Easy Sourdough French Country Bread (Made with Sourdough Discard)

This sourdough country bread is made with sourdough discard. To make this delicious bread, you don't have to worry about making sure your sourdough starter is perfectly ready when you mix it into your dough. 

This Easy Sourdough Country Bread is so hands-off, and you make it with just five ingredients... bread flour, whole wheat flour, water, salt, and sourdough discard. 

If your starter has been fed within the last two to three weeks and has been languishing in the refrigerator, you can make this bread with little effort. 

This method for making sourdough bread is so wonderful because you don't have to stress about how active your starter is. 

This bread can be made with a pretty relaxed schedule over two days. You can begin first thing in the morning or early in the evening, with the whole process taking about 18 to 26 hours, most of this being hands off. 

If you're a sourdough newbie or if you don't want to stress about what to do with your sourdough discard, you must try this bread. 

Ingredients:

Unbleached Bread Flour: I used King Arthur. 

Whole Wheat Flour: You'll just need a small amount (50 grams). You can also substitute white whole wheat, rye, barley, or buckwheat flours, or a combination. 

Water: At about 80 degrees F. 

Salt. 

Sourdough Starter (unfed): It should be 100 percent hydration (50/50 water to flour, by weight). You will only need 20 grams (about 1 1/2 tablespoons, but you can use more if you like). 

Sample Schedule for Making this French Country Bread (Pain de Campagne): 

8:00 PM - Combine the ingredients in a dough rising bucket or bowl and cover. 

8:15 PM - Stretch and fold the dough a few times and then cover again. 

8:30 PM - Stretch and fold. 

8:45 PM - Stretch and fold. Cover and let rise at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours, until doubled. 

8:45 AM - Shape the dough, place it into a floured banneton, cover, and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours. 

4:00 to 8:45 PM - Bake the loaf. 

You can also reverse these times from AM to PM and vice versa. The schedule is completely flexible. 

Equipment You May Need: 

Dough Rising Bucket: A Cambro Bucket works great because it has measurements on the side to let you know when the dough has doubled. 

Oval Cast Iron Dutch Oven: Bake the bread in a preheated Dutch oven to create steam. You can also use a baking stone with a steam pan below. 

Ovan Banneton: For letting the shaped dough rise. 

Note: My instructions include transferring the partially baked loaf to a sheet pan halfway through baking. This is to prevent burning on the bottom of the loaf. If this is not an issue for you, you can leave the loaf in the Dutch oven after removing the lid. 

French Pique-Niques: 

When we spent some time in Provence, we would visit the farmers markets in various towns, depending on the day of the week. You can fill your basket with an amazing array of produce, sandwich meats, wild game, olives, tapenades, local wines, cheeses, eggs, seafood, honey, and freshly baked breads. 

You can also pick up hand made baskets, antiques, Provençal fabrics, pottery, and gorgeous flowers. Every day, you can visit a different market (marché). 

Part of the fun is loading your basket up for a French picnic. 

To recreate a the picnic, you will need an array of cheeses, fruit, some salads, butter, charcuterie, and a fresh loaf of rustic country bread (Pain de Campagne) or baguettes. 

You will also need a tablecloth (not just a blanket), wine, as well as proper wine glasses and plates. No paper products, bare table, or plain blanket allowed. 

This bread is exactly what you'll need to prepare for a French-style picnic (or pique-nique)!

If you ever get the opportunity to go to Provence, France, before you go, be sure to purchase a copy of the book, Markets of Provence. While I'm sure much has changed, I'm sure that the tradition remains the same. 

This month, the Bread Bakers are sharing recipes for picnic bread! 

• Baked Whole Wheat Kachori by Cook with Renu
• Checkerboard Rolls by Passion Kneaded
• Cheddar and Herb Loaf by Palatable Pastime
• Easy Sourdough French Country Bread by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Eggless Fruit & Nut Chocolate Banana Loaf by Sneha's Recipe
• Garlic Herb Fan Rolls by A Messy Kitchen
• Hushpuppies by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Niçoise Picnic Squares by Food Lust People Love
• Schiacciata all'Uva by Culinary Cam

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Easy Sourdough French Country Bread

Yield: 20 slices

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

Prep time: 1 HourCook time: 45 MinInactive time: 24 HourTotal time: 25 H & 45 M

This sourdough country bread is made with sourdough discard. To make this delicious bread, you don't have to worry about making sure your sourdough starter is perfectly ready when you mix it into your dough.

Ingredients

• 450 grams (3 3/4 cups) unbleached bread flour
• 50 grams (1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons) whole wheat flour
• 400 grams (1 3/4 cups) water, about 80 degrees F
• 10 grams (1 1/2 teaspoons) salt
• 20 grams (1 1/2 tablespoons) unfed sourdough starter (best if fed within the last two weeks)

Instructions

1. In a dough rising bucket or a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients by hand until you have a shaggy dough and all of the flour is moistened. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
2. Stretch and fold the dough by grabbing in from one side, pulling it up, and folding it over the center. Continue from all four "sides" of the dough. The dough should feel like it's developing some strength. Let rest for 15 minutes, covered.
3. Stretch and fold the dough again, two more times, resting 15 minutes between each session. You should have done three sets of stretches and folds in 45 minutes. Cover the dough and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours.
4. Turn the dough out onto your work surface and shape it into a round, seam side down, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for 10 minutes. Dust a towel lined brotform/banneton with a mix of wheat and rice flour.
5. Shape the round into an oval/batard, and place it, seam side up, into the banneton. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and place it into the refrigerator. Note: if the dough hasn't doubled in the first rise, let it sit at room temperature for about an hour after shaping first.
6. Let the shaped dough rest in the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours.
7. When it's time to bake the loaf, heat your Dutch oven in a 500 degree F oven. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, remove the plastic wrap, and cover the top with parchment paper and place a plate over the parchment.
8. Flip the loaf over, remove the banneton and then the cloth. Slash the dough with a sharp knife or lame. Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven, remove the lid, and, using the parchment paper, lift the dough, parchment and all, into the Dutch oven. Cover with the lid, and return everything to the oven.
9. Reduce the oven's temperature to 450 degrees F and bake the loaf with the lid on the Dutch oven for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from oven and transfer the loaf to a baking sheet, return it to the oven, and continue to bake for 25 minutes.
10. Cool the loaf completely on a wire rack.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

91

Fat (grams)

0 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

0 g

Carbs (grams)

18 g

Fiber (grams)

1 g

Net carbs

17 g

Sugar (grams)

0 g

Protein (grams)

3 g

Cholesterol (grams)

0 mg

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This recipe is adapted from the King Arthur Baking Company catalog from July 2023. I love getting their catalogs in the mail! Yes, I'm old-fashioned.