This One-Hour Sourdough Bread goes from scratch to finish in one hour flat. You do need to add yeast to this recipe for the single rise, but the sourdough starter (or discard) adds terrific flavor and nutrition. If you love the flavor of sourdough bread but don't have the time to make a traditional loaf, this is the bread for you!
Given how much I love getting things done quickly, and given how much I love baking with sourdough, I had been dying to try out a very quick, very easy sourdough bread. And, today, I want to share it with you.
Let me first clarify for all the purists out there that this is not a true sourdough bread, as in it is not fully leavened with a sourdough starter. A true sourdough bread, like this no-knead sourdough bread or this sourdough sandwich bread, would need at least two rises, of which one would be a pretty long, even overnight one, with nothing but sourdough helping it rise and develop flavor.
I love those breads, and I love baking them when I have the time. But don't you have those days when you truly, madly, deeply want a homemade loaf of bread, warm from the oven, to serve with that lovely tomato soup you just made and you know it will be impossible to make a loaf instantly, which sends you into a downward spiral and makes you want to throw in the towel and just serve PBJs, which just ruins the day for everyone else as well and then...well, you get the picture? 😉
Anyhoo. This is the loaf you want to bake on that day, so everything is just as it should be, and everyone--especially you--is happy.
Table of Contents
Why you'll love this one-hour sourdough bread
- Easy recipe with no extensive kneading involved, and a short rise time.
- The bread has a soft, slightly crusty crust and a fluffy, soft crumb. It slices easily.
- It's delicious. There is no flavor compromise here. The reason most breads have two rise times is to develop both the flavor and the structure of the bread, and when you are rushing things along you want to compensate adequately for both. To rush the gluten production along, helping develop the bread's structure, I use bread flour and the yeast. And to add flavor, I use the sourdough. The sourdough also helps give the bread some oven spring.
- A real loaf of bread! Sure, it might appear a bit of a gimmick to make bread in an hour, but this is a real, yeast-leavened bread loaf, and it tastes great.
Ingredients
- Sourdough starter or discard. This is a great use for sourdough you were about to discard, but if you have a strong starter you just fed that would work too.
- Bread flour: this helps create a stronger, better structure for the loaf.
- Vegetable oil: I use avocado oil but any vegetable oil, including olive oil, is perfectly fine.
- Oat milk (or any nondairy milk): Milk helps keep the crust softer. If you want a very crusty crust sub this with an equal quantity of lukewarm water.
- Lukewarm water: If you need some help bringing the dough together.
- Sugar: Sugar helps feed the yeast, getting it to multiply quickly, and it also helps add more flavor to this quick-rise bread.
- Instant yeast or active dry yeast. Yyou will get quicker results with instant yeast, but active dry yeast works too in this recipe.
- Salt, for more flavor in your bread.
How to make one-hour sourdough bread
Place all of the ingredients in a bowl--this includes the flour, sourdough discard, sugar, salt, vegetable oil and nondairy milk. The only thing you shouldn't add to the bowl at this stage is the water.
Mix all the ingredients until a dough begins to form. Make sure the milk is lukewarm when you add it, which will also help wake up the yeast faster.
Now trickle in the water slowly to form a supple dough that's soft but not sticky, You might not need all of the water.
As soon as you have the dough, place it on a square of parchment paper, then lift the parchment paper and place it in a small Dutch oven. This is not a huge loaf, so a smaller pot will help create a better shaped, more rounded boule. A wider Dutch oven will create a flatter loaf.
Cover the Dutch oven with the lid and place it in a warm spot for 20-25 minutes. It's really important you find a cozy, warm spot because you are looking for a quick rise.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit while the dough is rising.
After 20 minutes the dough should have nearly doubled. Use a sharp or serrated knife or blade to make a quick gash at the top of the dough, taking care not to deflate it.
Place the Dutch oven, uncovered, in the oven and bake 30 minutes or until the top of the loaf sounds hollow when you rap it with your knuckles.
Place the Dutch oven on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove the bread by lifting up the parchment paper and continue cooling on the rack. Slice and serve.
One-hour sourdough bread FAQs
Since we aren't giving this bread a whole lot of time to rise, and it's a single rise, whole wheat would not be a great option here. You can sub half a cup of the all purpose flour for whole wheat if you absolutely want to, but your loaf will be more dense.
Yes, absolutely. Any oven-safe pot or baking dish that has a base of no more than five inches or so would work great here.
If you slice bread when it's hot or just out of the oven, you will find it is very moist and, as a result, hard to slice. So you do need to factor in some time to let the bread cool down, at least to lukewarm, before you slice it. For best results, cool it completely.
More sourdough recipes
Recipe card
One Hour Sourdough Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups bread flour
- ½ cup sourdough starter (or sourdough discard)
- 2 teaspoon instant yeast (or active dry yeast)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ cup lukewarm nondairy milk (I used oat milk)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
- ½ cup lukewarm water (you might not need all of this)1
Instructions
- Place all ingredients except water in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attached.
- Mix until the dough comes together. Continue kneading for a couple of minutes, trickling in the water if necessary. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
- As soon as you have a ball of dough, place it in on a sheet of parchment paper, then lift the parchment paper into a dutch oven. Cover with the lid and place in a warm spot. It is important to ensure that the dough has a mice, cozy, warm place to rise as you are hoping to get this done really quickly and dough will take longer to rise in a slow oven.
- While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- After 20-25 minutes the dough should have nearly doubled. At this point make a gash in the top of the bread using a sharp blade or serrated knife.
- Place the bread in the hot oven and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven. The bread should sound hollow when you tap on it with your knuckles. Let it cool down for at least 10 minutes in the Dutch oven placed on a rack, then remove and continue to cool the loaf on the rack.
Notes
- Oven temperature has been updated after repeated testing to 450 degrees Fahrenheit/235 degrees Celsius.
Nutrition Information
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JJ says
I have probably made this recipe 50 times. It is my family's favorite. The texture and taste are unbeatable. No one would know it's vegan.
I follow the ingredients exactly as written. For non-dairy milk, we love Extra Creamy Planet Oatmilk. I do not need water most of the time, as it is so humid where I am. In colder months I have to add a little water. Do like she mentions--a little at a time.
Know your dough! If I feed my starter, I can use my discard 4-6 hours later. Sometimes I have made it twice in one day. It makes the best bread for me if my discard is about 8-12 hours after fed.
Test out your kitchen gear and oven.
I switched dutch ovens. With my old one(RockCrok), I can cook it uncovered longer. With my heavy lidded Dutch oven(Vorringard), I bake it covered 20 minutes and uncovered for 6 minutes. The ingredients will make the best bread! Don't give up! Thank you so much for the best recipe!!!
Vaishali Honawar says
Hi, thanks for this lovely comment, and for all the tips about how you make this bread. Very helpful!
Toni Franklin says
Can I put inclusions like cinnamon, butter and brown sugar to make a cinnamon loaf; or shredded cheese and peppers?
Vaishali Honawar says
Yes, I think it would work.