Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Recipe

Loaf of whole wheat sourdough bread sitting next to a green and white checked dish towel. Recipe feature image.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread Recipe

A loaf of sourdough bread made with 100% whole wheat flour to create a wholesome loaf you'll be proud to feed to your family.

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Keyword Sourdough Bread, Sourdough Recipes

Prep Time 4

Cook Time 45

Fermentation Time 22

Total Time 1 2 45

Servings Loaf

Calories 1791kcal

Equipment

Mixing Bowl
Digital Scales
Banneton
Dutch Oven

Ingredients

100 g Sourdough Starter (fed and bubbly)
500 g Whole Wheat Flour (see notes)
380 g Water (you may need a little extra but start at 380g)
10 g Salt

Instructions

Autolyse:
Weigh out your sourdough starter and water into a large ceramic or glass bowl.
Mix the water and starter together briefly. Then add your whole wheat flour and salt and mix together with a spatula or butter knife.
The dough will be fairly shaggy and only just brought together.
Cover your bowl with cling film or a damp tea towel and let it sit for around 1 - 2 hours.
This process is called the "autolyse" and allows your flour to soak in all the water and become hydrated. This is especially important when using whole wheat flour.
Forming Up Your Dough:
After the dough has been through autolyse you need to bring it together into a ball. You'll notice that the dough is fully hydrated after soaking all the water up. It will be fairly sticky and might not feel like the dough is really doing much, but try to bring it together into a rough ball. Work your way around the bowl bringing the edges of the dough into the centre. Then cover and leave again for 30 minutes.
Stretch & Folds:
Over the next few hours you need to create some structure for your dough by "stretching and folding".
Aim to do around 4-6 sets of stretches and folds. For each set, stretch the dough up and over itself 4 times. Leave around 15 minutes in between each set. Again you do not have to be exact with time, but you need to do at least 4 sets over 2 hours.
You will need to really work the dough to develop the gluten - because whole wheat flour has a lower gluten content.
Bulk Ferment:
Once you've finished your stretch and folds, place the cling film or damp tea towel back over your dough and let it rest and ferment at room temperature. Ideally you want your dough to double (see notes).
Shaping Your Dough:
Once your dough has finished it's first ferment, it's time to form it back into a ball and give it some shape and surface tension. Try not to use flour here, but a light dusting is ok (rice flour or semolina are best).
Use a silicone dough scraper to gently ease the dough out of the bowl. You want it to land upside down on your counter so that the smooth top of the dough is on the countertop and the sticky underside is facing up. This will make it easier to shape.
You can shape into whatever you like. I prefer this one as a batard.
Once the dough is shaped and tight, place it into your banneton smooth side down, so your seam is on the top - this way the top of your dough will get the pretty lines from the banneton. If you're using a cloth or tea towel in a bowl it's ok to put your dough with the smooth side up. Just make sure the dough is tight.
Lift your dough around the edges to pop a little more flour if you feel it needs it.
Cold Ferment:
Now your dough is in it's "shaping container" cover it loosely with a plastic bag or damp tea towel and place into the fridge. I use a large plastic bag to cover it - I just reuse it each time.
Try to leave it in the fridge for a minimum 5 hours up to a maximum of around 36 hours. The longer you leave it the better your bread will be! A longer cold ferment creates beautiful blisters on your crust and a deeper sourdough flavour. It will also ensure your dough forms a skin which makes it easier to score.
Preparing to Bake Your Sourdough:
Once you're ready to bake your sourdough, you'll need to preheat your oven to 230C/450F.
Place your Dutch Oven into the oven when you turn it on so it gets hot. Try to preheat for around 1 hour to ensure your oven is super hot - but you know your oven so just adjust this time if you need to.
Leave your dough in the fridge until the very last minute - placing a cold dough into a hot oven will give you a great "spring".
Baking Your Sourdough:
When your oven is at temperature. Take your sourdough out of the fridge.
Gently place it onto a piece of baking paper.
Make sure that you make the baking paper big enough to use the edges as a handle to lower to dough into your Dutch Oven.
Gently score your bread with a lame, clean razor blade or knife.
Carefully take your dutch oven out of the oven. Place the sourdough into the pot using the baking paper as a handle. Put the lid on and place into the hot oven. If you want to you can spritz your dough with extra water before you put the lid on.
BAKE TIME:
30 Minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F plus
10-15 Minutes with the lid off at 210C/410F
Finishing Your Bake:
When you remove your dough from the oven, carefully remove it from the dutch oven as soon as possible and place on a wire rack to cool.

Notes

Notes on Whole Wheat Flour - I have used store bought whole wheat flour. This is lighter than whole wheat flour you would mill yourself. If you are using whole wheat flour ground from wheat berries at home, I recommend adding just a little bit more water. You might need to go by feel here.

Notes on Bulk Fermentation - The time this takes will depend on the temperature in your home. If your home is warm then your dough will ferment a lot faster and could be done in as little as a few hours.. If it's colder, it will take longer, possibly overnight. This recipe has 100g of starter and is a higher hydration dough so it will ferment fairly quickly. You can reduce the starter to 50g if you want to slow the ferment time. You can find more information on changing the amount of starter here.

You will know your dough is ready to move to the next stage when it has *just* doubled in size. It will be fairly wobbly and full of bubbles. You should be able to see large air bubbles under the surface of the dough. You don't want to let it go any further than doubled as it will be over fermented. You can learn more about bulk fermentation here.

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