- 500 grams bread flour
- 100 grams active, bubbly starter
- 275 grams warm water
- 10 grams sea salt
- 25 grams maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon butter softened
- Mix all ingredients until just combined and let sit for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, knead the dough into a uniform dough ball.
- Place your dough ball in a large bowl.
- Allow to rise at room temperature covered for 6 hours, and periodically stretch and fold the dough
- During the rise time, stretch and fold the dough once each hour. Using your hands, stretch up the bottom of the dough, without breaking it, and fold over the top of the dough. Stretch and fold side over side, then top over bottom. As you do this you’ll notice there is more resistance stretching the dough. If you need help with this step there are a lot of great tutorials on YouTube.
- After the rise time with stretching and folding, on a well-floured surface, gently shape the dough into a loaf shape by stretching and folding once more, then tucking under the sides.
- Place the seam side down in a parchment paper lined bread pan.
- Let rise for 1-2 hours at room temperature. the dough should be just below the rim of the loaf pan.
- (optional) overnight proof in the fridge for 12 hours.
- Preheat oven to 500° F.
- After the final rise time, score the dough down the middle, egg wash the top and add toppings.*
- place the pan in the oven and reduce the heat to 400° F.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until crust is golden brown. Time may be adjusted depending on your oven. I rotate the pan halfway through.
- Remove from oven and pan and cool on cooling rack for 30 minutes.
