Almost Sourdough

Hungry for sourdough bread but lacking a starter, I was happy to run across this recipe. It does not produce a true sourdough bread, but it's a great substitute. There's just enough of a slightly tangy flavor to satisfy that particular taste, yet mild enough for everyone. The dough is easy to work with, and produces a tender, hearty, pleasantly chewy loaf.

The originator of this recipe called it "Quick Sourdough Bread." Yes, compared to creating your own starter and waiting for five days until it's ready to use, it's "quick", but you still have to start this bread the day before you want to bake it. Totally worth it, by the way- my family really enjoyed this bread.

The day it was baked, it seemed a little sweet, but by the next day, the flavors had melded and balanced. That said, I will cut back on the sugar a little the next time I make this, just to see which version we like best.

You may not want to bake during these warmer months, but pin this one for later- you'll love me for it this fall.

Almost Sourdough Bread  Print Recipe
Makes 2 (9X5) loaves

2 and 1/2 cups warm water, divided use
3 tablespoons instant mashed potato flakes
3/4 cup sugar
1 envelope active dry yeast (2 and 1/4 teaspoons)
1/2 cup oil
1 tablespoon salt
6 to 7 cups bread flour

1. The day before: heat one cup water until warm, about 110-115 degrees. Mix it with potato flakes, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. It should start foaming a little within a few minutes. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight. 
2. The next morning, heat remaining 1 and 1/2 cups water until warm, about 110-115 degrees. Mix it with the oil and salt and stir into the yeast mixture. Stir the flour into this mixture until smooth and well-combined (I did this with a stand mixer, using the dough hook, and used all 7 cups of flour).
3. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees), free from drafts, about one hour or until double in size. Stir or punch dough down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Lightly knead each half 6 to 8 times, shape into loaves, and place in two 9X5 loaf pans that have been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Cover and let rise until doubled in size.
4. During the last few minutes of rise time, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Uncover loaves and place in preheated oven. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown, rotating loves about half way through baking. Place pans on wire cooling rack for 15 minutes, then carefully turn loaves out of pans onto wire rack to finish cooling. Let cool completely before slicing or wrapping to store.

Cook's notes: I used a dark metal loaf pan and a glass Pyrex loaf pan. The bread in the metal pan was done in 35 minutes. The bread in the glass Pyrex pan took 40 minutes.

Recipe from Gooseberry Patch

Almost Sourdough may have been taken to some of these fun parties!

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