Sourdough can be a difficult and time consuming bread to make, but not if you use the recipe below! No messing around with proofing, exotic starters, etc…..
Ingredients
• 2/3 Cup of milk in measuring cup, then fill with warm water so total milk and water is 1 & 1/8 cups combined
• 1/4 Cup of Sour Cream (or Plain Greek Yogurt)
• 1 & 3/4 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4 teaspoons Instant yeast (or breadmaker yeast)
• 3 Cups white flour
Directions
1. Put hot water into the breadmaker drum so it just covers the paddle. Let sit for 2 or 3 minutes to heat up the drum, then dump out hot water.
2. Heat the milk/water in the microwave on high for 1 minute, then add it to the empty breadmaker drum along with the sour cream (or yogurt), lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. (Yeast goes in later!)
3. Add the white flour to the mixture.
4. Now add the yeast to the top of the ingredients.
5. Put the breadmaker on dough cycle and make your dough. Should take about an hour and a half.
6. After your dough is done in the breadmaker, place the dough on lightly floured surface, and shape into a round loaf.
7. Put onto a lightly buttered stoneware baking sheet.
8. Brush milk onto the loaf, covering all exposed areas.
9. Cover, put in warm place, cover it with cloth, and let it rise 35 to 45 minutes or so. **Arrange the cloth so it allows room for the dough to rise. (I used four glasses around the outside of the pan, and rested the cloth on them, over top of the dough).
10. Gently cut a very light line (ie: 2mm) across the top of the dough. This will allow the bread to expand upwards as it is rising and baking.
11. Put a small pan in the bottom of the oven, with about 300 ml of water in it. (This allows the bread to fully rise before the outer crust begins to form). This water will steam off, and once it does, the forming of the crust will begin, but later on in the process, which is what you want.
12. Bake on center rack for 35 minutes at 350F, or until light golden brown, and makes a hollow sound if you tap it with your fingers.
13. After the 35 minutes, remove the loaf and baking sheet from the oven, and put the loaf back into the oven for 8 minutes, but sitting on the oven rack only. This browns up the bottom of the loaf.
14. After the 8 minutes, remove the loaf from the oven, and put on cooling rack uncovered, for 30 minutes, then cover with a cloth.
15. To cut the loaf, wait until it’s cool, then cut it in two, slicing along the line you made in Step 10.
16. Put the cut side down, and slice it up! …. Enjoy……