using the stretch and fold technique, as opposed to kneading the bread to develop gluten structure. I find folding the dough much more effective in developing that ideal stretchy gluten structure, and it’s so simple!

Tangy sourdough flavor. This bread is everything you’re looking for in a classic loaf of French bread, plus amazing sourdough flavor.

The texture. Crusty on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, this Sourdough French Bread makes a delicious dinner bread.

Equipment

The great thing about sourdough bread is you really don’t need much to make it! This recipe requires no kneading, so there’s no knead for a stand mixer. Just a few simple kitchen tools are needed:

Large heavy bottomed mixing bowl

Wooden spoon

Kitchen scale

Dough whisk – you can also use a fork or regular whisk

Baking sheet lined with parchment paper

Ingredients to Make Sourdough French Bread

Water – room temp, non-chlorinated water

Sourdough leaven – see below for how to make a leaven for this recipe

Olive oil

Honey

All purpose flour – bread flour will produce great results as well – use what you have!

Salt – this is my favorite salt

How to Make a Leaven for This Recipe

This recipe calls for 200 grams of sourdough leaven. If you keep a large starter you can use active starter, but I prefer to use a leaven that is separate from my starter. Here’s how to prepare the leaven.

In a pint size jar, mix the following ingredients well, making sure there is no dry flour at the bottom of the jar. Cover loosely with a lid or cloth and place in a warm spot to activate. It should reach the top of the jar when it is ready to use. This can take anywhere from 6-12 hours usually, depending on the temperature of your kitchen and the vitality of your starter.

• 100 grams room temp, non-chlorinated water
• 100 grams all purpose flour
• 20 grams sourdough starter (active but not freshly fed – not discard)

The condition of the starter that you use for the leaven is important. You want an active, bubbly starter but not one that has been fed super recently – like in the last few hours. If your starter has been fed very recently, it will take considerably longer to activate the leaven since it’s not “hungry”. If we’re talking in terms of hunger, use a starter that isn’t starving (like discard) but isn’t too full either (like a freshly fed starter).

How to Make Sourdough French Bread

Measure 300 grams water in a large bowl, then gently whisk in the leaven until a milky liquid forms. Whisk in olive oil and honey.

Add flour and stir until a shaggy dough forms. Cover and let the dough rest 20-30 minutes.

Add salt and 10 grams water to the dough. With a wet hand, mix until the salt is dissolved and the dough comes together forming a smooth ball. Cover and let rest another 20 minutes or so.

Do four rounds of stretch and folds over the next hour, 15 minutes apart. The dough will be a bit stiff.

Cover and place in a warm spot to rise until nearly doubled, usually anywhere from 4-6 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and divide in half. Stretch each half out into a rectangle and roll up, pinching the seams. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover. Allow to rise another 1-2 hours until doubled.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the loaves 20-22 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.