Panera Sourdough Bread

"This is the recipe from Panera Bread."
 
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photo by Andrew Purcell photo by Andrew Purcell
photo by Andrew Purcell
photo by Andrew Purcell photo by Andrew Purcell
photo by Andrew Purcell photo by Andrew Purcell
Ready In:
48hrs
Ingredients:
18
Yields:
2 loaves
Serves:
24
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ingredients

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directions

  • For the Sourdough Bread, combine the warm water and fresh yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir to dissolve the yeast fully. Add the Sourdough Starter, flours and salt. (NOTE: If refrigerated, bring Sourdough Starter to room temperature before using.) Mix on low speed until the dough is fully developed. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl. Roll the dough into a smooth ball and place in a medium mixing bowl lightly brushed with olive oil. Cover and refrigerate for 16 hours. Remove the bowl from the refrigerator and ferment at room temperature for 6 hours.
  • Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and form into loaves. Places the loaves on the counter or in a proofing basket and cover with a warm, damp cloth. Proof the loaves at room temperature for 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 400°F Continue proofing the loaves at room temperature for 1 hour.
  • Score the loaves with a sharp knife, spray with water and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the crusts are a deep golden brown and the middle of the loaves is 190-200°.
  • Remove the bread from the oven and place on a cooling rack for 30 minutes. If the bread was baked in loaf pans, remove the bread from the pans before cooling.
  • Note: For more intense sour flavor, extend the refrigeration time of the dough an additional 6 to 8 hours.
  • For the Sourdough Starter, Stage 1: Combine the warm water and fresh yeast in a medium mixing bowl. Stir to dissolve the yeast fully. Add the buttermilk, plain yogurt, all-purpose flour and semolina flour to the bowl and stir until the ingredients are fully incorporated. Wrap the unwashed red grapes securely in a clean cheesecloth or small kitchen cloth and submerge the cloth in the mixture. Ferment at room temperature for 12 hours.
  • Stage 2: Carefully remove the cloth with the grapes from the mixture, using a spatula to scrape any remaining starter off the cloth and back into the bowl. Squeeze the cloth containing the grapes over the bowl, capturing the juice in the bowl. Discard the cloth and the grapes, and stir the starter until the grape juice is fully incorporated. Add the all-purpose flour and semolina flour to the starter. In a separate bowl, add the yeast to the warm water, stirring until the yeast is fully dissolved, then add this mixture to the starter. Mix the starter until all ingredients are fully incorporated. Ferment at room temperature for 4 hours before using, or cover and place in the refrigerator for future use.

Questions & Replies

  1. What do you replace the starter with when you use it in the dough recipe?
     
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Reviews

  1. I used my own sour dough starter so the review is for the bread. It made two small to medium artisan loaves shaped in my bannetons. It was a little saltier than I’m used to and it may have affected the proofing as it was very slow and made a slightly dense loaf. It is a nice slow and easy recipe for a weekend project and it’s pretty tasty overall. I’ll cut back a little on the salt next time and will plan to give it plenty of proofing time. It’s worthy of a repeat.
     
  2. I’m a chef and an experienced baker. I followed this recipe to the letter, other than the shape. Also definitely not enough for two loaves. Only fit one in my proofing basket. 1. The starter recipe is about 6x what you need for this recipe. 2. The starter comes out like cake batter making it very difficult to adjust the amount of flour called for in this recipe, and achieving the right texture for the bread. 3. Maybe using the Dutch oven process may have changed the outcome and I’ll try that but this Is hard and not even close to the sourdough bread’s that I’ve made over the years. Is hard and not even close to the sourdough bread or any bread that I’ve made over the years. 4. I’m suspecting the flower was too aggressive in this recipe. Everything looked normal but it was not as jiggly as it should’ve been when I over proofed even. I did 18 hours in the refrigerator seven hours at room temperature and four hours at room temperature after splitting the Loaves. 5. I’m going to try the starter again with my own recipe.. had to discard probably 6 cups of starter because the starter recipe called for so much. Could only save so much but I added flour and a tiny bit of water to get a consistency that I’m familiar with. This picture I’m going to upload is what starter should look like. 6. Final advice, less flour! This is why I use recipes in grams rather than cups. Add the flour slowly in the mixer.. this way your dough doesn’t become too Doughy like did. If you follow the flour exactly on this recipe I believe you will end up with the lump of nothing like I did. Spraying it with the water made it worse. Use the Dutch oven method when baking. Use a proofing basket during the three hour proof. In the last hour set the oven at 515°. When it’s reached 515° put The Dutch oven in the oven for 30 minutes to heat up. After 30 minutes score and place your bread inside the Dutch oven. Set timer for 17 minutes. Lightly spray with water before putting in the Dutch oven. After 17 minutes remove the Dutch oven and the bread loaf from the Dutch oven. Spray again if desired with water, place on rack or pizza stone and lower the temperature to 400° for 23 minutes. I think that’ll fix a lot with this recipe. I was very disappointed after three days. I must say..
     
  3. How and when do you feed your starter to keep it going? After all this prep. I would like to keep it going?
     
  4. Your sour dough bread is perfect! I bought a loaf to go! My gosh slice a few...warm and dip in a bowl of extra virgin olive oil! Amazing! Also, as I have a stomach condition called gastroparies, which prevents absorption and I have problems with bread not digesting right, I found that your panera sour dough digests perfectly. I read through the recipe and it's simple, healthy ingredients....no preservatives since its made fresh everyday! I usually don't like going out to eat....as it is so hard to find a truly healthy dish that I can process...well panera is stellar! They have really homemade food with lots of options...they are so accomodating too! Love you guys! Michele
     
  5. great recipe, a little too much salt for my palette, next time will cut back to 1 tsp. Makes very good crusty, chewy, aromatic bread. A keeper recipe
     
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