Sourdough Bread In A Bread Machine

loaf of sourdough bread from a bread machine cut on a white quartz countertop

4.54 from 338 votes

Sourdough Bread In A Bread Machine

Soft, buttery sourdough bread made in a bread machine is the next best thing since, well, sliced bread. Super easy to make, you just dump the ingredients in and allow the bread machine to do all the work.

Prep Time10

Cook Time7

Additional Time7

Total Time14 10

Course: Sourdough

Cuisine: American

Keyword: sourdough, sourdough bread, sourdough bread in a bread machine, sourdough sandwich bread

Servings:

Author: Lisa Bass

Equipment

Bread Machine

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
4 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup sourdough starter bubbly and active

Instructions

Add the water and melted butter to the bread machine.
On top of that add the bread flour, sugar and salt.
Lastly, add the sourdough starter.
Use the kneading function on the bread machine. (For my machine this is function 8) Mine is set to knead for 25 minutes.
Optional: After the first knead cycle finishes, I press the button again and let it knead the dough one more time, for an additional 25 minute cycle.
Next, I just allow the dough to sit in the bread machine for about 6 hours, or until the dough nearly rises to the top of the bread pan. I like to spritz the top with water a few times to make sure the dough doesn't dry out on top. (Optional , but also helps the crust to turn golden in the baking step.)
After the dough has risen for several hours, I go to the baking function (function 13 on my bread maker) and select the option for dark crust. This makes the bake time 1 hour.
Pull the bread out of the bread maker and allow to cool.

Notes

Although you can make this bread from start to finish without ever touching the dough, you have the option to take out the dough from the bread machine after kneading and remove the paddle. This will keep you from having to pull the kneading paddle out of the finished product.
Though you could get away with just one knead cycle, I actually like to do it one more time. This ensures proper gluten formation for soft bread.
Spritz the top of dough with water a few times to make sure the dough doesn’t dry out on top during rising. This is an optional step, but also helps the crust to turn golden in the baking step.

Nutrition