Foolproof No-knead 100% Wholemeal Sourdough Bread with Variations

 

I’ve been promising to share this recipe for ages. I can’t take credit for it because it comes from another blog, but I’ll share the link and let you know how I adapt it because it’s by far the best recipe I’ve found for easy 100% wholemeal sourdough and it’s the one I use at least once a week to bake our bread.

The base recipe comes from a blog called Artistta, which in turn adapted it from a recipe on Stone Soup. I would recommend reading the Artistta blog as it goes into a lot of detail with step-by-step pictures. But it’s really very simple – 4 or 5 ingredients, no kneading, 45 minutes in the oven. That’s it. And it makes delicious, well-risen wholemeal bread that’s much lighter than any 100% wholemeal bread I’ve made using traditional methods. You’ll need a large oven-proof pot with a lid.

It’s a very forgiving recipe. I’ve tipped sloppy dough into the pot (it’s quite a wet dough), slightly dry dough, left it in too long and been slapdash with my cup measurements… every time it’s worked out just fine. You have the option of dusting it before it goes in the oven for a pretty floury top, but I rarely bother with this step if I’m baking just for us.

Plus, it’s adaptable. Measure out the base ingredients and, before you stir it all together, add all sorts of sweet and savoury ingredients from the store cupboard to give your weekly loaf some variety. I’ve made it with linseeds (as in the step-by-step pictures below), a mixture of linseed, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, cumin, raisins and hazelnuts, and more. The picture at the top of this blog and below is a halloumi, olive and sun-dried tomato loaf that is absolutely delicious.

I talked about timings in my last post, where I explained how to make a sourdough starter. But, if you're still sceptical about committing to sourdough, here’s a recap.

To bake in the morning:

The day before, take your starter out of the fridge, feed it and let it come to room temperature. It should take a few hours to be bubbling nicely.

That night, mix up the ingredients for the dough. If it’s warm, make it just before bed, if it’s cooler, make it around about dinner time to give it longer to prove. Cover and leave overnight. Put the starter back in the fridge for next time.

The next day, bake your loaf.

If you want to bake in the evening, feed the starter before bed, mix the dough in the morning and bake at night.

I use US cup measures to measure out my ingredients because it makes it that much faster and I only have to remember 3 cup measurements and one spoon measurement. I’ve given cup and gram measurements below but I’d recommend getting a set of US cups just for the convenience.

Here’s the recipe.

Foolproof No-knead 100% Wholemeal Sourdough Bread

Makes 1 loaf

485g (3½ cups) wholemeal flour

300g (1½ cups) sourdough starter

410g water (2 cups + 1tbsp + 1 tsp) water (in winter I only use 2 cups)

2 teaspoons salt

a little extra flour or semolina, for dusting (I use a heavy rye flour)

Optional extras include:

a handful of linseeds (shown below)

a handful of mixed seeds

a handful each of nuts (chopped if you’re feeding little ones) and raisins

a handful of halloumi chunks, a handful of black olives and 2–3 sliced sun-dried tomatoes

Measure all the ingredients into a large bowl, mix them up well and leave, covered with a cloth, to prove for several hours. I find 12 hours is a good amount of time to make sure the sourdough really has time to get to work. In the summer you can reduce this to about 8 hours.

About an hour before you plan to bake, put a large pot with a lid into the oven and switch it on to maximum. Set the timer for 1 hour, no less. I’ve tried putting it in after 45 minutes and the loaf was noticeably different. You want it piping hot so that the flour smokes when you dust the hot pot, and the dough sizzles when you tip it in.

This is optional, but if you want a really good-looking loaf, about 15 minutes before it goes in the oven, lay out a clean tea towel and scatter a good couple of handfuls of flour over the middle. Tip the proved dough onto it and lift the edges of the towel to slightly roll the dough in the flour. This is quite a wet dough, so it will spread, but a thick coating of flour should give it some structure.

Once the hour is up, take the pot out of the oven, remove the lid and dust the base and sides with flour or semolina. You want a decent amount in there to prevent the bread from sticking.

Tip the dough into the pot, using the tea towel to pick it up if you’ve rolled it in flour, cover and bake for 30 minutes on the highest temperature. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and reduce the temperature to 200°C/gas 6. Return the unlidded pot to the oven for 15 minutes.

Once the bread it baked it should sound hollow when you tap the base. Tip it out of the pot (use oven gloves for both hands!) and let it cool on a wire rack.