Over 30 years ago I received a mason jar containing the sticky substance called, Sour Dough Bread Starter. I have kept that dough going all these years, making untold number loaves of bread, English Muffins, and Cinnamon Rolls! If you’ve ever had sour dough, you know what a delicious flavor the “sour” starter gives the bread. I don’t know the science behind it, I only know it’s good and I want it the rest of my life!
Sour dough is also a very easy dough to put together. Beginning a starter can be a little tricky, so if you know someone who has a starter already, ask for a cup of theirs to be sure it will be active and cause your bread to rise!
But if you want to try your hand a beginning a starter here’s what you need:
To start: Place in a mason type jar:
1 cup warm water
3/4 Cup sugar
3 tbl. instant potato flakes
Stir and let set on counter all day. It should be in a place that is a little warm. Place lid on jar and cover lightly (don’t fasten all the way down). Let set 3-4 days.
The starter will have a fermented fragrance. It will also have little bubbles on top and kind of “sizzle.”
To make bread with that starter:
Add the same ingredients again to starter. Let set all day on counter.
The Next day you can make bread:
Ingredients
6 cups bread flour
2 1/2 tsp. yeast
1 tbl. salt
1/3 C sugar
Mix, then add:
1 C of the starter (place remaining cup back in the fridge)
1 1/2 C very warm water (110 degrees)
1/2 C oil
Mix, then turn out on floured board and knead lightly. Place dough back in oiled bowl. Cover and set in warm place ’til dough is doubled in size.
Punch down dough. Divide in half. Place in two greased loaf pans. Let rise ’til about an inch higher than bread pan.
Bake at 375 degrees about 25 min. Allow to cool before slicing (if you can resist!).
As I mentioned, you can make all kinds of other breads from this starter. My favorite way to eat this bread is toasted – either for breakfast or as a grilled sandwich. It’s fantastic!!
I hope you’ll give this a try. Maybe in 30 years you’ll still be making up hot loaves from the starter your received in 2017!
Who else has used sour dough starter? Who loves sour dough?
With love from my country kitchen,
RefreshHer 
Hi Denise…I have made both your sourdough bread and the cinnamon rolls. The dough seems to be very soft…is that the way yours is? I made the cinnamon rolls yesterday morning, and they were hard to cut into rolls as the dough was soft and sticky. The bread was also that way; and I have made it twice and did have to add flour to the bread recipe. I have used the bread machine to mix the bread dough and then taken it out and formed into loaves. I mixed the cinnamon rolls by hand though, and they still seem very soft, albeit tasty! After the first bread attempt, I did add some yeast to my starter as it didn’t seem to give me a good rise with the bread, using only the three ingredients. I did some searching on the internet, and found the same starter recipe, but with yeast included.
Just wondering if you have any comments about the sticky dough.
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Beth, I’m sorry you’re having trouble with the dough being soft and sticky. Mine isn’t like that. It’s the typical bread dough texture , soft buy not gooey-like. Are you using bread flour? I’m not sure if that would make the difference, but it’s a thought. I have never even had to adjust the amount of flour – the six cups is spot on. I hope you get this figured out so it’s not so difficult to handle, I know from other recipes how frustrating that can be!
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Thanks, Denise. I have been using regular flour, so maybe I will try some bread flour as the recipe indicates!! HAHA!
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Nice recipe
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Bread flour works great! Amazing!
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Yay for success!
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Is the cup of starter that is leftover, after making bread, simply put back in the fridge? And, if so, how long will it keep there? I assume it is (sorta) asleep until you add the new ingredients and let it sit on the counter??
I once had some friendship bread starter but it seemed I had to make bread regularly. I did not know how to use the starter only when I wanted it. (Does that make sense??)
I would love to try my hand at bread making!! Thanks!
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Jennifer, yes you put the starter in the refrigerator after it has set out on the counter for about 12 hours. You don’t have to feed it as often as you do the Amish bread. Every other week or so is really all that is necessary. And you only have to make bread when you want it. It’s unlike the Amish bread in that as well. Does that answer your question?
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